anxiety, weight loss

I am writing for my mom, who is 89. She had a pm implanted early 12/08 and she feels she is "not herself". Has always been calm and easy going. Has lost weight since pm, depressed, and quite anxious. Dr. prescribed remeron and xanax, but the combination makes her so sleepy. I try to be supportive and reassure her that she will feel more herself with time. She feels that she should "make" herself feel better and becomes more anxious and frustrated. Have read the posts of people experiencing anxiety, but has anyone had the weight loss problem? Thanks

3 Comments

Anxiety & Weight Lloss

by SMITTY - 2009-01-10 05:01:47


Hello,

I think you should take your mother back to the doctor that implanted her pacemaker and tell him just what you have posted here. In fact printing out a copy of your message and giving it to the doctor may be a good idea.

Your mother should not feel worse with after getting her pacemaker. Above all, I don't think her new PM should be responsible for her anxiety. If the incision has healed properly and she has full use of her arm, she should not even know that PM is there, except to make her feel better. No one should ever feel worse after getting a PM. Now with all that said, it does sometimes take a few trial and error sessions to get the best PM settings for a particular person. The doctor does have to include some guess work when making the decision for the initial settings. Sometimes these are not the best and that is why we usually have a checkup a few weeks after the PM implanting.

One other thing - I think this is important for you especially, as you will probably be the spokesperson for your mother - is that not all doctors pay enough attention to what is being said to them about a new PM. If at anytime you feel that your mother is not getting the attention she is entitled too, I suggest that you try the mule attention getter approach. In case you are not familiar with that procedure, you get a short club and hit him right between the eyes and when he wakes up you tell him to listen to your mother now. Of course I'm joking about hitting the Dr. but many of us with a new PM have felt the need to do such to get their attention.

As for her weight loss, I will make a GUESS on that. I guess she may not be eating as well she should because of her possible semi-zombie state from the the remeron and xanax. One of the side effects of remeron is reported to be weight gain and on the xanax they just say weight change, whatever that is supposed to mean. Either way, I don't think she should be losing weight just because she got a new PM.

I wish her the best,

Smitty

they go together

by Tracey_E - 2009-01-10 07:01:43

it's not surprising at all that she's losing weight. Part of anxiety and depression can be not eating enough, and the meds are making her sleepy which kills your appetite.

It takes a minimum of 4-6 weeks to feel yourself again after an implant, for some it's as long as 3-6 months. You didn't mention her overall health, but with her age I wouldn't expect her to bounce back overnight.

I'd talk to the doctor about the cocktail of drugs he has her on. A bit of depression after a cardiac diagnosis is normal and there's nothing wrong with a bit of pharmaceutical help to get over the hump, but if it's making her sleep all day it sounds like she's overmedicated.

You didn't mention why she got the pm, but if her hr was very low, it feels weird when it's back to normal. It's also possible that her settings need adjusted and that could be part of why she feels different. Please reassure her that everything she's going through is perfectly normal! Best of luck to both of you.

i know how he feels

by carmen - 2009-01-10 09:01:06

I also had a pacemaker implanted in early december. I have anxiety and depression that I never had before. I was not anxious to get the pacemaker. I also lost about 7 pounds the first 2 weeks . I had absolutely no appettite. My appettite has gotten better now, I have never in my life taken medicine for anxiety or depression , but now do. Not everyone feels better after apm. I think a large part of my problem was the medicine they gave me during the procedure, They really doped me up. I threw up on the way home and now one of my leads is detached. I still have not gotten it fixed. I hate to go through it again. I know exactly how your mom feels. try to have her drink lots of water to flush out the meds. I will pray we both get better soon. Good Luck!

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