pain and constant fluttering in chest

I had my pacemaker put in last week and i am shocked at the pain i am experiencing, even the nurse commented when i called in after being home for a couple of days that she was surprised i was still in that much pain. What is realistic here for recovery?
The other thing i have been experiencing is a fluttering in my chest and throat. I've had this before but not constant like it is now. When i was still in the hospital and it was happening they said nothing was registering on the monitors so it must not be my heart but what is it? it makes me feel slightly nauseated and sometimes its like i can't catch my breath?
Anyone else have this?

5 Comments

Can't always trust the monitors

by bartz7007 - 2012-01-22 08:01:34

You might need a adjustment to your pacemaker. I had a similar problem when i first got mine. I would get flutters and it would take my breath away, and it kept getting worse. So i finely went to the ER and they hooked me up and said nothing was wrong. Well I stayed there until they brought in one of the device techs. So he runs some test and tells me nothing show up on the pacemaker and nothing was wrong. I said to the nurse bull I know i am not imaging this. The tech left and 20 min. later i had a episode and ask the nurse to check. So she comes back and says your right there it is on the graph paper print out. DA so sent the tech back and he look at it and said oh the pacemaker is making the bottom of you heart beat at different time than the top. So long story shot don't trust those Doc. all the time you know your self. And as far as the pain after that long, I would have it checked. Mine did't bother me at all. Good luck

Fluttering here too...

by Nizag - 2012-01-22 08:01:37

Hi, I'm new to this but my mom had her first PM implanted on Thursday. We were discharged Friday evening. Since the procedure she's been complaining of a fluttering in her chest and a very bad headache. I told the nurses in the hospital and they said that the holter didnt note anything off and the PM was checked by the medtronic person and she said it was working perfectly so they didnt pay much attention to it. In her case, its below her left breast and you can actually see her flesh contracting where she feels the fluttering. I called her dr yesterday and he said it could be one of two things: either that her HR was so low prior to the PM (it was in the low 30's) that she might just have to get used to her heart beating 2x and 3x as fast as it was, or the more likely scenario, that there is current leakage from one of the leads into her chest muscle, making it twitch. Either way, he said its nothing serious. We're going to see him on Tues, so I'll post whatever conclusion we come to. Not sure about the pain you're still feeling... Shes actually tender in the site but not in pain. Is the wound swollen, red or bleeding at all? I know those are things to look for... Hope you feel better soon! God bless.

Pain and Fluttering

by PadWC2 - 2012-01-23 07:01:21

Don't buy into a minute more of pain or fluttering. Complain like hell until the folks get it right. Ron

No more fluttering!

by Nizag - 2012-01-24 04:01:39

Hi, we just got back from the dr so he could see what the deal was with the fluttering. Te medtronic girl was there and interrgoated the PM and concluded that everything was fine and the PM was working perfectly. The dr however, insisted on figuring out what the fluttering was. After several minutes of tinkering, he figured out that the voltage was set too high for her. They lowered it to 1.5 and low and behold, no more ofthe fluttering. The weird thing now is that her HR has been almost consistently 100 even when shes at rest... Theyre trying to figure that on out now!

Hope you are feeling better!

response and other ??

by aestoeklen - 2012-02-02 03:02:14

Thank you for the thoughts and suggestions- i went for my follow up and i am starting to feel better. I don't have the constant fluttering anymore. He checked my settings so maybe that is what helped.?. I do get a strange feeling that i cant seem to explain very well but its somewhat like the fluttering but maybe not as intense and i feel like i have to cough to help make it stop. It doesn't last long but it certainly is different.
I am also a little surprised at how much i can feel this device and it sure is noticable. I guess i wasn't expecting that. Will i always feel it? does this go away the more i get use to it? I understand right now that i can't move my arm much and i need to be extra careful but will i always have to do this? I mean what if i fall down? or get hit with something?
Maybe someone out there who has had their device longer than a couple weeks could give me some insight.
Thank you-

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