confused

hi im a new pm member my question is it worries me to death is how do we know if this pm is not working is there some kind of signs already had my first visit to doc office hes says everything is working fine got my pm on 10 28 09 an i am still a little sore is this normal i going back to work on monday an im in retail

8 Comments

worried for no resason

by patsy - 2009-11-25 01:11:21

thank you smitty for your input its just im 48 an it was shocking to no i had to get a pm after i went to er an had double pnemonia was there for 3 days an they said my heart was pausing i was shock an confused but thank god because i would of never of known i did have lightheadedness but i brushed it off with the changes of life lol so i was bless that day wen i got sick an went to er but i am still a little sore an it gets anoring when i do cleaning around the house what gonna happen when i go back to work on monday im in retail one more thing i live in new jearsey its been raining for the last few days does weather have anything to do with this

PM is waterproof

by mrag - 2009-11-25 02:11:48

You are probably worried just like EVERYONE else that first gets a pm-welcome to the age of electronics. It will take a while to "adjust" as it is all new. If you have indigestion, get a cold, skip a beat or anything like that, you will think something must have gone wrong with the pm where before you would not even have paid any attention. Basically, you've had your pm a month, if something was wrong, you would know it by now.

Living in New Jersey can do a of of things to people-I use to watch the Sopranos-but screwing up your pm is not one of them. Kick back and enjoy life.

Relax...

by benmoulds - 2009-11-25 09:11:41

I suspect youre worrying yourself over potentially nothing. It's very unlikely that a new PM is going to be faulty or malfunctioning... At first you're only likely to feel when the PM is working, as you may experience a fluttering or butterflies sensation, but over time you won't even notice it. You should be ready to go back to work pretty quickly, I have a replacement PM operation coming up in 2010 and I reckon I'll only be off work for a few days!

New PM

by SMITTY - 2009-11-25 11:11:27

Hi Patsy,

Welcome to the Pacemaker Club.

We are all different as you will see from my comments.

Apparently Benmoulds has felt a fluttering or butterfly sensation. I never feel anything from my pacemaker. I know mine is working by checking my heart rate. Without my PM my heart rate will range from 55 to 65 BPM. Since the low set point on my PM is 80 when I check my pulse and find it to be in the 78 to 82 range I know my PM must be working.

I certainly agree with Benmoulds that you may be worrying over nothing. I'm of the opinion that the probability of your pacemaker not working is somewhere between zero and none. Once they get it implanted and establish the settings they think you need it is up and running until the battery plays out which can be anywhere from 5 to 10 years, depending on how much it has to help your heart.

A couple of questions you may want to ask your doctor, if you don't already know them, is what is the low and high settings on your PM, and what do they mean. Also ask for a copy of any printouts they make during your checkup. If you are like me, you will not know what most of it means, but in my case when they change some setting say from 175 BPM to 150 BPM or another from 220 ms to 200 ms I have the basis for a question.

I see you got yours on 10-28. I got my first replacement on 10-22 and all soreness is gone. My first one lasted 9 years and after we finally got the settings right for me and that took several tries, I never felt it.

Good luck and enjoy your pacemaker.

Smitty

dont worry patsy

by Hot Heart - 2009-11-29 03:11:12

you will just feel the same as you felt before you got it. After a while you will forget most of the time that it is there, it's just wierd at first knowing that this 'thing' is inside us. Take it steady at work for a while, no heavy lifting, no lifting your arm above your head. butbefore long you should be back to normal.

Good luck HH

how long til i feel normal

by patsy - 2009-11-29 11:11:36

hotheart thanks so much for getting back to me how long did you have yours in an how long is it before i feel normal again did you read my message were i was saying how i get this burning or stinging like pain across my left shoulder is this a part of healing i am a cashier i work the photo dept an lifting is part of my job icant keep asking my co workers can you help me with this i will feel bad like there doing my job an im getting paid for it do you feel were i comming from oh an my insision looks fine no ussing no reddness

Pacemaker warning

by sunnyak - 2009-12-05 03:12:04

Here is my funny story:

The pacemaker people neglected to tell me that my pacemaker would beep if there was a problem. In fact, they neglected to tell me anything about it. Just gave me the bill and pushed me out the door.

I kept hearing a beeping far in the distance. I actually thought it was the "going in reverse" beep made a piece of equipment. I would actually look outside to see what the heck was making that noise. Finally, my defribilator went off and knocked me down. When I got to the hospital, they asked me my PM had been beeping; did I ever feel dumb.

Use the telephone unit

by FirstDuely - 2010-01-01 01:01:47

My pm has been checked over the phone every month pretty much since I had the first one installed...I mean, implanted ;) The nurse at the heart clinic calls me at a predetermined date/time and I am ready with stick-on snaps below and above the pacer area with leads on each that plug into the phone unit. I turn on the unit, the pacer data gets sent over the phoneline to the receiving unit at the clinic, they read, then tell me a bit about how the pacer is doing. If there's a problem we schedule a visit as soon as needed. Then I drive to the clinic every 3 months and Dr. Isaeff checks out the pacer using his computer with a reader lying on my chest.
So you could (if you also do phone checks???) hook up your phone unit and stick on the dots and plug in and hear what the pacer is doing, right??
BTW, I sure wish I could get a buzzer going off when the pacer needed replacing but that would be kind of strange if it happened at a very important meeting when its really quiet...
My doctor can tell me at any time how much is left on my battery and does so each time I go in. The last time we knew the battery was down at least 2-3 months before so had scheduled around my work when to plan to do the replacement. BTW, your battery goes into a power saving mode (mine did) many months before it would be need to be replaced. I had to postpone my last one for a few weeks and when I got back to see the doctor he said it was past the EOL date (end of life...of the battery). So I got in there within two days and all was fine. I pushed the limit, so to speak, and I really had lots of days....maybe ;)

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