Replacement Battery??

I HAVE BEEN INFORMED THAT MY BATTERY NEEDS REPLACING ,BUT I FEEL FINE.,SHOULD I FEEL ILL?,IT WAS FITTED IN 2006 AND I HAVE HAD NO TROUBLE,I AM STILL LIVING A GOOD LIFE,I AM 80 YEARS OLD AND DO ALL MY OWN WORK..HELEN

5 Comments

Battery dying

by donr - 2012-11-18 07:11:19

Helen: you should feel nothing at this point. How soon did they tell you that you needed the new battery?

PM's have a mode of operation when the battery nears the actual end of its life - they stop doing everything except pacing you. And, they pace you at a low rate to conserve what life is left in the battery. That is usually a 90 day life left at the low pacing rate. IF you reach that point, you will feel a bit unusual, perhaps sensing that the PM is operating at a slower rate than usual.

The ability of the PM to predict when it will reach this point is very good. Mine missed the projected date by 2 1/2 days. It predicted a Tuesday & actually went into its special mode at Noon on Saturday. It was replaced on Thursday!

Good luck w/ the PM.

Don

Don & I were postng at the same

by janetinak - 2012-11-18 07:11:29

time,, great minds think alike. Hah!

Maybe they are talking about the

by janetinak - 2012-11-18 07:11:44

warning before end of life (EOL) for the battery. I felt fine when they told me to come in every month for a PM check. That lasted 8 months & I felt fine. Then I did not, I felt that I did not have much energy, etc. I called & went in right away & it was in the last 3 months.It got replaced in a couple of wks, My PM was 8+ yrs old went it was replaced. Hope that helps.

Janet

Time For PM Battery Replacemant

by SMITTY - 2012-11-18 08:11:01

Hello Helen

Your pacemaker will not give an audible alarm when the battery gets low. When its power reaches certain level known as EOL (End of Life) the PM goes into ERM (Elective Replacement Mode) or one called a VVI, (they are all the same thing) there is enough battery power left to safely operate the PM for at least three months.

You will know when this level of battery power is reached as the PM shifts from being an on demand PM to a full time PM. As a full time PM it will make your heart beat at a constant 65 BPM, regardless of the settings it may have. When this happened to mine (at age 80), which is also a Medtronic, I knew it without a doubt. The low setting on mine was 80 and one morning I got up with a constant heart rate of 65 with a some irregular beats thrown in for good measure. It got my attention immediately.

Fortunately for me I had read what would happens when the battery reaches EOL, ERM or VVI. While it was not painful, it was uncomfortable enough to cause me to call the dr. office ASAP. I was told to it was probably a low battery and to come in for a checkup. The low battery was confirmed and I was scheduled for a new PM the next day.

The thing is, don't be concerned about being left without a working PM because of a the battery. Our PMs have enough safety features we will not be left out in the cold without any warning the battery on your PM is reaching the end of its life.

Good luck,

Smitty



Thank you all so very much.

by helen - 2012-11-19 12:11:35

I feel so much calmer after all the good advise,I am on monthly visits to the pacemaker clinic ,But they did not give me any insight into what life the battery had or what to expect.Thank you all.Helen.

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