I recently received a shock from my ICD at a mainline station in London and spent 2 nights in hospital. My device went off as I was in tachycardia which was 240-260 beats. My condition had been well controlled, following treatment about 8 years ago. I’ve always been an active person doing weights, cycling and running and have excercised within the bounds of advice for the last 8 years. I also have quite a busy job and family life.
Since my shock I’ve been absolutely hit for 6. I’m adjusting to new meds, have felt slow and am scared to go out. On the one hand I understand it’s natural but on the other it really feels like I’m letting people down and at times I feel like a bit of a fraud. I’m also thinking a lot about the future and whether I need to slow down and take a different job and whether I’ll be able to train again. I know I just need to focus on building back up over the next few weeks but I’d quite like to be clear as I’m worried that my lifestyle has caused my heart to deteriorate and I don’t just want to slide back in to normal life and find myself here again in eight year in a worse position.
I’d be interested in hearing from anyone who has a similar story and is further down the line as well as any advice generally.
Thank you in advance 😀
Written by
ShaneDullerhit
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Sorry to hear about your experience, but if you're still adjusting to new meds and suffering such anxiety... Is it really the time to be thinking about all those things? Nice people always feel they are letting others down. You will soon get back on your feet, your thinking process will begin to work better, and your anxiety will calm. It sounds like you were just keeping fit and healthy, with a positive attitude. These things can happen to anyone at any time.
HI I had a shock a year after my ICD was fitted. Walked into the hairdressers sat in the chair and it shocked me. Wow great that it worked but I just didn’t see that for a long time. I just went into anxiety about everything. I basically fell apart.
What I did learn though was. it just takes time. Time is incredible. I did have lots of therapy. I had never had anxiety around my health before. I have been diagnosed with cardiomyopathy for 35 years. I used to fear another shock. It wasn’t the actual shock I feared it was the fear I feared. Then I realised I just had to accept and realise that what ever is going to happen, I will deal with it then. And there will nearly always be somebody there to take care of me. Just like there was for you when you had your shock.
Thank you so much. That bought a tear to my eye. It’s confusing as to why it is such an emotional experience and I really relate to the feelings you express below
One more week on I’m feeling a lot better m, I’m going for short walks, the anxiety is lower and I’m thinking about gradually returning to going out more and work as time goes on
I'm sorry to hear your ICD has shocked you, even though you know it's doing its job & that's why you have it, it really messes with your mental health. My husband had his ICD 10 years before it shocked him.
Is cardiac rehab open to you? That helped my husband a lot in building up his confidence, he was also lucky to get support from the local hospice. The hospices are not just for end of life, they are fantastic in talking you through your concerns, how to address any worries re your job, money, exercise, breathing exercises, etc it's really worth contacting your local hospice to talk it through with them.
Whether or not you'll be able to do weights again will be down to your medical team to say, but I doubt your lifestyle caused your ICD to shock you especially after 8 years and your ICD is programmed to differentiate between a fast HR due to exercise and an irregular HR, you definitely haven't let anyone down.
If you do Facebook at all I highly recommend a group called
Fantastic group of people who've been where you are today & will share their experiences with you & how they've overcome/come to terms with what has happened.
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