close call???????????

[goingup]

hello, who ever reads this i would appreciate some answers, because
i am very worried!!! my 23 year old brother with cf called me up on
wednesday morning at 4 in the morning shaking violently, extremely
dizzy, and shallow breathing, and his heart was beating soooo fast
he said he thought it was gonna explode!!!! he was crying and i
felt so helpless over the phone! he lives 3 hours away from me and
i am pretty much all he has, dad dead, and mom in another state....
anyways, while all of this was happening thank goodness his roomate
was home who called 911. well, when they arrived, they took his
vitals and said they were good so they gave him the option to go to
the hospital and he said no. he told me he was scared he might die
and he didn't want to die alone in the hospital, which i dont blame
him. so that morning i called his doctor at childrens hospital
 and of course his doctor was out oh the office for the day,
but the nurse practioner called my bro and told him to come in that
day, no ifs, ands, or butts!!! so he did, and all they did was a
sputum culture, no chest xray, and his pft test which was a 46.
they told him to come back in three more weeks for more tests!!! my
 brother told me that while all of this was happening to him
he felt a presence drawing him to the door and he was telling me it
sounds weird but kind of like his mind was very unstable and kinda
like the exorcist was taking over him... he wqs crying to me
telling me he didnt know what was going on, but that he is soooo
scared!!! i am soooo worried about him, has anybody gone thru
this??????

 

[Faust]

Well...Two potential explanations.


Either your brother was in fact in the process of being posessed by a demon<img src="i/expressions/beer.gif" border="0"> OR he could have been having a good old fashioned panic/anxiety attack.

 

[thelizardqueen]

I agree with Sean - that sounds very much like a panic attack. I suffer from them occasionally, and it is very scary. I'll be sitting around watching tv doing absolutly nothing, when suddenly I'll get very cold, clamy, I'll start to shake and have trouble breathing, my heart will begin to flutter, and suddenly I will feel very scared for no reason at all. See if he can talk to his CF counselor or his CF doc about seeing someone about panic attacks. That's what I'm doing right now - I'm starting to see my CF counselor about possibly seeing a physchologist about my attacks. THey can be very scary to experience, and can sometimes get worse if left untreated. I sometimes reach the point where I have to close myself in a quiet room and have no sounds at all, and not move until my attack is over, or I won't want people to touch my becase I will suddenly feel very clausterphobic.

 

[Faust]

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote><i>Originally posted by: <b>thelizardqueen</b></i>

I agree with Sean - that sounds very much like a panic attack. I suffer from them occasionally, and it is very scary. I'll be sitting around watching tv doing absolutly nothing, when suddenly I'll get very cold, clamy, I'll start to shake and have trouble breathing, my heart will begin to flutter, and suddenly I will feel very scared for no reason at all. See if he can talk to his CF counselor or his CF doc about seeing someone about panic attacks. That's what I'm doing right now - I'm starting to see my CF counselor about possibly seeing a physchologist about my attacks. THey can be very scary to experience, and can sometimes get worse if left untreated. I sometimes reach the point where I have to close myself in a quiet room and have no sounds at all, and not move until my attack is over, or I won't want people to touch my becase I will suddenly feel very clausterphobic.</end quote></div>



Sure...Take the easy road and blame panic attacks. Wheres the love for demons? I think you both are being posessed!

/starts dousing you two in holy water and recites the rite of exorcism

THE POWER OF CHRIST COMPELS YOU!!!

 

[CowTown]

I think it's very good that he finally went to see the doctor and took some tests. Maybe the answer will be in those results. In the meantime, I imagine if anything major occurs again with the whole episode, he should call them again and go in, even if it's to the Emergency Room in the middle of the night. I hope he feels better soon!

 

[thelizardqueen]

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote><i>Originally posted by: <b>SeanDavis</b></i>Sure...Take the easy road and blame panic attacks. Wheres the love for demons? I think you both are being posessed!



/starts dousing you two in holy water and recites the rite of exorcism



THE POWER OF CHRIST COMPELS YOU!!!</end quote></div>

I'm about ready to spew pea soup on you.<img src="i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif" border="0">

But like Kelly said - feel free to go to the emergency room again if it gets worse. Panic attacks can be very scary.

 

[coltsfan715]

Anxiety does sound possible. I also get these same symptoms if my blood sugar is high. I got them alot before I was diagnosed with CF related diabetes. I would shake, I could be sitting watching TV and my heart would just start to race to the point I was gasping for air. I would sweat uncontrollably even if I was cold, get light headed and sometimes get horrible head aches and everything. I also got similar symptoms when I was having gallbladder attacks - before I had it removed. Shallow breathing, sometimes shaking, vommiting and ultimately felt I was going to die cause I could barely breathe. My heart would start racing towards the end of those attacks but not the entire time.

Each occasion - before my diagnosis of diabetes and before we found out about my galbladder - I was told I was having anxiety attacks. In both cases that diagnosis was wrong. Just wanted to throw that out there cause just because it looks and smells like anxiety doesn't mean it is. I would ask your doc about any problem that can cause the symptoms he had - even if they may be unlikely to be the problem. Just don't settle with the easiest explanation - I did that for 2 years before I realized my anxiety attacks were really gallbladder attacks and can say that I did develop anxiety in those 2 yrs because nothing I did would stop the attacks and I didn't know wht caused them or when they were going to happen - I stopped wanting to leave the house I was afraid to eat I was afraid to drive and I got to the point that I was having them everyday and with every attack all I could think was this is it I am going to die. Shortly before I got my gallbladder removed I would cry and beg to die cause I was so miserable going through those attacks. I would just hate to see your bro treated for something that isn't the real problem.

Whether it is anxiety or something else I really hope his docs are able to help him figure out what happened. Also as for a presence pulling him toward the door I like to think of those feelings as my loved ones watching over me trying to comfort me and let me know everything will be okay, so maybe that was your dad trying to look over him and he just felt the energy coming from him. I know a bit bizarre of a thought, but maybe if he doesn't think it is too strange it will give him some comfort so he isn't thinking that the "thing" calling him to the door was bad or going to lead to him dying.

Hope he feels better.

Lindsey

 

[Seana30]

I have panic attacks and they are TERRIFYING!

Your heart races, breathing becomes difficult, you start sweating, your arms, legs and face can go numb, and you truely feel you are about to die!

To show you how much panic attacks can affect the body..............about a month ago I had a HORRIBLE panic attack while driving. I was able to keep enough control to get home. When I got home I took my blood pressure and pulse.

BLOOD PRESSURE WAS 175/100

PULSE WAS 140

My blood pressure normally runs low, about 98/60 so that tells you just how high it was during the attack.

If they run all tests possible and nothing else shows up, I would have him discess panic attacks with the doc.


Seana

 

[anonymous]

I would have his doctors for sure check on blood sugar issues.
When my blood sugar is low, I feel shaky, sweaty, heart irregularities, and even feel disoriented if they are real low. Next time this happens to him, have him drink some orange juice or pop (the good kind with sugar in it) or eat something sweet & see if the issues subside within 15 minutes or so.
Before I realized it was low blood sugar making me feel this way I would have anxiety attacks on top of the low blood sugar because I couldn't figure out what was going on and it was scaring me.
Let us know how he does and what he finds out through the test results, I hope he feels better.
Lynda

 

[Kimmiek]

My bro too has CFRD (cf related diabetes). That sounds EXACTLY like how he gets when his sugar is about 250-300. The first time we (he lives with me) experienced it. He was wheezing, out of breath, shaking, sweating, high heart rate/blood pressure and a little disoriented. He too thought he was having a bad anxiety attack, and from the outside looking in, that is what it looks like...Coltsfan (lindsey) and I had an email conversation about it a couple of days before which is what made me think to check his sugar, and yep, blood sugar was 318...After a shot of insulin, within 5 min, all was normal. I DEFINATELY think high/low blood sugar has a much different affect on CFers then regular diabeties (my dad is a diabetic also, no cf). Now, I know the "early" signs, and we keep it under control.
I would ask the CF clinic to refer you to an endocrinologist, just for good measure. My bro was not diagnosed with CFRD until, If I remember correctly, about 26ish.
Go through the clinic because a regular endo will try to put him on a diabetic diet, etc, which is NOT good for CF patients. Our clinic recommended a couple who regularly see adult CFers with diabeties.
Good Luck to you and your brother, I hope he feels better soon! As the sister of a CFer, it can be tough sometimes, trying to figure out how to help, I know. But all of the people on here are AWESOME, and are a great help to me over the last few weeks. I have learned alot, and hopefully some if it will help us!

 

[S]

i have had a few panic attacks in the past and the best thing i ever heard from a doctor was that "nobody has ever died from a panic attack". so even though your bro may feel like that, as i have to, there is nothing to worry about if that's all it is.

 

[AngieM]

Goingup,

How is your brother feeling? Any better?

 

[anonymous]

I had really bad panic attacks while waiting for my transplantS and the second time around I learned how to get through them in two seconds so to speak without my body feeling tired. If you are interested by the book Energy Medicine and I can help you understand how to do this technique yourself. This book is a life saver.


Risa