Cardiac Arrest

[jowalk6]

I wonder if anyone out there can help. Last year I suffered a sudden cardiac arrest at home, and was on life support for 9 days. I have lost all memory for around 3 weeks before the incident and can only remember about the last 10 days of the 4 weeks i spent in hospital. Since coming home i find i have trouble with short term memory. Has anyone had anything similar and do they know if this could improve? Thank you for your time x

[es84]

Hi, I'm sorry to hear what you have been through, must have been terrifying for you and your family. I hope you have made a full recovery, other than your memory issues.

It is not uncommon to have missing memories from that period, one because of how unwell you were but also the effect of the drugs that are often used in an intensive care environment.

Short term memory loss is a real problem for people who have had a cardiac arrest, this can be because the area of the brain responsible for your short term memory is very sensitive to oxygen or lack of in the case of a cardiac arrest. Though over time you may see some improvements with this, it takes longer to see improvements than the physical health.

Have you been offered any follow up support from the hospital that cared for you? Some hospitals keep diaries for patients who are on life support to help fill in the gaps, and some invite you back for a chat about how you are coping and to see if you would benefit from further support, to discuss any fears or anxieties that may have arisen from your time in the intensive care unit. It may be worth having a chat to your GP if you haven't already to see if there is any therapy available to specifically help you with this.

Take care

Emma

[jowalk6 in reply to es84]

Thank you so much for your reply. The hospital didn't offer any counseling although they did say I could go back and be shown around the intensive careunit if iI wanted to x

[SirenShelley]

Speak to your GP - they can refer you to a Memory Clinic who can help you x

[jowalk6 in reply to SirenShelley]

Thank you I will look into that x