Wolff Parkinson White syndrome triggers Anxiety attacks

[jr300]

Hello I'm a 48 year old male, who has WPW. I was first diagnosed with this 25 years ago. Before this, as a teenager, I can remember having a few incidences. Which I simply dismissed as light headedness, or almost fainting spells. Over the past few years, I've been experiencing these symptoms on a more regular basis. I've also noticed that they can be directly tied into, fatigue, and stress. For example, I'm tired and have to drive somewhere. The stress of dealing with traffic, sets off my WPW. Now I'm scrambling to get the car off the road, for fear of loosing control of the vehicle. Which adds more stress, which in turn accelerates the WPW, which in turn causes an anxiety attack. After talking to my cardiologist, he said, that I need to deal with my anxiety. As I am not a candidate for ablation. He said that I'm caught in a vicious circle, where my WPW is setting of anxiety attacks, and vice versa. So my question is, What would be the best  medication for dealing with this. I have done several years of counselling with little or no result. I was prescribed anti depressants, which made things worse, constant state of anxiety, and agitation, with all the WPW symptoms.  And severe insomnia. So I didn't take those for too long. Right now I take 0.5 mg. of Ativan as needed, and this seems to work for the most part. But this is dealing with the anxiety end of things, which seems to take care of the WPW symptoms as well. I was wondering if there is something that I can take on a daily basis. That I won't build a tolerance to, or a dependancy on. I would appreciate any info, or opinions, on this matter.

Thanks

[Sazzy07]

I can understand your situation. I will suggest go for Cardiac electrophysiology study (EP test or EP study) to pin point the location of the cause of WPW. Sometimes ECG may not tell the complete story. And for anxiety you may take help of yoga & breathing exercise to control & prevent it. Good luck to you.

[adrianalipez]

can u apply for ssi if u have wpw ....my daughter was diagnose with wpw

[jr300]

I'm I British Columbia. Therefore we have a one fits all medical system. We do not have a private medical system. So the doctors have the last word. I have also undergone extensive testing. In fact so many tests, that I can't even begin to recall all of them. And yes I have had an EKG with SVT. I'm just wondering if anyone has found themselves in a similar situation, and how they have dealt with it. And as I said previously, the medical system is not prepared to do anything until it becomes life threatening. Therefore i'm stuck in WPW limbo.

[tom_h]

I would love to know how they know you're not a candidate for an an ablation without going in and pinpointing the location.  Have you ever had a full lead EKG while in SVT?  Perhaps with all the angles, they can locate the location.  But as Michelle indicated, I don't she or I have ever heard of such a thing before.  I had an ablation 2 years ago for 54 years of AVRT of which WPW is a type of.  I spent a week in the hospital back in 1971 long before EP studies and ablation were around.  I had a battery of tests along with a heart catheterization; leading edge back then  I left there with instructions to modify my lifestyle, similar to what you're being told to do.  Much easier said then done.  If I were you, I'd go,after a third opinion, or find out how they know that it can't be performed on you.

[jr300]

Thanks for the responses. This is the second cardiologist that I've seen. I just saw him two weeks ago. I'm not a candidate, due to the location of the pathway. I've been told this by both cardiologists. I've also been told that since I'm not blacking out, that they won't be doing anything. But if I start blacking out, then they would do surgery. What that would entail, I have no idea. But my aunt was in the same situation as me, except, she was blacking out. So they did surgeries, and installed a pacemaker as well. Both cardiologists have told me that I need to control, my adrenaline. As this is almost 100% of the cause of my WPW incidents. Hence the ativan. The anxiety only sets in once the WPW has hit it's peak. Then the anxiety releases more adrenaline, which makes the WPW worse to deal with.No WPW symptoms,no anxiety.No stress, no WPW. So it's a snowball effect. That's why I was asking about medications, and if anyone has had any experience.  

Thanks

[Midijane]

I've always been under the impression that anything taken for anxiety on a daily basis has the potential to cause addiction. But if it were me, I would also have a Rx for Ativan or Xanax for the times it is needed. Sometimes a little extra help is just needed.

WPW "is" scary and I can see how it would cause a panic attack... don't blame you one bit for feeling that way. The only thing I offer regarding anxiety bc of this... is to remember that you have made it through these attacks before and will continue to make it through again. Don't let the panic take over, stay in control and know how tough you are to have dealt with WPW for this long. You've got this :) !!!

[MichelleP_3811]

Oops that should have read until my forties.  

[MichelleP_3811]

What leads your doctor to believe you are not an ablation candidate and when did he tell you this, recently or in your 20s?  Have you done an ep study and found that the issue is too hard to reach?  I know when we are younger and don't have symptoms that often an ablation may not work because it is hard to induce the arrhythmia but as we age we can become more active and a successful ablation becomes more promising.  I would say seek out a second opinion as well just to be certain.  Though I do hope someone else jumps on because I really don't have any advice on medicine.  I never went on any for mine.  I simply dealt with my episodes without really anyone knowing there was anything wrong until my twenties when it started to disrupt my life and then I had an ablation but mine was for avnrt and is one of the easiest types to fix. I know wpw is also fixable so just wondering why you aren't a candidate but I do hope you can get some useful advice on meds.  Take care.