Will Merlin tell on me?

Hey guys. I've been having a hell of a time the last 2 weeks. My fatigue is so bad, I'm having a hard time functioning. My EP pulled back on my beta thinking that might help but it doesn't seem to have made a difference.

I almost feel as exhausted as I did before I had my pm. My brother is in federal prison and we went to see him in early Jan. We called beforehand to make sure all of their security measures were pacemaker safe. They assured us they were, and then when I was there, the guards were jerks and said No they weren't and wanded over my site multiple times and just laughed.

I highly doubt any of that caused an interference, but if it did, wouldn't my merlin have picked up on it by now? I've talked to my Dr. repeatedly about this fatigue but they don't seem to be worried about it. I go in for an office visit next month. I know the weather probably has something to do with it, but I wouldn't think to this extreme.

Saturday at my sons basketball game, I felt like I was going to passout and/or collapse. I was alone and had my 6month old with me.. It wasn't an option. So I did everything I could to stay lucid until I got home and the rest of the day I was like I was trying to recover from a marathon. Today, I got up took my older two to school, and once I got home, I could NOT stay awake. I slept 90% of the day. Thank god my husband was home to help with the baby.

My blood pressure has been damn near perfect today it was 120/79. I just don't know what else to do. I eat clean, I try to be as active as possible and do things I'm supposed to do and I feel like my body is just giving up. Anyone else dealt with anything like this?

6 Comments

call your dr

by Tracey_E - 2014-02-10 10:02:52

The wands could have messed up your settings, they are not safe for us for just that reason. You need to be checked. What jerks. Merlin would pick it up, but only if someone was looking for it. It's not malfunctioning, just not working the way you need it to. Maybe, I could be wrong, but it's worth a phone call. Why suffer when you haven't explored all the options?

Can you contact a supervisor at the jail? What they did was dangerous.

looks like I'll be calling

by Vmurph - 2014-02-10 11:02:16

See that's the kind of stuff I'm still not sure about. Everyone says how xray machines and wands etc don't mess with our devices. But I've been told many times to stay away from them. So I thought maybe it was just me being a worry wart that it could have interfered with my settings.. So thank you Tracey for confirming I may not be crazy.

I don't want to call the prison because I don't want it to come back to my brother in any way. If it did mess with it, looks like email and letters will be our communication until he gets out. I don't want to go back.

I'll call my Dr. In the am and see if they will see me sooner to check my settings.

HI

by jeanlancour - 2014-02-11 01:02:46

Sorry you were put through that, poor power hungry jerks. Are you calling your cardio dr? If so call the EP or Pacemaker clinic, you might get more of a response. My PM tech told me to call them if I had a question about PM function and they would work me right in. So far they have. You shouldn't have to feel bad this long.

Vmurph..

by Bostonstrong - 2014-02-11 09:02:36

Sorry they were so awful to you. Some people miss being actual human beings by a long shot. I would definitely follow Tracey's advice and call your dr. Hope you feel better soon. Keep us posted.

Talked to my EP

by Vmurph - 2014-02-11 10:02:55

She says the wand would have made me pace while he was doing it but doesn't think it would have caused any problems. I have an appt tomorrow to get sparky checked and see if it'll show why I feel this awful again. Thanks for the input!

asfasf

by boxxed - 2014-02-13 08:02:47

Glad everything worked out. Wanted to add some stuff about Merlin.

The wand has a magnet on it. It forces asynchronous pacing, ignoring what your own heart is doing. It shouldn't really do anything.

Also Merlin has a "magnet" response alert that gets sent. So if a person had encountered a magnet and the presence of the magnet was significant, it may have sent an alert transmission. I'm pretty sure Magnet Response is a yellow flag, if it's even a flag at all.

If you encountered anything else beyond a magnet that may not play nice with a PM, the PM would have likely recorded it as a Lead Noise Reversion episode or a High Ventricular Rate episode for St. Jude Pacemakers. Those can be alerts that force automatic transmission as well.

You know you're wired when...

Intel inside is your motto.

Member Quotes

Yesterday was my first day mountain biking after my implant. I wiped out several times and everything is fine. There are sports after pacemakers!