Three months post op

Hey everyone!!!

I replaced my pacemaker June 21, 2012. It is my 6th pacemaker lol I am 24. Tomorrow is my three month post op check up!! I am very excited except I hate going only because they down pacemaker =/ it makes me feel very exhausted and extreme headache =( I have a headache just thinking about it lol

I am very used to it by now though because I got my very first pacemaker at one month old!

I am also excited to announce that I am back in school!!! I was out for a year because I was experiencing dizziness. I am still dizzy but not as bad. I also get very bad headaches with it, like right now my head hurts but i started taking Zyrtec and it helped me headaches. The neurologist said it could be allergy related but i don't know. I had allergies since i was 12 years old and never experienced headaches or dizziness until summer of 2010. I noticed I tend to get dizzy when I am on the computer. Does anyone else experience that too?

I've gone to multiple doctors and they all seem to think its just heart related and its something i need to deal with. My heart is fine though. I do have Aortic Stenosis but now it regurgitates and eventually i need to replace the valve but its being monitored and the condition is mild to moderate. I don't know what else could cause dizziness. I am on a medication for my valve its , Enalapril, its for high blood pressure but i don't have high blood pressure, basically its relaxing muscles in my heart so it doesn't work so hard to pump the blood. Recently, the dosage was lowered from 5mg-2.5mg and I'm suppose to take it twice a day but usually i take it at night only because i wanted to see if that caused me to feel dizziness but it really hasn't made a difference

Anyone with this same experience. Message or comment here!! Thanks

Jenn =)

8 Comments

Have you googled ...

by donr - 2012-09-27 06:09:02

..."Can looking at a computer make you dizzy"? You should. Plus, see a neurologist. Perhaps some sort of neuro problem related to epilepsy?

There are other visual/sensory issues w/ computer screens trhat apparently causse dizziness.

The refresh rate causes a flickering that you may not be able to sense consciousy, but sub-cinsciousy/subliminally, your brain may be seeing it & that causes the dizziness.

Does watching TV cause the same symptoms?

TV works differently in the way it refreshes the screen. It's a series of some 500+ lines of picture that are continuously refreshed by a moving spot of the electron beam in the set. Dunno how frequently the set runs through the series of lines, but it's pretty darned fast. The computer screen refreshes at a different rate - best Ican figure out it's 60 frames per second.

Apparently the TV refreshes at about 90 frames per second.

What kind of monitor do you have for your computer?

Perhaps this is where your probem lies.

Worth looking into, isn't it? BTW - my guess is that this is the simplest solution!!! Therefore, it's the most likely solution.

Don

i seen neurologist/ent

by Jennheart - 2012-09-27 08:09:56

Yes I had a ct scan, eeg as well and no seizure history was shown. I can't have MRI because pacemaker. I've seen an ent and did many test! They thought it maybe a vestibular problem but it wasn't coming from ears. So I don't know. Usually when I watch tv I'm fine, I'm fine with looking at cell phone. Sometimes reading makes me tired & computer but I can see fine close up. This isn't all the tome though. I sometimes do vestibular exercises it helps but not always

computers

by Jennheart - 2012-09-28 06:09:13

I am not always on computer either I have a laptop. I am using cell phone and I am not dizzy. I am dizzy even when I am just sitting down. I get dizzy in shower too

yes lol

by Jennheart - 2012-09-28 06:09:47

Yes all the doctors blame each other. I also have a single chamber pacemaker, the cardiologist thinks maybe I have pacemaker syndrome but they don't know for sure. I am going to see the ent again soon. I dont always get dizziness with computers though. I think I do suffer from migraines but two years the dizziness started and the headaches started after. Even the lights bother me lol

The neurologist just thinks its from my complex medical history

Jenn

Someone is missing something!

by donr - 2012-09-28 08:09:44

Jenn: Ok, so they found no evidence of seizure. Dizziness is not necessarily a seizure.

To me it is significant that you get dizzy watching a computer screen, but not a TV screen. Have you reported that fact specifically to a neuro? And what was his answer,other than a derisive wave of the hand & changing the subject?

It is obvious to me that there is a difference between the two that causes dizziness from one but not the other. I'd say that perhaps Neuros have no comprehension of the difference in image refresh rates between the two devices. Which leads to the question - have you tried one who is a specialist in Migraines & other causes of headche?

If flickering can cause a migraine, why not other forms of headache? If you did Google as I suggested, you'd find a bunch of anecdotal evidence that your problem is real - & perhaps not understood by the mainstream neuro profession.

Don.

Headaches & Dizziness

by donr - 2012-09-30 12:09:14

Jenn: those are the two most difficult to pin down symptoms I can think of - they can be caused by so many things. I Googled on "What causes headaches and dizziness in women" & came up w/ a list of hits too long to read in my lifetime. I read one about the situation in adolescent girls, figuring that you are but a few years beyond that. All I can say is "WOW!", I never knew there were so many ways to get a headache or become dizzy!

From your description of your symptoms & when they seem to occur, I'd bet that it's either your eyes, ears or a combination of both that are causing your problems. Why? because you are always doing things that PRINCIPALLY involve your eyes for input to your brain when they occur. But generally, your ears determine balance for your body.

Aha!!! but the eyes ALSO give the brain info that it processes to determine balance. F'rinstance - you are on a boat, below deck, unable to see the horizon, tossing & heaving in rough water. Man, oh man, do your ears ever get input for determining balance! They get so much they are confused & you become pyhsically ill! Maybe even dizzy? Now, what is happening is that your eyes see stuff that just plain does not move - the walls, in this case. Your ears sure know you are moving! Now go up on deck & look around you at the horizon. Now you have visual information that your brain can use to establish balance.

If your vestibular & visual data do not match, the brain is confused & you can become dizzy. If they match, it allows the brain to have a more complete set of data to use for decision purposes, lessening confusion.

Sounds like in your case that watching the computer screen generates false data for your brain. Perhaps not enough to show up in any of the tests they put you through, but enough to cause low level confusion in the balance generating circuits & make you dizzy.

Let me give you at least a suggestion of what it could be. You are watching a TV set - across the room - but your peripheral vision gives the brain a lot of data about what is happening overall to you. Now switch to your computer - you are right on top of it & it pretty near fills your entire field of view. Not much peripheral vision & perhaps a lot of whatever makes you dizzy in terms of flicker. The ears cannot sense flicker, so the brain gets conflicting balance data.

I suffer lousy balance, also - always have for the past 75+ yrs. Get airsick, seasick, carsick - all sorts of sickness associated w/vestibular issues. But none of their tests show anything. Easily get dizzy. All I have to do is turn around ONCE real fast & I am down for the count from dizzy. I cannot wear regular bifocal glasses w/ the small reading spot in the lower inside corner of the lens. Those require that you move your head to line the glasses up w/ what you are trying to read. The constant moving my head left & right made me dizzy! Also, if I get a very cold blast of air on my ears (Try a below zero wind blast out in an Iowa mid-winter snow storm) & I'm dizzy for several days.

The closest thing to a diagnosis was back in 1961 when an EENT guy told me that the best he could tell me was that my balance was "Hypersensitive"! After running all the typical lab tests, he performed this very simple test on my vestibular circuits - you can do it at home. This was his defining test for my diagnosis - which, BTW, fits my experiences in living for the past 50 + yrs.

Take your shoes off & stand on a thick rug. Stand on one foot w/ your arms out to the side - eyes open. Stand for ten seconds or so. Notice how well you balance. Do you wave around? Do you want to fall over? Do you have to put the second foot down to get balance?

Now, perform the same stunt w/ your EYES CLOSED! Compare how you do w/ the first test. If your balance is hypersensitive, you will weave all over the place & most likely have to put the second foot down to get your balance. Me - I had to put my foot down w/i 2 or 3 seconds.

What happens is that the rug does not give you a stable base. The brain depends on three things to generate your baance - muscle signals from back & lower legs, eyes, & ears. This test eliminates the eye data & gives the brain confusing data from feet & back muscles - forcing it to use just the ear data. If your ear vestibular data is too sensitive, it will have the brain going nutso to do things to fix your balance. None of this test shows up on the fancy machines they use in the lab. This EENT just grabbed a throw rug he had in his office & threw it onto the floor on a section of wall to wall carpet & had me do it.

Once upon a time about 30 yrs ago, I suffered a dizzy spel that landed me in the ER, where fortunately an EENT Dr. was on duty. He examined me & sugested that I wear a scopolamine patch used to combat sea sickness to ease the disomfort. The patches are good for three days, so I stuck it behind my ear & went about my business. I fet better than I had for years - things that I did not know bothered me were eliminated. One of them was my fear of heights. I had occasiion to visit an industrial plant W a large forge room. I went up to a 7th floor balcony overlooking the forge room & walked out on the balcony to look around. I suddeny realized that I was doing something I never could do w/o the patch. It was that old "Hyper-sensitive" balance mechanism.

Have you been to a good Opthomologist & had your eyes thoroughly tested. I don't nmean just for being able to see & glasses, but for other functions SPECIFICALLY for dizziness. Who knows what might show up?
Don

Dizziness

by Jennheart - 2012-10-02 06:10:12

Also i dont get carsick or any vehicle sickness either. Also, i did try vestibular therapy but it made more dizzy, The SoT test showed i have a balance problem but they didnt recommend therapy

Headaches and Dizziness

by Jennheart - 2012-10-02 06:10:47

I have been to an ENT NEUROLOGIST AND NEURO OPTHOMOLOGIST. i DID EVERY TEST LOL i had an SOT test, dizzy test, everything came back normal. the ENT though she seen nystagmus (up & down) in my eyes but i went to the neuro opthomologist they dilated my eyes and everything was healthy. I do notice when i close eyes standing up i get dizzy, especially in shower. My dizziness has gotten better. The dizziness is not coming from my eyes though. The neurologist said it would ether come from ears, heart or stroke. I do have heart problems but being monitored

I do have glasses for nearsightedness (far away) I do wear them but still feel dizzy with them. They said I may never find out bc i also have such a complex history of medical problems. I have tried that standing on rug test with eyes open i feel fine, eyes closed i get dizzy. I dont see these moving though, the doctors think i have vertigo but i don't. I feel more "unbalanced"

I just recently seen the neurologist and he thought maybe i should try Zrytec because i do have allergies and it helped with my headaches but i was still dizzy. As of now, I am typing and i am not dizzy. Every day is different. I was just in school and i wasnt dizzy today, just tired.

thanks for your concerns

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