high voltage machines

I have my third pacemaker, a St Jude since Dec 20th
I live in a posh retirement center of 800 people.
The pacer has been reset 4 times and works fine at the hospital but not at home. We live about 20-30 feet from a maintenance lot for the entire retirement community.
It has high voltage signs on three metal fences near the brick wall separating our property from the administration.
Could this make my pacer malfunction because it is constantly over 95 -123 and never drops to 70 like it is suppose too.
I went to the nurse in the main building tonight and the pulse was 66. Any ideas how I can find what is happening to my pacer. My heart is getting very tired. Thank you Ev

3 Comments

High Voltage signs

by donr - 2014-01-26 01:01:46

EV: You live in a questionable location.

You probably have 13,000 or 19,000 volt supply lines coming into the yard. Now I have been w/i a foot of the 13,000 volt supply to my house's transformer w/o ill effect. That does NOT mean that you should be as well off. We all react differently to such environments. The ONLY time I've had a problem was when I had my PM w/i 6 inches of a 240 Volt line carrying 30 Amps for our water heater & that switched it into the TEST mode, which made me feel like trash.

I give you this so you can put into perspective what may or may NOT be happening to you.

Some further info - I assume from your post that Your PM is set at 70 BPM as the lower limit. Realize that is the LOWEST it will let your heart go before it takes over. That is more than likely a RESTING rate. You did NOT tell us what your normal resting rate was before the PM was implanted. It may well have been higher than the 70 BPM, If that's the case, the 70 is a safety net, & you will never get near it, even at rest. For Instance, I was all my life a natural 72 BPM. My PM is set at 75 for a minimum, but I rarely reach that low unless I am sitting quietly watching boring TV or sound asleep. All you or I have to do is stir around & our HR will increase from the base rate almost immediately. MOF, if you are sound asleep & running at 70 BPM, if you have a dream w/ any activity in it, your heart will increase its rate. Normal. Have a nightmare & it will race & pound. Just get up & walk & it will probably go into the 80's. No big deal. Any physical activity requires more oxygen for the muscles & that means a higher HR.

Now - you went to see the nurse at the clinic tonight & she counted you at 66. WOW!!!! If that is correct, you cannot be set at 70 as a base (Resting) rate. Your PM just will not let you drop below that rate. Now, Did she use her fingers at the wrist or stick a little pulse Oxymeter on your finger? Fingers at the wrist & a sweep second hand will give you those kind of variations between actual & counted.

Nah, your heart is not getting tired - it still has hundreds of millions of beats left in it - it's YOU that's getting tired - tired of what is happening to you & anxious about what may be wrong.

I am going to suggest some possible reasons for your problem;

1) You came home happy as a clam, thinking all was right w/ your heart now that it was paced. You expected no troubles, then you started having SOB problems walking your dog. You've been to the hosp to have its settings tweaked, each time hoping it would fix things & it did not.

2) Now you come home wondering what is causing you to feel the way you do - which is neither the way you want nor the way you expect.

3) You read the book; listen to others; read posts in here & look out the window & see High Voltage signs & they raise questions in your mind.

4) anxiety takes control because your subconscious mind looks for bad things & excites you. You sit in your rooms, looking at the signs & keep wondering about it.

5) You go to the nurse's station, which is probably further from the High voltage yard & all is well. Of course it is - you are farther away & subconsciously you expect to feel better the further you get from the High Voltage yard.

Here's what I suggest to you. Learn to take your own pulse - OR go buy a simple Pulse Oxymeter that fits over the finger tip. It works by sensing your pulse through a fingernail. (Won't work through nail polish - if you are a woman). They tend to be very accurate - much better than fingers & second hands.

How do you take your pulse NOW in your room? You talk about 93 BPM?

Always take your pulse sitting down AFTER your HR drops to its lowest following activity.

Take a chair out into the hall & test your pulse there. Move even further from the outside wall & take it. Find the distance where it matches what the nurse got.

I'll tell you - IT had better not be more than about 10 - 20 feet further from the signs than in your rooms. Electromagnetic fields drop off THAT fast!

MOF, As an old as dirt Electrical Engineer, It should not be affecting you at 20-30 ft., But I would determine first if that is correct or not.

Your pulse could very easily be in the 90's because of anxiety in your room & I would NOT be surprised if it is. What you feel is REAL, very real. We need to find out WHY it is what it is.

If I can help any more, pls let me know.

Don ( I have you by a year - I'm 77)

pulse rate

by manaman - 2014-01-26 02:01:13

You mentioned that this is PM number three. Did you live at the same place with PM numbers 1 and 2?
Like Don said, 70 is the magic number here and that little piece of titanium WII NOT go below that and still ak,dizzybe able to be reset and function.
My guess is you have talked or listened yourself into a mind game. Do as Don says and check the pulse in an "at rest" situation.
I have worked and been around some pretty high currents for a lot of years with a PM set at 60 bpm and the only issues I had were the PM would go into a test mode and go back to normal as soon as I got away from the source.issue unless you have a faulty PM.

Also, you didn't mention if you became weak, dizzy, etc!
My guess is clear the mind and remove the issue.
Good luck,
Cecil

High Voltage

by ev - 2014-01-26 08:01:41

thank you Don and Cecil for your comments. I am prepared to meet maintenance tomorrow.
I know the last visit the pacer was set at 65. My heart naturally is 37. I will buy a pulse oxymeter tomorrow. I unplugged Merlyn from transmitting. This can be anxiety. I understand ,but I love my "villa" Ev

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