Panic Attacks? or worse

[mjl7743]

My husband has a defib fitted and on Friday had two painful shocks from his unit.  He has been suffering what I could only describe as panic attacks ever since.  He has been in bed frightened that it is going to happen again and is terrified if I go out of earshot.  He has recently had hisk defib pack checked and all was well, they recorded it having "saved his life twice".  He has also undergone a stress test in the last couple of weeks and passed easily.  I am stressed now because  as I suffer from several eye problems I am now unable to drive and we are some distance from the nearest supermarket.  We do fortunately have a son nearby but being proud pensioners of 65 and 69 we are not ready to plead for help.  If he is told he should not drive I really dont know what it would do to him, because I know how it has affected me.  Should he try some calming medication,, would that help? He is also insulin dependant diabetic (must just say here that he did 30 years in the army without a sick day off and since then nothing has gone right for him healthwise). Any encouraging assistance would be more than welcome. We are now living in France where the health service is fantastic but we are not fluent speakers!  C'est la vie

[kevk]

I have had four implantable defibrillators for near eighteen years now.  I know how your husband feels, I have been shocked twice also.  I had to take xnax (not sure of the spelling) It really helped me get through some rough times. I think everyone I know who have an ICD has gone through the anxiety thing.

I wish you guys the best of luck !  If I can help with anything just send a e-mail.

[mjl7743]

Thank you for your kind comments but it must be my age and if someone thinks it is funny that they are having panic attacks because of smoking pot then they should not be on what I thought was a serious medical forum.  My post was totally separate from my reply to him.    The update is so far that my husband has now been referred back to the hospital where they fitted the defrib (must learn how to spell it) and we are going there tomorrow.  

[tan1225]

I am sorry that young mans post upset you.. At first i was a little taken back by it but, I responded to him because panic disorder is very real and very scary.. In fact it can be debilitating and cause one to become housebound, afraid to leave the house.   If your husbands physician says that maybe an antianxiety pill will not harm him, i think it would be quite beneficial to him... They could even place him on a milder antidepressant that also sometimes helps anxiety and panic disorder..    I too agree that a posting on pot smoking is out of the norm for a discussion board, but the real issue is that somethign is happening to this young man as a result of smoking ..  Quick solution , we could tell him to stop but only he can decide that for him.
I hope your husbands anxiety lessens..   I cannot imagine what he is going through but I think as time passes , he will be ok