Still Anxious

Well, I am into my 7 th week of post pacemaker and still feeling odd. I am also doing PT who comes to my home. Doctor has decreased blood pressure omens over the next two weeks. 

I am seeing a therapist and taking Lexapro and one half tab of Xanax two times a day. Helps a little, but still anxious, not sure over what though. I want to get back to work, at least part time. I had a caregiver for a week, because I was so dizzy and it was bad. Wondering if this is just going to take more time to recover than I thought. I thought by now things would improve. 

I did fine going to see family over Christmas, which meant flying, went back to teaching my small groups of elementary kiddos and had to come home the second day. All is good with my pacemaker, blood pressure, etc. if this is anxiety and depression it is horrible.

thanks ,

kathie

2 Comments

Feelings and causes of feelings

by Gotrhythm - 2019-01-20 17:03:51

You're taking Lexapro, and Xanax twice a day, and you're still too anxious to function? You feel anxious but you don't know about what? And you're working with a therapist.

Something is not right. I wonder if you're having some feeling that you are labeling anxiety but that really isn't. For many years I had "anxiety," according to a lot of doctors. When I got a pacemaker I realized what I had was bradycardia-tachycardia. With tachycardia your heart races "for no reason." The feeling is indistinguishable from "anxiety."

And just so you know, the pacemaker can make a slow heart faster, but if the heart is beating fast on its own, the pacemaker will let it.

A long spell of PACs and PVCs also feel like anxiety, and it's not uncommon for them to make you dizzy or light-headed. The pacemaker doesn't cause PACs or PVCs but neither can it prevent them.

You also might want to look at the drugs you're taking. Blood pressure and other cardiac drugs in some people can have psychological side effects.

Regardless of what turns out to be the cause of this feeling, I can tell you this much with certainty, the more you allow anxiety--or any emotion/feeling--to control what you do, the more control it will have. The more you try to avoid anxiety, the more powerful the anxiety becomes.

Regardless of what turns out to be the cause, the only thing to do with anxiety is feel it, and do what you were going to do anyway. Remember, the anxiety isn't you. It's just a feeling. You can still decide what you will do. Even if you're shaking like a leaf, keep going.

Anxiety doesn't developed overnight

by mirandahesed - 2019-01-30 18:34:20

Hello Kathie,

I hope today you are feeling good. I wanted to mention that, having put a pacemaker is an adjustment both, physical and mental, feeling anxious is very normal. Specially going through the procedure, the , not knowing what is next and so on..

Anxious thoghts or anxitey however is a way of thinking, we react to certain thoughts, and we thinking the worse is going to happen, the what if?, are what leads all the questions we ask to ourselves, followed with the more chaotic scenario.
So the fact that your are anxious at the moment, it could be a nurmber of reasons, but I am pretty sure, you have been struggling with this for a while, way before your PM. 
So work with your therapist, find the root cause, mabye a cognitive therapy if possible, ask for mechanisms to cope with it. Anxiety won't be cured but it can be managed for you to have the helathiest life that you can have.

 

good luck and keep us posted!

You know you're wired when...

Your license plate reads “Pacer4Life”.

Member Quotes

I have had my pacer since 2005. At first it ruled my life. It took some time to calm down and make the mental adjustment. I had trouble sleeping and I worried a lot about pulling wires. Now I just live my life as I wish.