advice on sca

[sultan1]

hi my name is helen I'm looking for a little help 4 weeks ago I went into sudden cardiac arrest while in intensive care had al tests done my heart seems fine what is the chance of this happening again as I wasn't given any support advice before I left hospital and I'm sure I need to make changes but what

[Andyman]

Go back and see them or go to your GP.

[sca2013]

Hi Helen - Sorry you went through that. After my sudden cardiac arrest experience, I have done a few things that seem to have helped me both understand and figure out what to do going forward, so I felt like I had some control over the situation. First I got a copy of my medical records with all of the doctor's notes, test results, etc. I found what they told me verbally was really limited. It gave me a reference point to help me understand what had happened and what they recorded about it. As an example – they told me everything looked good. In fact, my heart looked better now than it had 12 years earlier, when I had an ischemic event, in my case a mild heart attack. They concluded that what had happened was I had an exaggerated vasovagal response and my system failed to maintain a minimum heart rate, like it is supposed to and my heart stopped, along with everything else Dec 2013.

Since I sustained a brain injury as a result of the lack of oxygen and a grand mal seizure during my sudden cardiac arrest I have done the following:

1.Rest whenever I get tired or take a break from what I am doing

2.Get at least 7-8 hours of sleep

3.Take naps

4.Meditate

5.Exercise – in the beginning it was just short walks of 5 minutes or less. Now 2 and a half years later I can walk for about 20 minutes at a time. I am also doing some strength training.

6.Acupuncture has been a regular treatment and has helped me tremendously

7.Diet – staying away from white things. Plenty of fruits, vegetables, fish, chicken, avocados, etc.

8.Omega 3 – Fish oil

9.Magnesium 800 mg day

10.Multi-vitamin and mineral

11.Buteyko Breathing therapy - This has been a huge help and not what you may think.

I found there are no guarantees in life, however we can take control and do the things we know about to the best of our abilities and hope for the best. Wishing you all the best. Please feel free to contact me if you questions.

Craig

[sultan1 in reply to sca2013]

thankyou for your reply I have noticed I'm still very tired and just want to sleep all the time looks like I'm going in the right direction but getting very frustrated people close won't let me do anything its been 5 wks now tell me they will stop soon 😢

[sca2013 in reply to sultan1]

The people around you are fearful of losing you and are trying to prevent it from happening again in their own way. Sounds like they could benefit with more information about what happened, recovery and what to expect and how to best support you in this so they can get out of the fear. Did the doctors determine what the cause of your cardiac arrest was? And if so, what was their solution, if any? For example, in my case my stress level was way too high, my heart did not maintain the automatic minimum heart rate when I fainted. No other cardiac problems were found. The solution was implanting a pacemaker that kicks on whenever my heart rate drops below 45 bpm. Then lifestyle changes to reduce stress. Which meant going from 50-60-hour work weeks to 20-25 hour per week, meditation, exercise, relaxing, spending more time with friends and family.

Also how long were you without oxygen or was it before they revived you? Do you if you sustained anoxic brain injury or not? Sometimes it is apparent right away, but shows up within a few minutes to weeks afterwards. This would cause you to feel tired all the time too. If you did sustain a brain injury, if you are in the UK, call the Headway organization, an excellent resource for creating your new life after a brain injury. They might even have information about another organization for sudden cardiac arrest survivors.

[sultan1 in reply to sca2013]

thankyou for giving me a little understanding on how my close relatives feel so I will keep this in mind I know very little on what happened that day all I know is cpr was started almost instantly after I collapsed

[sultan1 in reply to sca2013]

another question boy u gonna get fed up with me its been a few weeks now and I'm still feeling breathless which is making me panic as my husband and me have been through enough is this a normal thing

[sca2013 in reply to sultan1]

No problem, ask away. I know from my own experience how hard it is to get useful information. I'm glad to help any way I can. I'm not sure about the breathless. Did they do CPR on you? If so, it may be something got pinched and is not allowing you to breath right. I had some weird sensations sometimes when breathing or just sitting and sometimes when I was just moving around somewhat normally for a few months. Not sure if you have access to chiropractic care or not, but it may be worth a consult about it with one. Sure has helped me. Has your regular doctor given you any help with your breathing concerns? Here is a website bountifulbreathing.com/ specifically about breathing that may be of some help. It is based on the work of Dr Buteyko, an expert on the subject. I am working with John Poulton from the website. He is certified as a Buteyko Practitioner. I have also visited with him at his office. He told me that many of his clients all work with him via the web. The proper breathing actually helps many more things than I could ever have imagined. See what you think. It might be worth a try for you. Best wishes.