3 year anniversary

Yesterday made 3 years that I went into the hospital with a heart rate of 240-260 after refereeing basketball games. I had open heart surgery when I was 2 months old at Duke. Pacemaker implanted 12/16/2011. I take Pradaxa, Sotalol, Enalapril 2 times a day. I can tell I have gained some weight over the past 3 years due to the meds and lack of energy. I now weigh a whopping 180 and I normally weighed around 170. I know that is only 10 pounds. I am 6'0 tall. I still referee basketball to this day. My energy level comes and goes. I try to drink water all day but it gets hard sometimes. I still get depressed. Life is totally different with a pacemaker. I can tell my energy level with the PM and meds has decreased so much. Before all of this I felt like Superman. Now I feel like Fat Albert LOL ... How is everyone else doing ?

2 Comments

Have you been checked out

by Theknotguy - 2014-12-11 04:12:18

Have you had a check up / check out. Question in my mind is why you're getting the mood swings. Weight doesn't seem to be out of line - I'm 6 foot at 200 pounds. Some say that's a little heavy but I'll do a 4.5 mile hike with the dogs tomorrow. (Did last week.) If you're still a referee it sounds like you're basically fit.

Next question is why to back and forth mood swings. Is there an underlying, hidden problem? Or are you having a period of depression?

Went through a period similar to you prior to having the PM. Turned out it was an infected wisdom tooth that was just sitting there cooking. No outward, visible signs.

My suggestion, since you've made the post, is to have yourself checked out, or have a talk with an impartial third party. Seems like something is going on.

Hope you can get help.

Healthy and Not so Healty Pacing

by Terry - 2014-12-11 12:12:59

Conventional "artificial" pacing does cause serious and not so serious problems for some patients. The good news is that doctors are beginning to resist bypassing the heart's conduction system and thereby curing the problem. Google cardiac conduction system and PacemakerPatientAdvocacy.com.

You know you're wired when...

You get your device tuned-up for hot dates.

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