ICD kicks

I just had my second defibrillator put in on August 3rd, and I was recovering really well until I got shocked on August 12th. Now I'm having panic attacks and lots of anxiety because I'm so scared it will shock me again. I also have this weird kicking feeling on the opposite side of my ICD. Every night at 1 AM my heart feels like it's slowing down, then I get three kicks 2 little ones then one big one and then my heart speeds up and then goes back to normal, but sometimes the kicking happens on days that I'm really tired. I know they're not shocks because I've felt that before and it's very different. Does anyone else have these same feelings?

5 Comments

ICVD kicks

by azkat - 2012-09-07 04:09:13

hi, when im tired mine kicks. They adjusted it, it was thumping constantly, but now just when im over tired, or leaning forward sometimes. Dont worry about getting shocked, thats why you have it, it saved your life. Just relax and know its working.

Thank you!

by abigailwinthrop - 2012-09-08 05:09:25

Thank you so much everyone.

azkat, you really made me feel a lot better about the weird kicking in my side, it actually went away after I went to bed and got some rest!

ANGRYSPARROW, thank you so much for the advice on calming down. I'm 17 so I still have my mom around for everything and she has been teaching me how to calm myself down and I have an appointment with a therapist this month to get some more techniques. They did offer me medication for my panic attacks, but after taking it at night to help me sleep for about a week I decided I could handle it on my own. I really did just need a little support and a few explanations for what I was going through, and you really helped me out!

Don, I will message you!

PacerRep, the shock was completely appropriate. My heart stopped beating on the top and speeding up on the bottom so I got a little shock and it fixed that but then my heart started beating erratically (they said disorganized) I passed out, got a shock, and woke up really disoriented and had trouble with my vision. But, when I went to the hospital afterwards My cardiologist said he was thrilled because it did exactly what it was supposed to do! He put me on a higher dose of Coreg to decrease the amount of irregular heartbeats and that was it.


Ever heard of PTSD...

by donr - 2012-09-08 07:09:56

...Post traumatic Stress Disorder?

You are a prime candidate for it. You meet all the criteria for the malady. Google on "PTSD Symptoms." You'll get 10,000 answers. Read about it & see if you don't qualify. You have all the symptoms.

If you have any questions, send me a Pvt Msg. I've lived it for many yrs & can write a book on coping w/ it. Be glad to answer. This thing is fixable if caught early. Let it go on too long & it is harder to fix. At least you know exactly what caused your problem - getting kicked in the chest by a mule called an ICD.

As to the funny feelings at precisely the same time every night, ask your Cardio if that is when your device is sched to run its daily self test. What you are describing would reasonably match the tests it runs through. That is if your device has a PM capability, also.

Don

Was the shock appropriate?

by PacerRep - 2012-09-08 08:09:34

Did it shock you because you were having a fast heart rate? Did you feel like you were going to pass out before it shocked you? Get a copy of the episode everytime those things shock you and keep it for your records.

O.K

by PacerRep - 2012-09-09 01:09:49

Sorry that happened to you but happy to hear it had a positive outcome. We usually don't see life saving events that fast (9days) which is why the PacerRep in me started getting suspicious of bad programming. But if from what you described it did a good job.

Good luck, and try not to be afraid of it, its there to save your life. Give it a name. My favorite one I have heard so far is "Thumper"

You know you're wired when...

You have a maintenance schedule just like your car.

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