Worried wife

[WendyD]

Hi there,
Please could anyone tell me if they still had panic/anxiety attacks after surgery, a few months on ?
Ernie had AVR end March, cardioversion for AF mid May, last week had to have an IV diuretic (on top of the diuretic in tablet form) to remove excess fluid.Blood tests came back fine except he is still slightly anaemic, but very much better than he was post op. and his INR is sitting at around 3
This morning he woke up at 4.00am with a panic attack similar to what he had in hospital post surgery,where he feels he can't breathe and has to sit up or walk about. We both stayed up and eventually he calmed down and he left for work a little while ago.
(He has been back at work for 4 weeks now.)

Any thoughts would be most welcome.
Thanks
Wendy

 

[Nancy]

Hi Wendy-

Gosh, I'm sorry to hear about such things. I have a couple of thoughts. Since you mentioned that your husband had to have IV diuretics on top of his diuretic pills, I am assuming that he is having active congestive heart failure with lots of fluid retention.

If that is the case, it may be that he cannot breathe well laying down and feels the need to sit up to get his breath. He really needs to see his doctor to rule out any fluid in his lungs. I wouldn't wait on this at all. He may need even more diuretics to straighten things out.

The other thing that comes to mind is that depression and anxiety can happen after any heart surgery. It's been well documented that it happens. So that's a possibility as well.

Some people have had pleural or pericardial effusion after surgery too.

Breathing difficulties have to be taken seriously by all concerned. Do not let the doctor shuffle him off as having anxiety until his fluid problems are looked into with great care.

These conditions can be helped but need immediate attention. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

 

[jeffp]

Please could anyone tell me if they still had panic/anxiety attacks after surgery, a few months on ?

Oh yeah...I never had them before, but my 1st few were in the ICU as the pain meds would wear off. Then they'd give me more meds and the cycle would repeat. I finally realized what was going on and refused the pain meds. Had a few at totally random times during the next few months. Nothing to relate what brought them on. Fortunately they have been less and less as the weeks go by. They are kinda freaky, ain't they.

 

[Debrinha GT]

That's awful!

That's awful!

Now that I come to think of it, I think I experienced something like that while in ICU after my third heart surgery nearly ten years ago. I remember I just wanted to get out of there, but every time I got really anxious about it and felt my heart was beginning to race, I would tell myself that I just had to calm down or they would keep me there longer. I remember there was this very nice and caring male nurse whom I called Zé who was always around when I needed. I would tell him that seeing all those people coming in from surgery trying to break away from the tubes and machines was very scary and I needed to get out. He made sure he kept me well informed of what was going on and told me that as soon as possible they would take me to a regular room. I also think that if your husband has had to go through so much recently, it's only natural to feel that way. His brain's playing tricks on him and the slightest wee thing is enough to make him feel as if something else could go wrong at any time. We have this saying here in Brazil that says:" gato escaldado tem medo de água fria!" which basically means that if you've been through something bad, you'll avoid situations where it may happen again. However, it's not always in your hands, and I suppose that's what's been getting him down. Hope that helps.
Débora