Small Fab Plant

Hello Everyone,

I have had 2 pacemakers put in recently, the first was removed due to one of the leads perferating my heart wall. I feel much better and am back to work at a small fab plant. I have noticed that while I am at work I begin feeling pressure in my chest and sigh alot. Almost like I can't take a deep enough breath. The feeling dissipates when I leave work. We have welders in the back of the plant and I avoid that area but I guess I am wondering if there's enough else going on that's affecting me. I can't say as I notice an irregular heart beat but rather a feeling almost like I am coming down with the flu or a cold. Has anyone else felt this way? Thanks.

Dyan

5 Comments

Bad feeling

by fishfighter - 2011-09-22 02:09:44

There is a good chance the welding is messing with your pm. You need a work place check. For the first time last week I got that same feeling for just a few minites due to a very powerful older microwave oven which I was a good 5' away from it. Once I got away from it, I could tell my pm started working again.

yep

by wandoloswki - 2011-09-22 08:09:38

Me too something in the shop would give me problems and also the welding equipment. and we had a very old microwave with a leaky seal did the same with my pm. probably not good for anyone not just pm people.

More info

by Dyan56 - 2011-09-22 09:09:07

Thank you both. A bit more info. I have gone into the area where my coworkers weld. Once during our lunch break, probably a very naive move thinking nothing to worry about if no one is welding. I felt different and chalked it off to being anxious. The 2nd time was also during a break and I felt the same discomfort which was the beginning of a different thought process. I have not been given specific guidelines for my particular situation. And I don't ask questions until I have them. I can say I wake up feeling just fine every morning and while at work fell kinda lousy, My office area is a good 75 to 100 feet from the welders. Have either of you asked your employer to do a work place check? What is involved? Thanks again for your help.

Welders

by donr - 2011-09-22 10:09:58

If you are 75 - 100 feet away from them, & you have had the feeling during lunch while they obviously aren't welding, it probably is not the electrical part of the welding. You have to be just a foot or two away for the electromagnetic fields to affect your PM.

Try thinking about the fumes you inhale in that area. Due to the electric or gaseous arcs, there may well be a significant amount of O-3 (Arrrrg - cannot recal what you call it - oops - OZONE) being generated. That stuff can make you sigh & if you now have some lung problems & breathing problems, it could be doing it.

Face it, the air environment in welding area & warehouses is not exactly up to hospital standards! Do you have a lot of forklifts running around? They pollute the air something fierce if they run on propane - at least for folks who may be breathing impaired.

I'm going on my anxiety kick now - you've been through quite a bit of trauma w/ your heart/lungs. It is easy to become sensitized to the point that very slight changes in the environment are noticed subconsciously and affect you now, whereas they didn't before PM.

Something definitely IS happening, since you say you feel well before work & after. Pls examine the low level anxiety issue in parallel w/ the physical environment. I've had it happen to me TWICE. Once it was environmental - I was exposed to very low levels of insecticide for long periods of time on the first occasion; the second time I thought I had a problem breathing in a potentially contaminated atmosphere & it was all in my head.

Good luck sorting this out - it may be a tough nut to crack!

Don

75 and 100 feet

by wandoloswki - 2011-09-23 01:09:20

that is a long way. Unless maybe something else too. could be anxiety too. When they check ur pm it would show up. Mine did with the microwave otherwise u will forget sometime u have a pm. U can buy a pace alert I have one and it works and tells me when I am in a new enviroment if there is actually a problem at work. at work I was much much closer to welding equipment and the equipment was old. The shop had old equipment and now work with computers, office work. It pays better too.

You know you're wired when...

Your ICD has a better memory than you.

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