Pacemaker Club: New IDC

New IDC

by whydar
2013-11-22 05:11:18
ICDs
1963 views
1 comments

Good Day,

I had my IDC implanted on 10/11/13, on 11/9/13 I was shocked 3 times within 5 mins. I fell to the ground, I really lost control of my thoughts and emotions. It felt like someone was attacking me and there was nothing I could do about it. My husband heard the 1st shock from another room and when it was trying to keep me calm (poor man I scared him to almost death) he felt the 3rd shock. Bottom line I did not rest my arm enough (I was reaching upwards, backward, forwards etc...) and I pulled out one of the leads. I had to go back into surgery to reattach and now I have another round of recovery. I am terrified that this will shock me again, I am having thoughts of this foreign thing in my body and their tracking me. I am getting depressed because of lifestyle change, my thoughts are really out there. I decided to address my mental health and see someone. I wanted to share my experience and please rest and recover before extensive arm movement. I also would like any thoughts on the shocks, how am I going to get over this. I went to a hardware store a couple days ago and there was a end isle that was all magnets and started to panic. Afraid that this thing was going to shock me. Any input would be appreciated.

1 Comments

Hang in there

by cbaker - 2013-11-22 09:11:53

First, I agree with the previous writer that you should absolutely not blame yourself. In fact, if your doctor told you that it was likely your fault because you moved your arm too much . . . that's just wrong. It's certainly deflecting (blame, possible fault) on the doc's part. The lead might not have been implanted correctly.

You could reasonably ask for an x-ray (or fluoroscope) a month or so in, to check that the lead remains in position THIS time. and you can let your doc know that LOTS of people move their arm LOTS and don't dislodge a lead (been there done that).

As for the anxiety . . . it's very tough, but if you hang in there, you'll lick it. Try googling "inappropriate shocks" and "shock anxiety" along with the name Samuel Sears. (I'll try to look up the exact titles of the articles & post them.) Sears has written a lot about dealing with shock anxiety.

Good luck!