Hey everyone!

We all make mistakes. It's even the only way to progress, if you ask me. In a society that requires us to be perfect in all circumstances, I think on the contrary that life, the real one, is lived by taking risks, by innovating, by going further than the previous generation. Of course, we are wrong. Of course, we make mistakes. But in the end, we learn from these dreaded mistakes, but which can be very beneficial if we learn from them the lessons that will allow us to move forward in the realization of our dreams.

It is therefore not a question of not making mistakes, nor of trying new experiences.

On the other hand, when it comes to health and choice of treatment, an error can be fatal. A serious error can have the consequence of aggravating our illness, or worse, leading to death.

This risk, we obviously do not take it consciously.

Six months after the start of my pericarditis, my doctors pushed me to follow a cardiac rehabilitation program. What I accepted, eager to regain my physical form before the disease. I used to exercise 4 times a week. I ran between 12 and 15 kilometers every Sunday. I was looking forward to picking up my life where it had left off so unexpectedly.

On the prescription of my doctor, I started a cardiac rehabilitation program. I went to a small gym on the second floor of a hospital in my area. While I was still in the grip of violent attacks of pain, I convinced myself that I had to go: “They are specialists, I am in good hands”.

It was a huge mistake.

The first red flag appeared when I realized that the medical staff in charge of the cardiac rehabilitation program had no idea what pericarditis was. They had never heard of it.

Other red flags came up when I was told that the exercise program was the same for everyone. There was no gradation or personalization of cardiac rehabilitation according to the pathology or the state of the person. Heart transplant, coronary bypasses, stents, and me, all in the same boat. For everyone, the same exercises, the same number of series. It was written on the walls.

I had to do weight training, but also cardio on a bike. I was asked to keep my heartbeat as high as possible. As I was taking a beta-blocker, my heart did not rise to more than 120-130 beats per minute.

I was really very bad. But at the end of this first session, I was asked to stop the beta-blocker.

The second session, a few days later, turned into a real nightmare. Despite my complaints about the severe heart pain I was feeling, I was pushed to keep my heart beating as high as possible for 20-30 minutes again. Without the effect of the beta-blocker, my heart was over 160 beats per minute. I felt dizzy and felt like my heart was pounding and not beating normally.

After this treatment, I barely arrived in my car and almost collapsed. I was exhausted, shaking, with terrible heart pain. I don't know how I managed to get home. The next day I was in a terrible state: tachycardia, increased blood pressure, headaches, exhaustion, severe pain.

My condition worsening day by day, I decided to cancel the following appointments and I never wanted to set foot in a cardiac rehabilitation program.

During the weeks that followed, I saw my condition deteriorate significantly despite the resumption of the beta-blocker. It was as if I was sliding down a sandy slope. I was living a waking nightmare, a veritable descent into hell, without being able to regain control of the situation.

It was the worst setback I've ever had. I blamed myself for letting myself get dragged into this situation. So many efforts and tears.

It is definitely always necessary to keep in mind that the advisers are not the payers. The consequences are never the doctors or the medical staff who suffer them.

Later, I learned that the pericarditis specialists at the Cleveland Clinic advise keeping the heart below 100 beats per minute. It is not at all recommended to resume sports or cardiac rehabilitation exercises when the pericardium is still inflamed.

The risks are significant: an aggravation of the pericarditis going as far as tamponade, that is to say an influx of water into the pericardium which can lead to cardiac arrest by compression of the heart.

The other fatal risk of chronic pericarditis is that it progresses to constrictive pericarditis, which is also a fatal form of pericarditis.

It took me months to turn things around. My condition continued to deteriorate for several months before being able to stabilize and then evolve positively.

I still often hear this unsolicited advice: “You should do a cardiac revalidation”. You will understand that the suspicious “Oh really!?” I receive in return when I tell my experience makes me beside myself.

Knowing several people who landed in the emergency room with a tamponade following the practice of a sport when their pericarditis was not treated, I am particularly angry that health professionals have thus taken risks with my life and contributed to aggravate my condition.

Don't make the same mistake I did. Stay away from cardiac rehabilitation programs that are not designed for people with pericarditis. Avoid sports, apart from a daily walk, yoga and some stretching. And if possible, keep your heart below 100 beats per minute.

If you still have chest pain, it’s still pericarditis. Risks are cardiac effusion, tamponade and constrictive pericarditis. I personally stick to my daily walk, soft yoga and stretching for now. My plan is to try running again once I’ll be totally pain free for at least 6 months. It’s still a long way to go for me unfortunately.

SUMMARY:

Instead of following a dangerous cardiac rehabilitation program in case of pericarditis, try to follow these 3 rules instead:

1/ DAILY WALK

2/ YOGA AND/OR STRETCHING

3/ HEART BELOW 100 BEAT PER MINUTE

For more information on these subjects, I invite you to read the blog posts TACHYCARDIA and THE PROMISE.

Be careful and, above all, don't lose heart!

HEALTH IS NOT VALUED TILL SICKNESS COMES.

Pericordially yours,

Vali