Panic Attacks

I feel like I'm going crazy!!! I'm 34 years old and I have a ICD / Pacemaker....for about 2 years now. Last April it shocked me...I was running upstairs and my heart rate jumped to 200 bpm. Since then, I have been shocked three additional times for VF and AF. Because of these shocks, I get panic attacks and I am always scared about "the next time." I am a public speaker and youth advocate...I am always on the road. Everytime I get ready to speak, I panic and my heart goes crazy. I am now seeing a psychiatrist and have Xanax to get me through some tough spots. I would love to hear about others experiences...am I the only one that is having these feelings.

2 Comments

Panic Attacks with an ICD

by mrag - 2010-01-30 01:01:29

My own feeling is if you have an ICD and been shocked more than once, then if you do NOT have panic attacks, you are a little nuts. I've had 8+ shocks over several years-last one I was in a grocery store-I still won't go back into the store. And it is a rare night that I do not take a .5 mg Xanax before bed-I got zapped one time in the middle of the night. I had a ventricular ablation done 7 months ago-been zap free since and EP says unlikely I'll get shocked again, but I still take the Xanax. He said it usually takes about a year being zap free before you begin to "adjust" (whatever the hell that means).

6 mg? I'm on .5 mg! Maybe that's what I need though-I can't deal with morons either.

You are not the only one

by pacergirl - 2010-01-30 05:01:17

Teddy Bear, there are a lot of people here who have worked through the panic attacks you are having. Totally understand this problem. I personally only have a dual pacemaker but I would suffer form panic attacks as well. At first I kept thinking that my PM would fail and that I wouldn't know it and I'd, well faint or worse. I took a lot of work to get passed it. The one thing that did help me was talking to a friend. A friend who explained to me that I was not alone, that he too was suffering just as I. Together we supported one another. So I advise you to keep talking to people who have an ICD. Talk to your Dr.
Good luck,
Pacergirl

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