panic attack

I am on my second pacemaker in nine years. Medtronic is the best.When I had my heart attack the next day I went in Sudden Cardiac Arrest. After five jolts of juice & luckly to be in Cardiac Care Unit when it occured. I lost a little oxygen & since I have panic or anxity spells. I do not like large stores,lot of selections of items or speak in public. This one was odd to experience since I am a Librarian & spoke at schools, historical clubs etc.
I forget what I am talking about at times all of a sudden. I am afraid to speak to a group or even in front of a few people. My fear is forgetting in mid sentence. I can understand how a person can feel & my doctor calls it delayed antisocial anxeity.
I can take a 5 mg pill before the event but I still want to blend in the background. Another twist to my story I always loved reading books that is the reason to become a Librairan. It took me over two years to read a book by my favorite authur after my heart attack. I would carry a book with me every place but could not focus my thoughts. I retired my job & have a stack of new books just in case I become interested to read again. I had a lot of changes in my likes & dislikes like I came back another person. I did have a near death experience at that time.

3 Comments

Normal

by tsimbrow - 2010-01-30 11:01:52

This is completely normal after such an event. Please just try to relax and go on the "ride". I know "normal" is a relative term, but after such a near death experience and a small lack of oxygen, you are not going to come back to the way you used to be. you may be more anxious and you may feel like you are unable to be around other people and do what you used to do.
I had a near death experience 10 years ago and I still have not fully recovered from it. I had a life threatening staph infection and while I was in the hospital I don't remember anything, but from what was told to me, I wouldn't allow my family members to leave me alone even for a short time for them to grab a coffee or something. I needed someone with me at all times. When I came home I was like that still. It's 10 years later and although I'm doing better, I still have anxiety when I"m alone or even when I'm with someone. You have been through a tramatic time and you are going to need time to "heal". Take it. It will get better and easier in time.
Taryn

Cardiac arrest

by lenora - 2010-01-31 03:01:57

It's not unusual to have anxiety, personality changes and memory loss following a cardiac arrest. It has to do with temporary loss of oxygen to the brain mostly. We see this quite often in the cardiac intensive care unit post CPR and defibrillation. I agree you were lucky to have been in the best place to get immediate help that saved your life. Thank goodness for your Medtronic pacemaker too!

Memory Loss

by SMITTY - 2010-01-31 12:01:19

Hello Vernalane,

I'm not a medical professional, but I do know exactly what Lenora is talking about. I had quadruple bypass surgery 28 years ago and I had what I call severe memory loss which I was told was due to an oxygen deficiency to my brain. This occurred when I was being moved on and off the machine that took over the work of my heart while the surgery was performed.

I was in a line of work where memory was everything for me. Not only did I have memory loss, I went through the difficulty of talking, which I had to do frequently, because I would forget. As the years went by some of my long term memory returned, but not all and short term memory is a problem even today. The speaking problem has gotten better, but not back to where it was one time.

I'm 80 and I now have the benefit of being able to say the cause of my inability to continue my train of thought is a "senior moment." It may be but my senior moments started after my surgery at age 53. Well before I considered myself a senior. What has helped me is memorizing things, such as poetry, speeches, or math equations and working to recall all of these frequently. And I'll be the first to admit that may not help, but when I find that I can recall many lines of poetry, or some speech or how to solve a math problem, it makes me feel better. As for the speaking, I never pass on talking because of my inability to remember, and I have found that as time goes by I have fewer memory lapses.

But the worst part of all this is my long term memory loss. We have three sons that will be 60, 57 and 54 this year. One of them and my wife will be talking about something involving them when they were young and I cannot recall one iota of what they are talking about. They may as well be complete strangers talking about their past. But even that is good and bad. Some of the things my boys did-- well let's just say I'm glad I haven't been able recall them.

My only advice for you is to be patient as things can get better. Based on my experience they are not likely to get worse, because my worst time was about the first 3 or 5 months after my surgery.

I wish you the best,

Smitty

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