Anxiety after Surgery

Does anyone else still have bouts of anxiety since their surgery? Mine was August 9th and I still have anxiety attacks especially in the car when someone is driving or when I am driving by myself.

I am on HRT - Premarin 1.25 and and taking 0.9 one day per week and Xanax XR 2mg once per day. I also see a psychologist once a week to help me through the tough times.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Nina

I actually had the opposite effect than you.

I have suffered from panic and anxiety for many years and had previously taken Xanax every night before bed.

Since my surgery, I have noticed that the anxiety is alot less than before. In fact I have only had to take the xanax twice since my surgery which was 11/7/05.

I still have one ovary, but everything else is gone. I also suffer from hypothryoidism and really thought that my anxiety would be increased.

I don't know if you have spoken to your dr. about this or if you are even interested, but maybe you could ask him for some mild antianxiety medication.

I used to get the "attacks" in the car quite often and I can so sympathize with you.

My thoughts are with you. <Oops! Please keep support on the Message Boards!>

Hi Nina!

I'm sorry to hear you're having a problem with anxiety. You might want to take a look at the following article from the Post-Op Articles archive:

Dealing With Post-Op Anxiety/Depression

I hope that, with the help of your therapist and medical provider, you feel better soon.

Many s to you,

I too have suffered from anxiety. I had just been off of my effexor xr for 4 months before my surgery and have noticed that the anxiety and crying spells are back. You may want to discuss this with either of your drs and see if there is something else they can give you for them. I know from experience that it can be debilatating. Hope things get better for you!

Thanks all for your support - I go to the doc next week, so hopefully I'll be ok until then.

I appreciate the article - I hope it will help too.

Right after my surgery, the anxiety did decrease, but for some reason, it's coming back really strong now.

I've also been on HRT and lately have been having hot flashes - well, warm flashes really. I thought HRT was supposed to take care of those annoying things!

Thanks again.

Lots of hugs to all,

Nina

i had two panic/ anxiety attacks before surgery...(never had this in my life) i am 4 weeks post up today ...since my surgery i had 3 panic/anxiety attacks only when i get into my husbands car and we are going somewhere i dont even want to go anywhere i rather stay home so it dont happen cause i make the attack worse by thinking im going to stop breathing my doctor gave me zoloft to take but i havent started taking it yet cause i want to try to deal with it on my own ...will this ever go away and how long does it take or will i have this forever now?