[Trapper John]

Glad this was figured out. My first impression was pericarditis based upon the symptoms. That your PCP and subsequent specialists missed this is primarily due to not taking a complete patient history, JMO, and is a lost art. Had he/she done so he/she would have picked up on the Coxsackie virus exposure prior to the onset of your symptoms. This is a member of the Enterovirus family and is a family of viruses that can cause persistent infections. Hence the possibility of recurrence of your symptoms.

As you probably know the Indomethacin is an anti-inflammatory NSAID. This is symptomatic treatment only.

The principle area of my research is the etiology of chronic "idiopathic" diseases. I believe that most if not all of the so called "idiopathic" diseases are the result of chronic viral and/or bacterial infections. Some species are particularly adept at avoiding or subverting our natural (innate) responses to promote a chronic inflammatory state in the infected tissues that are recognized as a wide variety of chronic diseases.

A couple of my colleagues work with Coxsackie virus. With your permission, I will check with them to see if (a) there is an affordable diagnostic test and (b) what anti-viral drugs are currently available to clear the virus if any. I will send you a PM with what I learn if you send me a PM letting me know that you want me to do this. I don't want to get your hopes up, I simply don't know and am just willing to do some research for you.

Let me know.