I am depressed

Hey listener,

I am depressed. Not in a mental sense but exhuasted from having this ICD since jan-2008 and from having to be aware of it everyday. The normal things that we are unable to do are beginning to overwhelm me. Like Im salty about this whle thing still. I am a public figure that has a workload that incurs my servitude. It is 2 yrs and almost 2 moths and Im still vexed and Im still tired. The last time I saw my Dr he said see you next year and I dont even bother to call the cardiologist or the surgeon because all they know is that my readings are fine. But I dont feel fine not in my body, reg symptoms like light headedness and short breath sometimes. And I feel like why bother. My family and my friends are as sympathetic as they can be but I think they are wearing out themselves....thanks for listening I just needed to vent

6 Comments

Sorry to hear that things not

by janetinak - 2010-02-27 03:02:12

going well. I believe you should go to Cardio & demand that they readjust your settings so you can feel better. Not sure what "salty' means by given the rest of your post it doesn't seem like its good. By the 2 yr mark you should be feeling better than you do. Be interested to see what some of our ICD-ers say. I am a PM-er.

Hope you can get a handle on this & feel better,

Janet

hey shocked

by jessie - 2010-02-27 04:02:29

the thing is we know our bodies....if you go back you will see pm or icd some people have gut feelings something is wrong...right now i am dealing with pain in my right shoulder () and my p.m. is on my right side. pain that becomes excruciating and when i take advil and tyl and aleve i can get it calmed. there is i know something going on. i have a hard time with people not listening. i had one extraction on that side and still have pain . i asked and he sent me to a guy in london who only looks at teeth with root canal to see if they have gone awry. well the trip to london in the freezing cold with snow blowing you may as well have a full tank of gas a picnic and pull off the road for a few days.seriously can't the normal dentist decide which tooth is bad?any suggestions??am at my wit's endthen i was told by his nurse it might be sinus. nice eh??jessie

Shocked

by SMITTY - 2010-02-27 10:02:01

You now have the option of trying to get something done about your situation or you can go on feeling bad, being depressed and wearing out your family. The ball is in your hands.

For starters so long as you let your doctor go on thinking everything is fine with you, you are the one that will pay the price. A doctor has two ways of knowing a patient with a pacemaker needs help. One is during a checkup they can see things are not right, but that happens so rarely it hardly warrants mentioning. The other way is the patient tells them things are not right time and time again, if necessary.

Some times we need to give our a doctor the mule treatment to get their attention. In case you are not familiar with that treatment I'll tell you a little story. When I was a kid 70+ years ago I lived on a farm and mules were used to plow some cotton and corn fields. Well a mule can be the most stubborn beast on earth and refuse to follow commands or requests. When this happened they were hit between the eyes with a big stick, a 2" X 4" X 4' is perfect for this treatment. The harder you hit them the quicker you get their attention. Once you get their attention, they would do what you asked for the remainder of that day.

Now, I'm advocating that you hit your doctor with a 2 X 4, although I have seen some I would like to have used one on. The way you can get their attention is by contacting them or their staff every day until you get what you need done to your pacemaker. In other words be a royal pain in the rearend. You must remember that doctors are busy and it is usually "out of sight out of mind."

Like it or not, it will be up to you to get the help you need even if that means going to another doctor.

Good luck,

Smitty

Is your rate response on?

by Hot Heart - 2010-02-27 12:02:04

Hi there, I am so sorry that you still dont feel too well. The symptoms that you are exhibiting sould very similar to how I felt until last October, I'd been pacing a year and I was getting out of breath, legs felt heavy when I was walking up hills and it really was getting me down. Then I read some posts in here about rate response, apparently most peoples are turned on automatically, but when I asked mine hadnt, and the tech actually tried to persuade me not to get it turned on, saying that lots of people dont like it. She said i'll put it on for you but I bet you'll be back in the morning asking for it to be turned off again.

HOW WRONG WAS SHE????? OMG almost the minute she turned it on I felt better, I almost ran back up the hill to the car, met my daughter, went to a pop concert (the nolans I'm ashamed to say) lol, danced all night and have felt brilliant for the last 4 months, much more in tune with what the other people in here say that you should feel like after getting a pm. I do hope that it is just this, do ask if you are on or off.

If your RR is already on then I dont know what to say really, other than it is scarey when we get our pm, and this can depress us, we need to try and forget that we have it, I know better said than done.

Good luck HH

Re: I am depressed

by brucerob - 2010-02-27 12:02:19

I can certainly understand why you are depressed. There is so much more to our health than just the readings form an interrogation and the performance of an ICD. I am very concerned about the attitude of your doctors, if I took my car to a mechanic and received that kind of service I would be looking for a new mechanic.

Your doctors should want to know what is going on in your body and communicate with you. Both my cardiologist and GP have talked to me over the phone and told me to get to their office or ER when needed. My cardiologist even gave me his cell phone number.

Best wishes with your health issues, Bruce

pacer drs

by LaDonna Tidwell - 2010-03-12 11:03:59

my 16 yr ride on 100% dependence has been a ball rolling down.im om my seventh pacer and the longest any of them lasted was three yrs.now i have a bunch of old wires inactive just stabbing me allways . if there sticking out of my skin there sticking in. my pacer drs wont do anything. my regular dr says they have to come out but no drs in tx will touch me because of neglect. they are a small group and they will not cross each other even if it means death......... so i say go see another dr and u no your body and it is telling the truth. good luck god bless. im looking myself outside of tx.let us no what happens

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At age 20, I will be getting a pacemaker in few weeks along with an SA node ablation. This opportunity may change a five year prognosis into a normal life span! I look forward to being a little old lady with a wicked cane!