29 yr old son, professional musician, pacemaker

My son, who is 29 years old, is a professional guitarist, singer, songwriter, & performer since the age of 14. He has developed a triple threat of heart conditions: (1) sinus tachycardia upon the slightest exhertion, (2) bradycardia down into the 20's, and (3) a Mobitz II (or A-V type 2) heart conduction block. He has progressed to a full type 3 full heart block on at least one occasion.

He was hospitalized at the local university teaching hospital in the CCU for 8 days within the last few weeks and now that he has been released is under the care of a private cardiologist and associated electrophysiology cardiologist. Two separate locally renowned cardiologists have recommended a pacemaker placement ASAP and treatment with beta blockers presently OR instead a possible ablation for the tachycardia now or later. We have chosed the cardiology pair we like best and are comfortable with their proposed treatment.

How many of you were symptomatic with any of these conditions before you had a pacemaker implanted? If so, how soon did you feel relief from the symptoms? My son's symptoms are severe enough that he is not feeling well enough to be the one writing this message: chest pain, extreme weakness, lightheadedness, feeling as if he will pass out upon standing, speaking, walking to the bathroom, etc. In other words he cannot live his life and is confined to the couch, bed most of the time.

They feel this damage to his heart was done by an underlying autoimmune disease he has, a type of vasculitis called Polyarteritis Nodosa or PAN. This disease can do a silent stealth attack on any organ in the body, affecting the smaller arteries and cutting off very tiny up to larger amounts of blood supply enough to damage tissue. In this case it was likely to the electrical conduction system in his heart.

The doctors feel he should be symptom-free once the pacemaker and betablockers are in place and working.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Best to all,
Maggie Leigh

1 Comments

good luck

by Tracey_E - 2009-07-13 09:07:06

No two people are exactly alike so it's hard to predict exactly how someone else will feel, but odds are excellent that he will feel better and recover completely. As severe as his symptoms are, he should feel immediate relief, though complete healing will take 4-6 weeks on average. Regardless of how he feels, he will definitely be safer. A hr in the 20's is dangerous, it's hard on his organs and puts him at risk of arresting. A pm insures that our hr's will never fall to a dangerous level again.

I never had tachy or needed an ablation, but I do have 3rd degree block. My hr was in the 20's the day I got my pm and I had symptoms similar to his- I was too dizzy to drive and my lips were blue and all I wanted to do was sleep. I felt better as soon as I woke up in recovery, like they'd given me several pots of coffee! I drove the nurses crazy, I kept begging to get up and take a walk to burn off some of the energy when they wanted me on bed rest until the dr cleared me to get up. Not everyone feels that drastic difference so don't worry if he takes a bit longer! Most everyone with a very low hr feels at least some immediate improvement.

a few thoughts...
electrical problems are a lot easier to fix than plumbing problems (blocked arteries) because the heart is structurally sound. Modern pm's are incredibly sophisticated and do a fabulous job of mimicking what the heart would do if its electrical system was working properly

A pm can't do anything for tachycardia. It will smooth out an irregular beat and speed up a slow beat but if the heart beats faster on its own, the pm can't stop it

Beta blockers are generally used to slow down tachycardia. I would try this before an ablation, but that's just my opinion.

Once he has a pm, he will have to keep his distance from magnets.I'm not sure what type of musician he is, but those giant speakers you see at concerts can cause problems for us if we get too close. They don't damage the pm, but they temporarily put it in backup mode with limited function so we don't feel too good until we get away from it.

Please tell your son about us and invite him to come chat when he feels up to it. There are many of us here living full, active lives with a pm and we're happy to answer any questions he may have about the surgery, recovery, or living with one of these gadgets. I am 42 now but got my first one at 27. For the past 15 yrs I've been the only patient not retired at my cardiologists office! It's great having a place to come where I'm completely average and can talk to other young and active pm recipients.

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Member Quotes

I had a pacemaker when I was 11. I never once thought I wasn't a 'normal kid' nor was I ever treated differently because of it. I could do everything all my friends were doing; I just happened to have a battery attached to my heart to help it work.