tranquilizers and afib

[Guest guest]

I could use some advice about tranquilizers and afib.

Originally I was taking Ativan, but stopped after I became physically

dependent on it although I was at a dose (1 mg a day) that my old

internist said couldn't cause addiction. The withdrawal process was

very difficult and drawn out over a month or more -- mini-seizures,

extreme shortness of breath, hypersensitivity to adrenalin, etc. So

that's ruled out, as are related meds (any benzodiazipine(sp?) like

Xanax.)

My cardiologist suggested Paxil. Of course, I am now worried about

any shrink-type med, as the folks in the benzo withdrawal group and

various news sources in general have a lot of bad things to say about

them. Also, one of the rare (5%?) side effects of paxil is heart

arrhythmias. Yikes.

I did try Paxil a month or so ago for about a week and it seemed to

have a calming effect even at 5 mg a day, which is a low dose. Then

I had to stop it since my pet was sick and I couldn't afford to be

sleepy, etc. I started on it again when I went into a week of in and

out of afib about two weeks ago, but it didn't seem to be doing

anything. My cardio says it takes maybe three weeks to kick in, so I

don't know how to explain the initial week.

I stopped it a week ago because I didn't know if it was contributing

to the afib.

Now I am eight days afib free, who knows why - the increased toprol

dose, having added digoxin, going off paxil, or calming down a little.

But anxiety is still my almost constant companion, and that is not

helping my heart, either handling the blips that happen thru the day

that cause me to think I may be starting afib again, or maybe the

anxiety is increasing the number of blips, and the quality of my life

is impaired.

So I would welcome any advice about what folks do about

tranquilizers. (Ellen, the relaxation tapes are in the mail on their

way to me :-)

Thanks,

Trudy

[Guest guest]

Trudy:

In my opinion - (and only my opinion) - if it were me I would wait and give

the tapes a chance..........

I was on every possible Tranquilizer out there - I can't even remember what

they were. I hated the feeling.......I do remember the last one they put me

on - it was Wellbutrin - and my hair started to fall out in clumps!! The

doctors all argued that this was not one of the side effects of Wellbutrin;

but I called the manufacturer and they confirmed that they have had some

complaints about loss of hair. Against my doctor's wishes, I took myself

off of it (very gradually) and told myself that I would never take another

tranquilizer. And it's a long gradual process to come off of ALL of them.

I went from tranquilizers to the tapes - with much success!

Trudy, this is just my opinion - again, we are all very different! I am

sure there are some of our members who have had good experiences....but not

me!!

Ellen

68 NC

(PS) My hair did grow back - but it was scary!

********************

----- Original Message -----

(big snip So I would welcome any advice about what folks do about

> tranquilizers. (Ellen, the relaxation tapes are in the mail on their

> way to me :-)

********************

[Guest guest]

Hi,

I'm not an expert so...

I do get panic attacks...usually cause i'm way to focussed on my

heart rate...and if it's over 120 i get scared i might go into Afib...and i

get more panicky...etc..etc.

I was on paxil for two weeks..and it completely freaked me

out, in retrospect i probably started on way too high a dose.

I had a load of unpleasant side effects, metal taste in my

mouth and so on. But my heart rate slowed down quite a

lot...no going into afib from it.

Paxil is one of the SSRI family, prozac etc..etc.

It takes at least 3 weeks to kick in in terms of mental

effects/benefits...but physically it kicks in right away.

Some people benefit grately from it and have a huge

reduction in anxiery and panic attcks...

Other people don't respond well to it at all....

Coming off paxil can be hard aswell...mostly because

anxiety tends to return.

To Kathy

Xanax is from the benzo family...and it is 'addictive'...and coming

off them can be seriously hard.

And through time the body needs more and more to get the

same results.

I do have have xanax and another slower working benzo in

the house.

But i refuse to take them unless things get seriously out of

hand...which means only when in Afib, which always triggers

one hell of a panic attack for me.

My reasons to not take them daily:

I don't want to become dependant physically and i don't want

to depend on it mentally...

xanax is a fast working benzo...

There's no reason to take xx number of them a day...

Sure..your anxiety will be less all day but the price is dependancy.

I have a few panic attacks a week...and i can manage without

meds most of the time.

Please don't get me wrong, I'm not saying you're doing it wrong

cause everyone is different and i can't judge how you feel, if you

need it you need it.

But if you can manage it try to only take the xanax when you really

need it...when anxiety is peaking or when you're in a panic attack...

either a " normal " panic attack or one caused by the Afib.

And try other ways to reduce anxiety, meditation, those relaxation

tapes..etc..etc.

Maybe your GP or cardio can advice you more on alternatives..

like seeing a shrink for a few sessions who can tell you more

about learing how to relax, no shame in that.

All that being said, i'm still struggling myself in finding a real

solution for it all.

I'm most likely going to be stuck with the Afib forever, unless

i get an ablation...

The hardest thing is accepting it and stop being affraid of it...

cause mostly i'm affraid of just dropping dead from Afib.

Take care,

Willem

At 22:51 12-10-2001 +0000, trudyjh@... wrote:

>I could use some advice about tranquilizers and afib.

>

>Originally I was taking Ativan, but stopped after I became physically

>dependent on it although I was at a dose (1 mg a day) that my old

>internist said couldn't cause addiction. The withdrawal process was

>very difficult and drawn out over a month or more -- mini-seizures,

>extreme shortness of breath, hypersensitivity to adrenalin, etc. So

>that's ruled out, as are related meds (any benzodiazipine(sp?) like

>Xanax.)

>

>My cardiologist suggested Paxil. Of course, I am now worried about

>any shrink-type med, as the folks in the benzo withdrawal group and

>various news sources in general have a lot of bad things to say about

>them. Also, one of the rare (5%?) side effects of paxil is heart

>arrhythmias. Yikes.

>

>I did try Paxil a month or so ago for about a week and it seemed to

>have a calming effect even at 5 mg a day, which is a low dose. Then

>I had to stop it since my pet was sick and I couldn't afford to be

>sleepy, etc. I started on it again when I went into a week of in and

>out of afib about two weeks ago, but it didn't seem to be doing

>anything. My cardio says it takes maybe three weeks to kick in, so I

>don't know how to explain the initial week.

>

>I stopped it a week ago because I didn't know if it was contributing

>to the afib.

>

>Now I am eight days afib free, who knows why - the increased toprol

>dose, having added digoxin, going off paxil, or calming down a little.

>

>But anxiety is still my almost constant companion, and that is not

>helping my heart, either handling the blips that happen thru the day

>that cause me to think I may be starting afib again, or maybe the

>anxiety is increasing the number of blips, and the quality of my life

>is impaired.

>

>So I would welcome any advice about what folks do about

>tranquilizers. (Ellen, the relaxation tapes are in the mail on their

>way to me :-)

>

>Thanks,

>

>Trudy

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>Web Page http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AFIBsupport

>For more information: http://www.dialsolutions.com/af

>Post message: AFIBsupport

>Subscribe: AFIBsupport-subscribe

>Unsubscribe: AFIBsupport-unsubscribe

>List owner: AFIBsupport-owner

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 10/13/2001 10:18:49 AM Pacific Daylight Time,

wsa30@... writes:

<< i'm affraid of just dropping dead from Afib. >>

Willem,

I can understand that fear. Eighteen and a half years ago, I had anxiety

attacks because I, too, was afraid of dropping dead from what I perceived as

an imminent heart attack. It was fourteen years later that I found out that

those weird sensations of the large mammal flopping around in my chest were

afib. Why did it take so long to discover the afib? Every time I had an ECG

or Holter monitor report, my heart would behave in a perfectly normal

fashion. I think the docs thought I was fabricating or ready for a shrink.

Finally I dropped all my activities and took myself to a lab in the middle of

an afib episode, and the afib was confirmed. By then I suspected afib

because my brother had been diagnosed with afib in 1989 after an unknown but

long time in afib. By 1989 he had been in permanent afib for a time on which

the doctor could only speculate. After feeling his wild pulse, I realized

that my pulse was similar during my strange " attacks, " and, therefore,

suspected afib.

My point in writing about this ancient history is to ease your worries about

dropping dead in the near future. Here I am, after eighteen years of afib,

alive and leading a very active life. The same applies to my brother, who is

also leading a normal, active life. (He never went through the anxiety

syndrome but simply went on with his life and paid little attention to his

weird heartbeats in the beginning. His stoicism is probably the exception

rather than the norm though.) He has never even taken Coumadin in all those

years but now takes aspirin.

This leads me into the only real fear justified by afib. It's highly

unlikely that the afib will kill you, but the afib could cause a stroke which

might seriously change your life. If you are taking Coumadin, that fear

should be lessened. If you aren't taking Coumadin, you probably should

discuss it with your doctor, but don't panic. My mother, father, and brother

have all suffered afib for years without the benefit of Coumadin, and none

had a stroke. I'm the only afibber in the family who has taken Coumadin, and

I have only taken it for the past two and a half years.

Considering all the panic attacks I have suffered over afib, I wish I knew

eighteen years ago what I know now: that lone afib is rarely a killer. If

you don't have other serious heart problems, I don't think you need to worry

so much about afib. Of course, I realize that stopping that worry is not

easy since I have suffered the same problem. The advice about meditation and

relaxation is good. As I have said before, pay attention to your breath,

too. It is often possible to stop a vagal afib attack by taking a deep

diaphragmatic/abdominal breath and bearing down with the diaphragm muscle

while expelling the breath slowly. This slow, deliberate breathing slows the

heart rate and helps to stop the anxiety attack.

Good luck from one who's been there.

in Seattle (still in sinus after nineteen days, my longest sinus bout

since last December! :-) I'm feel as if I'm walking on eggs, trying not to

take a misstep that will start the familiar tachycardia that leads to afib.

I don't know what's going on, but I'm enjoying it!)

[Guest guest]

Hi, esp., Kathy and Willem,

I think I have come to believe mostly that I am not going to drop

dead when an afib attack starts, although I know I have that fear

subliminally. But rationally, I have seen too many stories of people

having this for decades to worry about that.

What I fear when afib starts or I have a lot of frequent stuff going

on, is the spectre of permanence and the loss of independence, since

I have to head for the couch when I have it. PLus, already am

physically hampered when NOT in afib because of the toprol. It has

decreased my ability to do physical stuff so much that I hit the wall

just feeding my cats, and I rest after these minor exertions because

I know pushing past them can lead to frequent extra beats, then afib,

so I feel like this has taken over my while life.

Just walking around the house, my pulse gets to 100 - do other people

find this? When not on toprol walking for an hour or so for exercise

raises my pulse just to the 80s.

However, now that I am back in sinus for 8 days, except when I

freaked out yesterday - I came across a case of road rage where a guy

was going completely nuts towards some poor woman and everyone in the

vicinity, nd it took ten minutes to get thru to 911 on my cell phone

(!) I am calmer, and am going to wait for the tapes.

Kathy, I m concerned baout the 2-3 Xanax a day you are taking. The

more you take and the longer you take them, the higher the

possibility of addiction. The estimates are that 50% of people who

take a benzo for a year will become addicted, and some people get

addicted in just a month. However, do not discontinue it cold

turkey, rather if you decide to stop it, taper off slowly, as the

withdrawal effects from cold turkey can be very severe.

I woul dsuggest just using them during an attack. That's what I

would do myself now, if I weren't afraid to have a benzo in the

house. Maybe you could try Jon's relaxation tapes and see if they

work. I will post a " review " once I have mine, but Ellen already

thinks highly of them.

Thanks to everyone for your answers, just knowing there is other

misery :-) out there makes me feel better when I wig out.

Trudy