What is happenning?

Hello all
I woke up this morning feeling not to bad. By breakfast I was feeling lightheaded and dizzy. My wife got me over to ER where I had an awful time. Hyperventilating, crying, shaking and tinkling down both arms. They gave me an adavan and did some blood gases along with xray and blood tests. Later I started to feel okay and they sent me home. Very scary and hope this does not happen again. Any ideas as to what was happening??

Hope all of you are having a good weekend.

Howard

5 Comments

Hang in there

by cfritza - 2010-03-28 09:03:41

Hi Howard,

First off I am so sorry to hear about what you been through today. Dr's sometimes tell us it's probably anxiety when the results of all the tests they do turn up negative and it's really hard to know for sure. But this is all very new to you and your body (PM implant) and sometimes it just takes time for things to get better and they do (our bodies and minds) I wish you the best and just hang in there.

Panic Attack

by wenditt - 2010-03-28 10:03:51

Sorry to hear Howard. But I have them too! Have them on and off since my pacemaker surgery. Mostly on actually! But I have good days....mixed with the bad. cfritza is right. Your body and your mind have a lot to cope with right now. Electricfrank told me once that it was all about dealing with our own mortality. And he was right. Getting a pacemaker is a scary thing for some. And it would make sense that you would be frightened. It's your heart! We need it! It's not like a pinky....

As for your ER visit:

Sounds to me like a panic attack. If all the tests came back normal and they gave you an anxiety pill that made you feel better...then my guess would be you had a panic attack. I've been to the ER myself several times. :-)

The hyperventilating is a classic symptom of a panic attack. Your flight or fight response automatically triggers which will then make you increase your breathing. When you do this, all the oxygen leaves your limbs (hence the tingling arms) and it goes to your core to protect it from perceived danger. Real or not....your mind thought it was in danger is trying to protect you.

The shaking too, a common side effect from a panic attack. Your mind when in the fight or flight mode will go into high alert....it's highest actually....monitoring for anything that could hurt you. Think caveman days! This mechanism would have come in very handy. But these days...it has evolved and has adapted itself to times of stress.

Know that a panic attack in of itself cannot hurt you. Your mind may perceive danger, your heart may be beating out of control, but your physical body can handle it and no one on record has ever died from having one.
I know it feels like you are going to die....but you won't.

I've been doing a lot of research on the matter so that I can overcome them myself. One trick that I have learned that works for me...is when you feel "it" coming on.....face it. Yell at it like it's a 7 year old. Tell it to "come on and give you all it's got." And so on. The reason why this technique works is that you are using a different part of your brain to command the symptoms to appear. And that's just as useful as paddling up a stream! It's magic!

You cannot make yourself have a panic attack. They either creep up with no warning like yours did...or you start to feel some symptoms like dizziness etc...then you start to wonder if it's your heart...then you start to get worried...then you panic. It makes perfect sense. And to be honest...it's really hard to tell the difference between a panic attack and a heart issue.

So my best advise is to trust your doctors when they tell you they have addressed all your problems (if they have). Make sure you are confident that physically you are OK. THEN..when the symptoms start coming-you will know they aren't from your heart, rather your mind. Then and only then can you start to get pissed at them and make them go away!

Best of luck to you Howard! I know it's scary...but if I can go without one for 2 weeks then anyone can!

Hang in there!

A few suggestions

by ElectricFrank - 2010-03-29 02:03:39

There is some current disagreement on the direct relationship, but I have found the the main thing that keeps the panic attack going is the hyperventilation. The tingling down the arms and often across the face is due to an upset in the carbon dioxide balance in the blood. Crying come from surfacing of unresolved emotional material. The whole experience is actually quite beneficial if you learn to be OK with it.

My experience with panic attacks has been in the use of biofeedback to learn to restore normal breathing and calm the sympathetic nervous system. I manufactured biofeedback equipment and my wife was a biofeedback therapist for over 20 yrs.

Actually it is quite easy to cause yourself to have a panic attack. I used to induce one in myself during training workshops to show how to recovery rapidly from one. Don't try this at home, but the method was from a standing position, cross both arms over the chest and hang onto the opposite upper arm. Tighten the arms to put pressure on the chest, suck in the stomach, and start shallow rapid breathing. It takes about a minute to get into a run away panic attack.

Recovery is nothing more than relaxing the arms and stomach, and moving to slow deep breathing (around 6 breaths/min).



Yep, I know I'm weird, but this is why I haven't needed anti-anxiety meds during my implants and replacements.

By the way, I like the idea of yelling at it, Wenditt. Beside changing the brains activity it also gets you active which restores the blood chem balance, and slows breathing. I don't know if they would like that during surgery though. LOL

frank

I am learning

by The Fish - 2010-03-29 09:03:24

To both Wenditt and ElectricFrank
Well, thanks to people like you, I am learning so much. I didn't think I was capable of a panic or anxiety attack but now I know what they are, how they happen and yes I did have one. Wow, I feel better just knowing what happened. You people are truly wise and kind to share with me and others and help get me educated on how to cope. I didn't think much about ever having problems accepting this PM but obviously I am. I feel a little better just knowing what happened and how to try and cope if it happens again, heaven forbid. Hugs, thanks and kind wishes to you both.
Howard

Howard My good Friend

by brooke1803 - 2010-03-29 09:03:57

Hi hunny...
it was anxiety. I knowalot about anxiety lol and not like Frank there *rollseyes* lol. When I had my my chest episode a few weeks ago i went to my doc and told him i took a xanax to calm me down thinking thep ain in my chest was anxiety, it knocked me out but thr pain was still there in the AM.. he said let uhm put you on klonipin for the day time, it womt make u so sleepy and you can still function...and keep the xanax for night lol.

Now that i have the PM... i have been thanking my PCP like he is a God for the Klonipin... my anxiety gets the best of me during the day, and they are just enuff to knock the edge off. Maybe you need to make visit to your PCP (primary care physician) andsee about something like this for the bad days hun. There will be some..and very unexpected like u had on sat. I am sorry it happend. BUT i am happy you feel better. Be careful my friend. :) If ya need anything I am just a messagge away.

Brooke

You know you're wired when...

Your device makes you win at the slot machines.

Member Quotes

I am 100% pacemaker dependant and have been all my life. I try not to think about how a little metal box keeps me alive - it would drive me crazy. So I lead a very active life.