Anxity & Panic Disorder?

I am 30 year old female.I had my first pacemaker inplanted in 2002 due to super venticular tackycardia the doctor told me he was going to do electrophysology.and i would be fine and would not need a pacemaker.well during surgury i had av heart block and a pacemaker was implanted it was set 60 min beat and 100 highest beat.i felt fine for 7 years no issues at all.in july 2009 i went for check up and my battery was depleated i was rushed to hospital and a new pacemaker was implanted i felt fine up until feb 2009 when i went to go to sleep and my heart started to race with palpatations and i went to 3 hospitals and they ran all kinds of tests ekgs chest eray and echocardiogram.the last hospital keep me for 3 days and said i was having anxiety pannic attacks and gave me xanax and i felt fine.until i went home.then i found out from my cardiologist that my new pacer was not set the same way my old one was and i called to get apt to get it adjusted back he never called me back.so i went to my electrophysologist and he adjusted it from 60 lowest and 160 highest back to the sttings my old pacer was set to and he told me i still have fast pacing in upper chamber and would have to have ablation to fix but i would still need a pacer so i toldem leave it the way it is.well now i still suffer from heart palpatations and dizziness and i guess full blown pannic attacks i cant even be alone my feet turn purple and i sleep alot almost all day and night i have horrific nightmares and night sweats.they say this is due to the anxiety but i still cannot dismiss there is something else causing these issues plus i dont want to be on xanax it is already causing me to get addicted if anyone can help ease my racing mind and give me some info on some thing to help me i would greatly appreciate thank you alot kathy

4 Comments

hmmm

by brooke1803 - 2010-04-11 11:04:39

I would want to know what mg they have you on for xanax... i take xanax at night (i was originally prescribed 1mg daytime 2mg night time to sleep) but now only take 2 mg at night because i was so tiredall the time, and asked my PCP to give me Klonipin for the day. So I am not sleepy but anxiety is at bay. Its a possiblility that being rushed into emergency surgery for a dead battery could have sparked some sort of sub-conscience shock. Or fear. I know that with me, knowing I was sick for quite a while and passing out all the time..I had my neurologist tell me it was seizures and it turned out I got chest pain one day and the next was having emergency surgery for a PM. So it was yeah a shocker here!! So I have quite a bit of anxiety.

I'd say get onto your cardiologist..or get a new one. That man/lady sounds like crap for not getting back to you about things. And seems to not be real straight. I am not sure if I helped. But I do think you may need to cut back on your xanax or take Klonipin instead for anxiety. DEF. check into this more..the symptoms your having hunny dont sound good at all for your age.

Routine Procedure?

by ElectricFrank - 2010-04-12 02:04:44

This is my greatest concern about ablations. Having a catheter inserted into the heart and used to destroy tissue in the hope that it will prevent the conduction of an arrhythmia is NOT a trivial procedure. Keep in mind that finding that spot on the heart wall and then hitting it accurately is done in a wildly moving environment.

The other rarely mentioned issue is that destroying nerve tissue carries no guarantee that it will not start generating its own errant signals. This is similar to phantom pain in other areas of the body when nerves are cut.

The bottom line is that an ablation is a serious medical procedure that can be helpful or even lifesaving in some cases. It should not be taken lightly. Often multiple ablations are required to achieve an acceptable result. Of course this is routine for the surgeon.

The pilot who crashed in Russia was just carrying out a "routine approach' when he tried to land in a dense fog. He had likely done it successfully hundreds of times.

My opinion for what it is worth,

frank

Anxiety

by roy haycock - 2010-04-12 06:04:54

Firstly, I would like to comment on your less severe symptoms, that is palpitations and dizzyness.
The former are quite normal when you are anxious and, generally, are not a symptom of anything serious happening, but just an awareness of your normal heatbeat.
Dizzyness attacks are usually caused by having low blood pressure and ,unless you are actually losing consciousness , is again not serious. and so you should not get into a panic about them.
A few years ago I had similar problems, but also had AF and AT and this indicted other difficulties which meant that I needed an ablation. This was done and all my symptoms ceased, so you should not be overly worried if you need an ablation as it is now a routine procedure.
Your PM maximum setting of 100 seems low and in my case was set it 120, but has subsequently been increased to 130, withe lowest at 80, so your settings are best determinrd by your consultant/ technician,
Again these are quite normal adjustments which may take a while to sort out but should not cause you to become so concerned as to cause panic attacks.
However, the blue feet (and/ or really cold hands) are of concern because they indicate too low a blood pressure and so need investigating urgently. They could be influenced by your PM settings ,so I suggest you see an electro -physicist as soon as possible for their opinion and /or refrral to an consultant cardiologist.
Your panic attacks are making your symptoms appear worse than they probably are, so do try to relax and be calm.
I do hope this helps and that you will seek further medical advice asap.

Best Wishes.
Roy

Anxiety?

by ElectricFrank - 2010-04-12 12:04:20

Your symptoms sound too severe to just be anxiety. Blue feet are a sign of a severe lack of blood flow. I don't have a good feeling about the way they are flailing around with your treatment. Having said that your anxiety type reactions tend to cause most docs to try to get rid of you as a patient. They don't know how to handle the situation. If you were a doctor how would you handle a patient that is running from hospital to hospital.

Are you taking any other meds such as sleep aids? Some of them have nightmares or hallucinations as a side effect.

good luck,

frank

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