Still frightened

[momander]

I had a double bypass 7 weeks ago and all went well with no complications. Before this I had 2 stents that had collapsed resulting in 2carteries being deprived of oxygen. I was having angina attacks all the time so I was taken in to gospital and kept in till there was a cancellation amd I had my operation. Since 5th January I have been sleeping upright as when I lay flat I got angina attacks. My chest was sore and very tight when I was discharged so we hired a hospital bed which was brilliant. I am now feeling much stronger and am.yrying to sleep in bed. My fear is that of I lie down flat i Will get angina? I am so scared of this, even though I've been told my heart is now fine. Has anyone else felt like this? I'm ok propped up bit my mind wanders to dark thoughts when I lie flat .

[Hidden]

Hello

When you have been through a bad event it can leave some of us frightened and stop us doing things we used to do like sort of post dramatic stress disorder

I do not have the answer to if you get in bed will you get angina but feel it is doubtful even though your fear may make you feel slightly this way when you first try it

What I would do though as it is not great sleeping in a chair all the time is prop yourself up with as many pillows as you can feel comfortable with in bed so even though you are laying down you are still propped up as well and you may find this will help

If it does slowly you can eliminate the pillows over time but it is getting that confidence back first

Of course if you did find you got angina been in bed and it was not fear then you would speak with your Doctor but I think if you can give it a go you will be ok they have done the op now things are different they have said you are doing well just stay focused on the positives

Let us know how you get on x

[momander in reply to Hidden]

Thank tou so very much. Its early days yet I know I will definitely try the pillow idea.

[Hidden in reply to momander]

Hello

Let us know how you get on x

[Jako999]

Hi I’m now 9 months post quadruple, things have gone wrong and two have failed, like you I’m really scared of the future but we all have to try and live with our new life. Think about how much better you now feel then before and try and stay positive because of that.

I have been diagnosed with PTSD because of what happened to me and it also turns out my job has also had input, i’m now getting EMDR treatment which is helping. My health is sill falling apart but yours sounds like it’s going well you just need to have faith in yourself and ask for some help from your GP.

Hope you feel better soon.

[momander in reply to Jako999]

Hi Jako999 ,I am so so sorry to hear this!! Are you having another operation? I dont know much about the ins and outs of heart repair operations, so im guessing 2 of the repaired/ bypassed arteries havnt been a success? Were you unwell? Is that how you found out? It's early days for me so I'm just trying to be as positive as I can each day

I'm ok during the day but night time is when my mind wanders. I hope and pray that you can be " mended" please let us know what happens ( only if you want to) glad you are having help

I am a counsellor and have worked with people who have been diagnosed with/ suffer from PTSD . I don't use EMDR but know it is a very successful approach, especially with trauma. Take good care. You ate in my thoughts. X

[fishonabike]

As Be-Kind says, it is normal to be frightened after what you have been through

After my heart event i found that i struggled to breath when lying flat - sleeping propped up was the solution but it was not comfortable

So I did as Be-Kind suggested and gradually reduced the height of my piled up pillows as I improved and soon got back to sleeping flat

You could try experimenting by doing this during the day, go for a rest without the aim of falling asleep and gradually lower the pilllows. This will help you find a comfortable position which does not cause you chest pain while awake and should help ease your concerns

I hope you can get comfortable soon

[momander in reply to fishonabike]

Thank you so much!! I know it's all psychosomatic!! It's fear of past trauma!! What will be will be though and all I can so is live a healthy life. The rest us up to fate.

[fishonabike in reply to momander]

as a counsellor I'm sure you know that just because something is "psychosomatic" does not mean it's not real - something happened to trigger your concerns and it can take a while and more positive experience for you to accept that the trigger is no longer active, or adapt to it - the tricky bit is applying your professional skills to yourself!

[momander in reply to fishonabike]

Oh my goodness , how right you are!! The fear and anxiety is real that's for sure! Its all about trying to adopt a different mindset . Accepting what has happened and believing it has been a success and trying not to think it's going to be a failure. I do a lot of trauma work and also work with people who have intrusive thoughts. It's much easier being the counsellor than the client though !!

[fishonabike in reply to momander]

time for some self-care I think🌺