Struggling with settings

• by Mie
• 2012-01-28 03:01:29
• Checkups & Settings
• 1955 views
• 3 comments

Hello,

Newly registered member here, hoping to get some help from you guys with my adjustment problems.

I got my Biotronic Evia pacemaker in November 2011 due to syncope and intermittent 3rd degree AV block. I was admitted to hospital for one week after the syncope before It was decided that a pacemaker was needed. During the observation I had a low nodal pulse at around 40 bpm, and some pauses up to 6 seconds long.

Before the syncope I was a very active young woman, working out at the treadmill and being able to do interval training with very high pulse (180-190 bpm). My resting pulse was low, around 50-60 bpm.

After the implant I have been having a hard time exercising. I did get back to work less than a week after the implant, but I had problems walking up stairs and running after the bus. I suddenly felt like an old woman, getting out of breath all the time during normal activities and feeling a heavy pulse in my throat while at rest.

I complained about this and got some of my settings adjusted, the doctor mentioned the word pacemaker syndrome and said that my heart was not in sync with the pacemaker. I felt better after this but still could not work out more than two minutes on the treadmill before "hitting the wall" and getting out of breath.

I complained again, and was scheduled for a bicycle stress test. Ten minutes out in the test, when my pulse was getting close to 160 bpm I had a 2:1 block and my pulse went down to 80 very abruptly. This felt terrible.

It turned out that my programming (DDD, 50-160) did not allow me to have a higher pulse than 160! Furthermore, it turned out to be very difficult to adjust the settings on my pacemaker to increase the upper tracking rate. The doctor and nurse technician did a lot of adjustments and finally were able to get it as high as 182.

Unfortunately, the new settings made me feel awful at rest and in normal activity. The symptoms I had initially came back and my heart was getting out of sync again, so I went back to the hospital again to complain.. The doctor explained that my nodal beat was interfering with the pacemaker, sometimes making
both the upper and lower heart chambers contract at the same
time. My settings were adjusted, causing a lowering of the upper tracking rate.

So, this is where I am today. Feeling better at rest and low impact activities, but not being able to work out. The doctors are going to discuss my case at the next Monday meeting, and I know they have been in touch with the manufacturer to get some answers.

I really hope they will be able to make this pacemaker work for me in the end. If anyone of you have experienced something similar, I would love to hear about how you resolved it.