Still sore

I had my PM inserted 2 months ago. The site is still very sore and it feels as though it has moved up. A couple of weeks ago you could just feel a bump and there was no pain. Now I can feel the edge of the PM very clearly and I'm living on pain killers. It feels as though it is jamming into my collar bone.

I went back to cardiologist who inserted it for a checkup. He said it is only under the skin - not in the muscle, which is why I can feel it so clearly. I said I though it had moved, but he said it should settle down. It is working fine, but very uncomfotrable.

Am I hoping for too much too soon? How long does it take before it settles in?

Interested to hear other people's experiences

Thanks

Mark

6 Comments

Will get better

by sputnick - 2009-07-01 05:07:03

It is 5 months since my implant. Didn't have any probs with site until I swam lots of lengths after 3 months in space of 3 days. Obviouisly too much too quickly cos that night i started with really intense sharp stabbing pains and stinging and the site just got sorer and sorer. I am already on Nsaid daily for Rh. Arthritis but had to take xtra painkillers on top. I thought it would never stop being sore and hurting. I too felt that it had moved, one side of it is not very visible, but the other side sticks up quite clearly. It was, very sore at the top where the leads go in ( and still is a bit). It was so bad It made me feel really down at times!
However, over the last coupla weeks the pain has practically disappeared and it seems to have really settled down, ans I'm sure yours wiil too, although it may take a while. My collar bone, which was also sore with the pm rubbing against it is taking a bit longer to stop hurting, but even that has improved now!
Hope this helps Jan

2 months and still having pain...

by Pookie - 2009-07-01 07:07:54

Hi.

Perhaps you should start a pain journal. Rate your pain from 1 to 10 and note what you were doing prior to the pain.

I am not a doctor, but 2 months seems to be right on the line of your should be feeling better by now. One shouldn't be living on pain killers for a pacemaker...in my opinion.

I'd only give it 2 more weeks if I were you, then I'd be marching into my doctors office demanding something be done. Pain is your body's way of telling you something is wrong. With that said, people can have low or high thresholds of pain. Only you can judge your pain.

Perhaps you are correct, perhaps your pacemaker is too close to your collarbone and is causing you pain, even though the doc might tell you that is where he places all his pacemakers. However, everyone is different and the placement of yours could be the culprit.

Don't wait too long before you put your foot down.

good luck.

Pookie

About 4 months

by ppt - 2009-07-01 09:07:30

Took mine about 4 - 5 months - I no longer use a piece of Memory Foam to protect my site from bra or the car's seat belt. Yea !!!!

Many thanks

by MarkW - 2009-07-01 09:07:51

Thanks for the comments and support.

As an ex basketballer I've had 5 knee operations which usually start out painful at the time, but there's always the sense of improving with time.

Maybe I'm being too optimistic about how quickly the PM site should heal.

I do miss sleeping on my left side though!

Will let you know how I progress

Mark

still sore

by wyoung - 2009-07-01 09:07:54

I've had my PM for 3 years. I was fifty two and could not believe I needed this . The first year I had intermittent soreness and I was always aware of it being there. I can honestly say I hated my device. I'm also a runner, I run 4-5 times aweek. Probubly for the last 2years, on most days I am now totally unaware of my PM.s presence. I really don't think about it much. My PM is an on demand and I don't use it much maybe 1-2 %. My advice is live your life and try not to think about this thing and gradually you will have no soreness.The only thing that bother's me at this pont is sleeping on my left side, that's uncomfortable.
good luck, wendy

Hey Mark

by walkerd - 2009-07-02 07:07:01

Thats my little brothers name. I had my pm/defib put in in Sept of last year. Mine feels sore sometimes also but I think that is just your body sometimes saying hey what the hell is that under the skin. lol. My wife says im sick because I ask her ( Hey you want to feel the bolts on my pm.lol) I just tell myself hey its my little emt watching over me and wants me to know its there to watch over me. like im going to forget.
feel it and love it is all I can say.
i know i know Im sick

dave

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