Medical PTSD after cardiac ablation

[Roc]

Hi, new here. I guess I just really need to vent. Yesterday I had a cardiac ablation procedure for SVT. I have never been formerly diagnosed with PTSD but I do suffer from generalized anxiety disorder. Since being diagnosed and recommended to have a cardiac ablation my anxiety has been off the charts. When I met with the cardiologist I expressed my concerns about the procedure and how the thought of being awake was too much for my anxiety. He assured me that I would’ve given something to alleviate my anxiety. Fast forward to yesterday in the hospital. I was prepped for surgery waiting to go into the cath lab. A nurse explained that they would be placing a central line in my neck and an IV catheter in my groin. I asked when they would be giving me something to calm my anxiety and was told that the doctor never gives any type of sedation other than a numbing injection at the catheter site. My anxiety went skyrocketing and I felt an anxiety attack coming. I go into the cath lab and 3 male nurses proceed to rip my hospital gown down to place the heart monitor stickers on my chest, push me down on the table to expose my groin to look for a place to put the catheter. They are all standing over me while I am completely nude poking my groin to give me the IV. I don’t think that they meant anything in a sexual way, I think they were trying to expedite the process so that the doctor could come in to do the ablation- but I feel like I was assaulted and today I can’t stop crying. I feel lied to by the doctor and assaulted by his nurses. I also feel like I’m being a baby but I can’t stop crying every time I think about it.

 

[Kubash16]

I’m so sorry that happened, I would feel lied to and terrified too. Are you doing anything (therapy, medication, coping strategies) to combat the anxiety? This isn’t PTSD inducing, but that doesn’t lesson the trauma and anxiety.

 

[Kunash16]

@Kubash16 it just happened yesterday. Coming here was the first thing I could think of doing. I don’t know who to talk to about it

 

[Friday]

PTSD isn’t a worse form of anxiety, or the next step “up” kind of thing. Severe GAD is just as bad -in different ways, since they’re different disorders- as Severe PTSD, and far worse than mild or moderate PTSD.

So the first piece of good news I have for you is that odds are you’re far more likely to be having a symptom spike from your GAD, than to have developed a whole new disorder.

The second piece of good news is in 2 pieces :

A) It’s too early for you to have PTSD. The symptoms of PTSD are normal immediately following trauma. It’s when they persist, as if the trauma just happened; for months/years/decades having the same reactions as if it happened yesterday? Then you’re talking PTSD. Which is why there’s a diagnostic delay.

B) You don’t have to just sit & spin waiting to see if you’ll develop PTSD. There’s a whole helluva lot you can do to help prevent PTSD from locking in. A place to start with that is right here >>> Traumatic resilience: avoiding ptsd <<< making use of the hospital social work team if you don’t have a therapist would be another proactive thing to do, or getting back into therapy if you have someone you’ve worked with in the past. (And I know you’re proactive, since you’re here on this site, trying to get on top of what’s just happened. That’s a good instinct. And speaks well for you.)

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[EveHarrington]

Have you been abused before?

This could be why you freaked out during a medical procedure.

But, the good news is that it’s not PTSD, at least in the absence of another trauma.