Help! Anxiety & Panic is taking over!

[AlexFlorida]

Hello. I suffered from anxiety attacks and panic disorder when I was in my late teens and early 20’s. I was extremely scared & terrified of death and dying in general! I was treated with medication & I was able to go on with my life pretty well and normal, until now! I’m 46 years old & just recently everything for me has changed! A little over a month ago I got a Septoplasty surgery done overseas (I don’t have medical insurance here in USA). 10 days after the surgery I went to see a primary doctor to get a full check up with blood work etc. During this check up the doctor heard something that was off in my heart with a stethoscope. The doc sent me to get an eco exam. In this eco exam they found I have a small hole in my heart which is called Atrial septal defect. It is a heart condition that I’ve had my whole life but I just found out about it for the 1st time. I did 2 separate exams & saw 2 different cardiologist to confirm! Ever since I received this news I’m a complete mess. I’ve been to the ER (here in the US) twice in the last two weeks and I’m struggling with anxiety attacks & panic attacks every day, all day long! So far most of my exams have come back well (positive) especially everything that is heart related. My heart condition does have a repair and I’m in the process of getting medical insurance to move forward with the procedure. There are two ways of making the repair…. One is a simpler procedure with a catheter usually done through the grion, while the second is open heart surgery! In the mean time I’m having trouble going through my day to day life! I feel pain in my chest, my heart, it feels like my heart is going to stop at any moment, I have trouble breathing well (remember my nose is semi-blocked due to my recent surgery), I feel dizzy, weak, faint, I can’t stop thinking about everything that’s happening…if I’m going to die soon, I’m losing weight rapidly, I just want to sleep, I’m worried, scared, my legs and fingers feel numb or tingle, I feel out of breathe. I’m struggling going to work feeling like this and my day to day is very difficult! Please help me!

[Sillysausage234]

Might want to post on here too if you’re not already on it

[Sillysausage234 in reply to Sillysausage234]

healthunlocked.com/bhf

[AlexFlorida in reply to Sillysausage234]

Good morning. Thank you for answering. Thank you

[Sillysausage234 in reply to AlexFlorida]

Welcome,might help with your anxiousness to chat with others with the same diagnosis,good luck going forward.

[AlexFlorida]

Thank you so much

[b1b1b1]

You have had a very big shock caused by the diagnosis of your heart condition. You are also facing a major medical procedure to repair it. This would be likely to cause a pretty good amount of anxiety in even the most mentally healthy person. There is good news, however, and that is that the problem has been discovered before causing major damage, and also that there is a repair. My husband had two major open heart surgeries and several invasive procedures, so I know that these things are scary. They do, however work and are curative and, while your doctor will tell you the risk percentage, it is likely to be very low.

You should strongly consider anti-depressants. In fact, cardiologists often advise patients who have had heart surgery or major heart procedures to take them, as studies have found that patients taking anti depressants do in fact recover faster. (I know this from my husband's cardiologist.)

I hope you will be able to have the procedure or surgery as soon as possible, as this will relieve most of your anxiety. In the meantime please try to take anti-depressants. Also, as was suggested by Silly Sausage, go to the heart site. You can also ask your cardiologist if there are any recovered patients that you can speak to about their experience. Again, from my husband's experience I know that some doctor's will facilitate this.