AT and pacemaker

My pacemaker is supposed to keep my heart from beating at less than 60 bmp. But I have atrial fibrillation and if I check my pulse I get pauses in my heartbeats. Does that mean my heart is not responding to the electric pulses it is getting from my pacemaker. I have asked this question when my pacemaker was checked, but found the answer too vague and unconvincing--basically, don't worry about it.

5 Comments

ha!

by Tracey_E - 2014-12-11 02:12:02

Not worrying is easier said than done! But you will get there. Asymptomatic is great, there are people who suffer daily with it. I only count my pulse if I feel bad. The rest of the time I trust the pm to do its job well. It's never let me down and yours won't either.

PM and afib

by Theknotguy - 2014-12-11 04:12:08

I go into afib a lot. My sessions last from seconds up to (and over) 24 hours at a time. Fortunately (or unfortunately) I can feel it when afib kicks in.

TraceyE is correct. The heart is quivering more than beating so it's really hard to catch a beat. So it may feel like you've missed a beat but you really haven't. It's almost impossible to tell without having an EKG or other piece of equipment. So if you're using your fingers to get a heartbeat it's probably not accurate.

If you can get suggestions from your EP on how to identify if you're in afib, that would be a help.

The PM has been a great help even with my afib. I hope it will help you.

Grateful...

by davstecut - 2014-12-11 10:12:17

....for the information. Thanks.

Thanks

by davstecut - 2014-12-11 12:12:24

Thank you very much--that does tie in with and make much clearer the previous explanation I was given.
As for the AFib, I am completely asymptomatic. I should just stop worrying, I suppose.
Thanks again.

pauses

by Tracey_E - 2014-12-11 12:12:51

What we feel as pauses when we count manually are usually little beats that we don't feel. If you are set to not go below 60 bpm, that means the pacer will always kick in with a beat if you go a second without beating. Afib can make it hard to count because the fibrillation means the atria is quivering more than beating and the ventricles are confused. That means your beat may not be smooth and regular, but it still won't go more than a second without a beat.

Do you feel bad when this happens or did you just notice it and it worried you? If you feel bad, sometimes they can help it by raising the minimum rate to 70 or even 80, pace the heart faster than the irregular beat it does on its own. That may or may not make you feel better, sometimes the higher rate is more annoying than the irregular beats.

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You have a little piece of high-tech in your chest.

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