Panic Attack

Yes..

by USMC-Pacer - 2023-07-29 15:17:42

Shortly after implant #2, I had a few mostly when I first went to bed, or being awoken by them. When they removed my leads from my last device, I aquired hospital induced bi-lateral pneumonia and woke up several nights with shortness of breath. Even climbing stairs was too much and of course, being short of breath doing that would be made worse by the panic..  At the time I didn't know it was pneumonia and thought it was cardiac related which caused some panic bad enough one time I went to the ER and learned it was pneumonia, not my heart! It took me a while to get past that after the pneumonia resolved. It's scary.. good luck, hope yours passes too.

Panic

by Gotrhythm - 2023-07-29 16:27:10

Please read the discussion further down re: complex emotions and heart issues. You'll see that many of us have dealt with anxiety/panic attacks both before and after getting a pacemaker.

For now, just be aware that the attack may have caused the fast heartrate--or the fast heartrate may have caused the attack. In fact, what felt like a panic attack might have been an arrythmia. It's fairly common for people to have more arrythmias like PVCs which can feel very shocking/scary if you're not used to them. It can take a while until your heart can get used to being paced. Fortunately, the problem usually smooths out.

BTW--pacemakers can't controll a heart that's going too fast. The pacemaker can only speed up a rate that's too slow. My heart was still capable of going too fast for several years after I got the pacemaker. And yes, it does seem to happen out of the blue, and can be very uncomfortable.

The important thing to remember is that it is not being caused by the pacemaker, and it's not a sign that something is wrong with the pacemaker.

Me too

by Lavender - 2023-07-29 19:35:51

I had just one. It wasn't long after my pacemaker was implanted. I was just watching tv in the evening, and felt a slight sensation in my heart. It freaked me out and my blood pressure was high. I don't know what the trigger was, but it was enough to make me call the cardiologist emergency number. 
 

I was told to go to the ER and get checked-which made me even more nervous. 🫨 They kept me overnight for observation. I didn't sleep a wink because they kept checking me and my blood pressure. All was well. I blame it on post traumatic stress from getting the pacemaker. Never happened again. 
 

You are going to be fine. You are still healing. Be good to yourself. ❤️‍🩹😘