question hopefully dr can answer

[starryangel]

before i got pregnant or had my heart failure I was on dexamphetamine for Attention Deficit Disorder, as soon as I found out I was pregnant I stopped taking it, planning to go back on the medicine after I had delivered and stopped breastfeeding, but then of course had the heart failure.

my heart doctor said if my heart heals i can resume taking it, but i know he doesn't believe in ADD also and he keeps telling me now that I can never take it again. My psychiatrist who i am now seeing for panic attacks says he doesn't see any reason why I cant go back on them if my heart is back to normal function.

When I finally got diagnosed with ADD I was 34 and then put on medication, my whole world changed I was a much happier person and could actually concentrate and organise my life, after years of just thinking I was lazy and stupid.

I dont want to do any more damage to my heart and if I cant ever take them again I will have to deal with it, but this is causing me some depression because I know they work for me and I just want to find out the right thing and the true facts of taking these after heart failure, but the doctors wont give me a straight answer or they keep avoiding my questions. If you know of any articles on this area or if anyone else has been in this situation I would love to find out more.

angel hugs christine

[JAMESFETT]

Panic attacks are common in persons who have experienced heart failure, including PPCM. Time, counselling, and medications are all effective in helping. I am uncertain about the risks of taking dexedrine for ADD after heart failure and PPCM. I am sure your neurologist and cardiologist could give you answers. When PPCM recovers, it is possible to resume all previous activities, just as in any person who had never experienced PPCM. The one risky event for a recovered PPCM patient is a subsequent pregnancy, but even there we know that some women can tolerate a subsequent pregnancy without deterioration of function, we are working on risk assessment tools, and will soon have a medical journal article about this.

JD