Most Recent Messages in General Posting

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No more Zumba for me!

Hi all
I just thought I would share my story with you and hope it will help others and also help me to not feel so alone too.
I am a normal 40 something lady (or so I thought) and I take regular exercise. I was doing a Zumba class with my daughter when half way through I felt very strange, heart pounding and giddy and found myself holding onto the wall. I left the class and found a gym instructor to check my pulse but he couldn't get a proper reading, he thought it was the machine pla...

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Update to LED system and pacemaker

Sang from different place in chancel last night and again this afternoon. Amazing! No interference with pacemaker causing it to pace without reason . Still have to ascertain why pm was behaving strangely when in former seat. Not sure if this lighting system was installed by licensed electrician or if was inspected by city. Trish.

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chest pain, dizziness, and tingling

I am anxious.. Waiting for tomorrow so I can see cardiologist after having a bad week with pains, low energy, little zaps, and now what feels like tingling in arms and head and fluttering in chest. Its really scary as I am almost 3 weeks out. I really am frightened by all the things I'm feeling, mostly the dizziness. I had some good days and thought wow I'm feeling almost back to normal and then boom, I feel like I did before surgery minus the electric feeling I had when I'd feel like I was goin...

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Heart Pacing Normally

I was fitted with a dual lead PM in Aug 2014 for a 2nd degree block type II (2:1). I have hypothyroidism and my thyroid hormone was very low at the time of the PM surgery. Went to the device clinic today for a 6 month follow-up and my heart is pacing normally without assistance. The tech said it could change tomorrow. I was so excited I forgot to ask her how long the data showed this had been going on, but I'm going back next week to pick up my interrogation report.

Is it common f...

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Good morning all

Been a long time from my last post here. Sorry about that, but been going thru some rough times.

Hope all are doing good.

Anyway, I been going thru other treatments and new meds. Rejected all. Still doing the weekly infusion of dubutamine, but I will be going back on it 24/7 again next week. Last EF was up to 15%, but heart beating is dropping way to low and my BP is all over the place. Fighting fluid weight gains too! Been swinging anywhere from 178 down to 165 every week....

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Dizzy, light-headed, and tired

It has been just under three weeks since I've had a pacer put in. I'm still adjusting. It's frustrating because I feel all these things that my regular Dr brushes off, and my cardiologist doesn't explain. I'm not sure if they are serious, or just part of the healing process. Maybe someone could help me understand if what I'm going through is "normal" like for instance - I am feeling light-headed and dizzy pretty often but I check heart rate with at home blood pressure heart rate detector and hea...

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PM replacement

I have a date for my replacement pm, it is 9th April, I will have an overnight stay in hospital, they are also going to review my leads while I am there, I know one lead is using extra power to work and I am being checked every 6 months. I am anxious as I didn't have a good experience last time, also it is the first time since my husband died that I have been in hospital, it is very hard adjusting to losing that one special person in your life, who was there to look after me as well. I have fo...

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My garden

Just posted 2photos of my early spring garden. Last year this time I was unable to do much. What a deference a year makes. Now can work in garden full steam ahead. Hope some of you picked up YouTube site of my choir . Trish

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Life with Pacemaker

For those of you celebrating Holy Week, I am providing link to St Johns Church choir in which I sing soprano doing Louis Vierne Kyre eleison https://youtu.be/tecjjwC2jfg

D
Trish

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Safe to drive??

My MIL has an ICD for 2-3 yrs after a sudden cardiac arrest. She has suffered a shock at one time. She never seemed to have a driving restriction. My husband is very anxious about his mother driving with our children in the car in fear of her defibrillator shocking her and causing an accident. I'm not sure how I feel about this. I hate to put a restriction like this on grandma :( that would be quite a sting! She says she is okay to drive. But, gosh, if anything ever happened to my babies tha...

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Lots of dreams since PM surgery

Ever since I had my surgery (4 months) I have these vivid dreams pretty much the whole night. My rate is set at 60 BPM. My natural rate before PM was low 30's. Did anyone experience this?

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Cardiomyopathy - Cleveland Clinic Live Chats


Thought this may be of interest to some. The Cleveland Clinic has live chats....this one is on Cardiomyopathy. If interested, you can register for a chat....you do not have to participate with questions if you choose not to....they can be very informative.

There are other subjects as well. Here is a link:

http://chat.clevelandclinic.org/chatpage.aspx?chatid=1737

Grateful Heart

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Going Back To Work?

I just received a ICD implant and hoping to go back to work sometime in May. I am a haul truck driver in a mine just wondering if I can still go back to the same job.

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MRI with non compatible pacemaker.

I currently have two questions regarding 14 year old pacemaker. Shortly will require Atrial lead and Generator replacing and a lumber spine MRI, The pacemaker is not MRI compliant.
Since fitted in 2001, I have not had any problems, .Any advice / experience please. In UK found only one Heart Hospital who says can do.?

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just wondering

I just now joined. My doctor told me a couple of months ago that sometime in my life I will need a pacemaker. Im 55 years old. My heart rate stays between mid 50's to mid 60's when im not walking or exercising. I was wondering what rate were some of the members of this forum at when they had to get a pacemaker. Im really wanting to put it off as long as I can but dont want to chance anything bad happening by waiting.

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New PM owner

OK, just got my dual chamber Boston Scientific K173 installed yesterday afternoon. Procedure took 1.5 hours with no problems.Home from hospital with a sore shoulder and neck. I have a sling to wear, but doc told me to not use it all the time. Could cause additional stiffness issues. Was amazed to see my pulse at 60 BPM vs my old 36 BPM.
I've always been a runner, so there will no doubt be some future adjustments in line for me. Hoping to walk on a treadmill in two weeks, after I see my hear...

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does it change you also to peanut

I too suffered from PTSD after events leading to pacemaker. Had sudden cardiac arrest resulting on horrid fall of ceramic tile. Cardiologist states that impact restarted my heart. SCA again of 22 seconds during implant . During that restart R ventricle was punctured by lead . Pericardial drain necessary with stay in CICU And these episodes were preceded by severe septic shock(antibiotic induced) 12 months before. I was unconscious 6 days in ICU with 4 more in stepdown, I am retired ad...

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My 4 month checkup was interesting

My doctor always has me do an EKG before he sees me. During the EKG, the nurse asked me if the lump on my chest was the pacemaker. I said yes and she pulled out this round object from the cart and placed it against the PM. I suddenly felt 'different', but not bad, and the lines on the EKG changed drastically. I asked her what the object was, and she said it was a magnet that shuts off the PM, so the doctor can see the differences. Now I know how close I have to get to a magnet before it affects...

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I'm Not Making It Up Honest :-s

I have a log burning stove and every now and again the glass in the door needs a good hard scrubbing to clean it. Because the door hinge is mounted on the right I can only scrub it using my left arm. However I've noticed that since my PM implant, whenever I scrub the glass hard I can feel my heart beating uncomfortably fast and a slight breathless sensation which lasts for several minutes after stopping. I workout extensively 4 times a week and so I'm pretty fit and I don't feel that the nominal...

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Light-Headed

I just had my pacemaker put in this past Thursday, March 26th. I do feel I have more energy but I am afraid I may have overdone it. My husband has taken me for some walks and now I feel a little light-headed. Is that a normal feeling? Do any of you have any advice for how I should pace my recovery?

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You know you're wired when...

Born to be Wired is your theme song.

Member Quotes

This is my second Christmas with my pacemaker and I am so happy to be with my family.