Hi Wes,
I have to agree with Maggie. It seems to me that you have been given the run
around by all of these doctors. One says something. Another says something
else. They don't seem to be following through as they should. Talk about
stress! I have always found that dealing with doctors is one of the most
difficult things for me. A family doctor could certainly prescribe an
antidepressant. You don't need to add another doc into the mix, unless that
is what you want. I hope things will start to come together for you soon. I
think this is too much for anyone.
Hugs,
BJ

Thank you Maggie, and everyone.  This is a great group of people!  The
most important person in my life, my wife Kip, has told me that I do
not need a psychiatrist.  She has been with me for 25 years now, and
she has seen me depressed, such as back in 1996, just after Gabi was
born, when my retina detached and I lost my vision for 9 months, as
well as my business.  That was prozac time, and it did help.  And
there have been times when I have had panic attacks, such as when I
started dialysis for the first time in 1984, and the patient next to
me crashed and died.  Tough times, I have seen them, and Kip has been
right there with me.

However, this is not one of those times.  It is tough, yes, but I am
not having panic attacks.  I am not hyperventilating.  The arrhythmia
hits at any time.  For instance, we just came home from Home Depot
where we shopped for light fixtures and wall paper.  We went out to
eat first, and we had a great time.  We were looking at wallpaper for
my son Liam, and having a great, relaxing time, when all of a sudden
they hit.  I became dizzy, and they took my breath away.  My cheek
began to "pull", for lack of a better term, my arm and leg began to
tingle, and I felt horrible.  After a few minutes, it was gone.  My
heart rhythm returned to normal.  My cheek was still numb, but the
pulling sensation was gone.  I was under absolutely no stress at that
time.

While in transplant clinic on Tuesday, while the surgeon was standing
there feeling my pulse for what seemed like half an hour, and the
nephrologist was listening to my heart with his stethascope, neither
of them mentioned panic attacks or depression.  They only let me out
of there because I promised to walk over to Cardiology and make an
appointment.  They wanted me to get one for this week, but the first
opening for the chief of electrophysiology was for the 27th.  You see,
there's the problem.  There's the stress!  If they wanted me to be
seen this week, why in the heck didn't they call over to Cardiology
themselves and use whatever pull they have?  My only other option, if
I want to be seen more quickly, is to go back to the ER.  No thanks.

No. No psychiatrist for me, not right now.  I'm not saying never,
though.  If the cardiologist, or my new PCP (takes over May 1st)
thinks I need Xanax, then I will take it.  One good thing.  The
nephrologist changed my blood pressure meds around, and the .2 mg of
clonidine three times a day has really helped to lessen the number of
attacks of arrythmia, as well as the duration of each attack.

Thank you everyone.  God bless you.  You are right, Bruce, my dear
friend.  We do need to talk sometimes, and this is such a wonderful
place to unload.