Hi, my name is Pat. I posted on a different forum and Kitt was nice enough to mention this forum to me and suggest that I should visit here.
Right now I would say that the major source of anxiety and stress comes from my husband's heart condition. It really is such a worry and sometimes I just can't keep my mind from taking over and going through all the what if's.
Background on my husband: He is 50 years old, had triple bypass surgery in 2002 and a heart attack in 2008 (one week before our son's wedding) Since his bypass surgery he has become aware of how bad his genetics & heart disease really are. His father passed away of a heart attack in his 70's and his brother passed away from a major heart attack at the age of 54. His family has never been all that close, but he was able to get his hands on some family history and has found that the majority of his mother and his father's brothers passed from heart issues early in life. After his bypass surgery things were pretty good for him but since having had his heart attack it seems that he has been having more and more heart issues. We went through his having angina pains at rest, which was meaning that we were being awaken 2 - 4 times a night with him having pain and having to use his nitro spray. Those were the times when my mind would really get the best of me. I was finding that I just couldn't go back to sleep after the first one and I would lay there thinking. We are both aware that because of his horrible genetics and the condition of his heart that there is a huge chance that it will be a heart attack that takes his life. So I start thinking - how do I phone our kids to tell them their dad is gone. Will he be here for Christmas? We are expecting a grandchild in June, will he be here to meet the new arrival? and it just keeps going and going. I try hard to not let him know exactly how much it all bothers me which probably makes it even harder.
I have a wonderful relationship with my family doctor and have recently talked to him about this. For a few years I have been on paxil for anxiety but was really feeling that it just wasn't what I needed anymore. He spent a good amount of time talking to me about how I can't let the worries rule my life and to not waste time with the worry but to enjoy each day we have. He changed up my meds from the paxil to venlafaxine He started me on a low dose of it and we are going to go from there. I can tell that it is helping somewhat but I know I am not feeling as good as I want to be. And I have also realized that now with not being on the paxil the anxiety issues are getting worse.
I really do try to not let this all run my life, but it is so hard. I try hard not to be constantly worried about him but again it is just so hard.