Terrified of Sudden Adult Death Syndrome

[Jabberwoxx]

This has something which has terrified me since I first heard about it and I tend to worry more about it when I'm stressed out about stuff, which I am at the moment.

I'm so terrified, especially before going to bed, that I'm going to randomly die in my sleep. People with SADS seem to just die with no warning and it's generally people in my age group specifically who die of it (I'm 22). I've heard so many stories of where people just die for seemingly no reason and I think this is one of the main reasons I get so anxious about it - it's just without warning, so unexpected, and you don't even get any symptoms!

I know it's so rare, but my mind sees it as what makes me so special in that I'm completely immune to having something like this? For some reason I think worrying will protect me; if I worry about it before bed, it means it won't happen. If I'm happy and not worrying, it will strike unexpectedly, as it seems like something like this happens completely out the blue.

The worst thing is that I know several people, or know of, people who have died from it close to home. They weren't on drugs or anything like that and were normal healthy people. To add insult to injury, I was on Clarithromycin for a throat infection a while back and I read online that it may cause Long QT syndrome which people believe is linked to SADS!

I just need to stop worrying about this horrible thing and vent a little bit, because it's so frustrating. :( It's like I want someone to tell me it definitely won't happen to me, but there's no absolute guarantee that it won't. :(

[Phuzella]

No, no one can guarantee it won't happen to you but what I can guarantee is that if you worry about it all the time, you'll get 20 years down the line and realise you didn't die and have wasted 20 years worrying about it.
Long sentence but do you get my drift?

[Jabberwoxx]

No, no one can guarantee it won't happen to you but what I can guarantee is that if you worry about it all the time, you'll get 20 years down the line and realise you didn't die and have wasted 20 years worrying about it.
Long sentence but do you get my drift?

I do understand and I try and live by that philosophy every day. :D It's just so hard when your mind latches onto something.

It's mainly the Clarithromycin stuff that worries me, as it's been proven to be linked with sudden cardiac deaths and Long QT syndrome :weep:

[Phuzella]

I read that it should be avoided by people with already diagnosed with LQTS, not that it could cause it.

[LunaLiuna]

If your scared of dieing instantly then use the time you have now too live a better life. Anyone can die any second now, but it's what you do before it that counts.

Secondly don't you think a quick death is better than suffering for many years? It will come for you, and for me, even Phuzzy. But death can't come if you live, by living I mean accepting the inevitable. Does a mayfly who only has half an hour to live worry about it? Personally I've never seen a fly sat on a blade of grass all depressed, nor have I seen a dolphin not wanting to get out of bed because he's going to die, instead he leaps out of the ocean because he's alive. Be that dolphin :)

[Phuzella]

I agree little Buddha, make the most of each day:)

[fedup36]

Hi... I've got a great quote for you that my therapist gave me because I thought exactly the same!

'Worrying cannot prevent or solve the problem from happening, it can only make things worse'

Now what you have to say to yourself is worrying about it really isn't going to stop it from happening. So worrying I may get cancer will not stop me from getting it., however I would have lived a lot more of my life by not worrying :)

Hope that helps xx

[Fishmanpa]

Some sage advice above....

No matter what reason, our lives can be over in a flash with nary a moment to contemplate it. That's the reality. Will it happen that way? Who knows, but I'd much rather go out not knowing what hit me.

Positive thoughts

[Havefaithx]

SADS is extremely rare hun, it affects only 500 people per year in the uk, I no that may seem a lot to u as u r panicking about it but trust me it isnt, it also tends to affect really sporty people, it is also a lot of the time hereditary.

I no u 'know of' people that it has happened to but I'm sure it's not many. What helps me is i think of everyone i no or know of for e.g pop stars etc, they must be thousands of people then think and how many of them have died from sudden death I can think of none

[Jabberwoxx]

Thanks for all the replies, everyone :hugs: I really appreciate the help :D

I really liked the 'dolphin' analogy from LunaLiuna in particular :D

It doesn't get any easier even though it makes so much sense what everyone's said. I can't believe I worry more about this than I do about road accidents which are statistically much more likely to happen. I don't think I'd worry half as much if I hadn't taken Clarithromycin which explicitly states it can cause Long QT syndrome and sudden cardiac death (yes, I was bad and Googled again :weep:)

Phuzella - the drug definitely should be avoided by people with Long QT, but I've read there have been a couple of studies in which it's caused it in healthy people, but they are very limited. My mind naturally focuses on these studies and the slimmer chances rather than the bigger picture, which is what I think a lot of people with health anxiety do :( I've never had an ECG in my life, so I might get one to get a peace of mind.

Thanks all :D