Twitching daily

My father has had an ICD for about 6 months to address a-fib. He had several adjustments to address random and what I understand to be, common twitching.

The problem is that he has significant twitching in the abdominal/chest area every morning at the exact same time of 6:02 am. He minimized the pain by going to the basement and covering himself with cookie sheets.

He recently moved to progressive/assisted living in another town about 20 miles away and hoped that whatever was setting if off would stop, but it did not. The doctors have told him that they has exhausted all safe adjustments to the wires. He continues to live with being woken daily to brace himself for this zapping.

Has anyone out there experienced this twitching or zapping at the same time every day?

3 Comments

Twitching or Hiccup in abdominal area

by cruz - 2010-09-06 04:09:51

I'm not sure what type of pain you are describing. I have a sort of twitch in my abdominal area which they say is a lead touching a nerve. The placement of one of the leads was not ideal. Mine seem to happen in bed most often or if I eat a heavy meal. It happened before I could leave the hospital after implant. The tech came in and did an adjustment. You could see the "hiccups" as they called it, from across the room. I've had 2 other adjustments because it comes back. They said they can't adjust further or it won't be doing it's job. They've just told me to "adjust" the position I'm in when it starts. It's annoying, but does stop if I move around and after a while I find a position where it's not happening. I don't know if I'm describing the same thing or not, since I don't really consider it painful. It is VERY annoying and it's certainly enough that it wakes me but not what I'd think of as pain.

Twitching

by westj814 - 2010-09-06 06:09:51

I developed twitching about 2 months after my PM was placed. At first it would be an all over twitch at times and then seemed to localize in the right abdomen. It was worse when I laid on my right side. It was very annoying and kind of scary because no one seemed to know what was causing it. They kept saying it wasn't the PM. My cardiologist told me to try taking magnesium and calcium every day. I was already taking calcium, but added magnesium and after a few months the twitching stopped. Magnesium supports the nerves and muscles. Perhaps you could try adding it each day to see if it helps. Hope you feel better soon.

Hi,

by Gellia3 - 2010-09-07 09:09:48

It's very possible that what he is feeling is the impedance check. It is usually set for during the night because it sends out a higher voltage charge. It is testing the wires and recording their impedance.

Check with your Dad's cardiologist or EP and see if it can be changed to a time where he may be able to sleep through it. Mine was going off every four hours and would make my whole arm jerk. Not good if you have hot coffee in your hand! LOL (Fling!)
My EP changed the time to 4 a.m. but it still wakes me up. It's better than every four hours though.

Perhaps your Dad's can be adjusted to a lower voltage (mine couldn't) or to a better time for him.

Hope this helps.
Best to you,
Gellia

You know you're wired when...

Friends call you the bionic man.

Member Quotes

I have a well tuned pacer. I hardly know I have it. I am 76 year old, hike and camp alone in the desert. I have more energy than I have had in a long time. The only problem is my wife wants to have a knob installed so she can turn the pacer down.