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Concerned !!!!
- by wrg
- 2012-09-25 03:09:55
- General Posting
- 1055 views
- 16 comments
I am 50 years old and was fitted for a dual chamber pacemaker July 25 2012 for Sick Sinius Syndome. I have read were SSS normally gets worse over time, does this mean my life with be shortened by the Syndome ? I am an emotional wreck from all of this, still trying to adjust.
William
16 Comments
Concerned !
by wrg - 2012-09-25 03:09:18
Don, I tried to send message several times back, hopefully this message will send
concerned
by wrg - 2012-09-25 03:09:19
Don I am all messed up about this pacemaker deal, actually at first I was having a hard time with PVC's and they turned off the sensor mode and PM only works at this time, keeping my heart rate above 60 at rest, I have had some tach, but nothing over 110 bpm, my Doc said the heart is doing it's job on it's own, other than when I have a pause or irreruglar heartbeat and it corrects it. I have had Anxiety issues most of my life and this is sending me over the edge.some days. I am planning a trip to Mayo Clinic also to help me ease my mind and find out more info from them as to what caused it from the beginning. My Doctor is in Little Rock and she is very good at this medical stuff as well. 2hrs from were I live here in Texarkana Ark. Most times my heart rate varys from 72-84 bpm during the day.
concerned
by wrg - 2012-09-25 03:09:57
I have some mild cornary heart diease from high cholesterol that runs in the Family. Maybe this is the reason for SSS. But I have no chest pains or shortness of breath. Or angina and Doctor said I have strong heart mucsle, no damage at this point, one of my valves is not as strong as others but okay, heart output is 55%.
what don said :)
by Tracey_E - 2012-09-25 04:09:16
EF of 55% is excellent! And having a strong heart muscle and clear arteries is also good. SSS is an electrical issue, not structural, so usually it just happens. There's nothing we did to cause it, nothing we could have done to prevent it.
As Don said, it makes no difference if SSS gets worse after you have the pm, it's already fixed. I've been fully dependent on my pm for almost 20 years now, I'm very active and feel great. It takes time to trust the pm and for the worry to go away, but you can trust it. Pm's are highly dependable, much more so than our wonky hearts.
Concerned !
by wrg - 2012-09-25 04:09:46
You folks hang with me for awhile from day to day until I can get through this. :) Already feeling better about it. I hold down two Jobs and one of them is very special to me, I serve the people in my County and was just re-elected for the 6th time. They need me and I need them. I have always focused on the needs of others for years and now I am reaching out for help, something I have never done. Not use to this. Never thought I would need too.
Life is good on a battery!
by ksig - 2012-09-26 04:09:39
I have to admit that I was pretty upset that I needed a pacer under an emergency situation years ago. I was in my mid 50s at the time and was a middle school principal at the time. I did not have time for all of the heart trouble. I had just recently had an ablation for Atrial Fib and then all of a sudden my heart dropped to 28 beats a minute while I was out on the field at school. I had a difficult time making it back to the office. After about an hour, I called an ambulance. The rest is history. I was very active and had a thriving, competitive school and now the leader was down. It took me a couple of months to deal with my own mortality and get back to the business at hand. The experience did change my outlook on life. I am happier now and glad to have my pacer. I am alive. I am healthier.
I hope you can come to terms with your pacer. Frank put it simply: Why waste the years you have left (many or short) worrying about something you can't change. I say worry when you need to worry.
ksig
Pulse
by wrg - 2012-09-26 06:09:19
Doctor told me to quit checking my pulse all day and relax, not to worry about something unless you begin having symptoms. I think most of my symptoms are anxiety.
William
pulse
by Tracey_E - 2012-09-26 06:09:29
Your dr is right, you will make yourself crazy counting it all the time! Only count if you feel bad, the rest of the time trust the pm to do its job.
It's unlikely the Paxil caused the SSS. Electrical problems usually just happen, nothing we did to cause it, nothing we could have done differently to prevent it.
Remember it takes a strong person to ask for help when they need it. Lots of ears and shoulders here when you have a rough day!
Concerned !
by wrg - 2012-09-26 06:09:49
I spoke with my EP today and she assured me that my heart was in good shape and as for the SSS, it is in the past with the PM and all is fine, The PM just picks up when my built-in pacemaker fails to correct heart rate and function, she said I was healther with a PM than the nature pacemaker Sinus Node we are born with. She set my appointment for one year from now. I guess if she is not that worried about it to set next appointment for a year away, I guess I shouldn't be overly concerned at this point.
After laying down last nite, I checked my pulse and it ranges between 64-67 at rest. Pacer is set at 60. Sinus node is doing okay on it's own. But after falling asleep, not sure if HR dropped to lower levels for PM to take over. The Tachy has stayed rather normal, hardly ever increases over 100. Heartbeat stays around 74-84 all during the day unless I get anxious about something.
William
One more thing !!
by wrg - 2012-09-26 06:09:57
I quit taking Paxil about 4 weeks ago and my heart has settled down ALOT. Wondering if the Paxil had something to do with all of this. I have been on and off of it for 8 years. Had been back on it for about 4 months when the bottom fell out with Sinus Node. Something to think about.
William
82 yr old checking in
by ElectricFrank - 2012-09-26 12:09:19
I have AV Block and have a had a pacer since 2004. I've also had chlorestoral that is higher than they like since I was your age. Probably longer than that but they didn't start measuring it til then. For years they predicted my early demise since I refused to take statins for it. In 2004 the cardiologist gave me a 50-50 chance of a heart attack in the next year. At each check up I reminded him of it and asked when I could expect it.
Finally my GP gave up and admitted that I must be one of the few who aren't affected by it.
Sick Sinus Syndrome is one of those catch all labels that really doesn't mean much until they zero in on the actual problem like slow HR. Both SSS and AV Block plus several other similar problems all have to do with electrical conduction in a nerve bundle in the heart. They rarely have anything to do with life style, diet, etc. Things like a virus or hereditary factors are suspected.
So bottom line, why waste the years you have left (many or short) worrying about something you can't change. We all have that terminal illness called death.
cheers,
frank
82 years old
by wrg - 2012-09-26 12:09:43
I pray God blesses me to the ripe ole age of 82 as you are. I want to see all my Grandbabies grow up. But I continue to give God my praises, only he knows and will choose that day he takes me home.
Isn't it great that...
by donr - 2012-09-27 12:09:52
...your EP agreed w/ all us living experts!!!!! By golly, she's one pretty smart cookie!
Wiliam - keep those fingers AWAY from that other wrist. You will drive yourself batty obsessing over your pulse. That PM is so reliable that it will NOT let it drop below 60, I promise you. That little device is the same technology that took the new Mars Rover there & is supposed to operate for years on another planet. Its battery will wear out before the electronics fail. That technology flies airplanes across the oceans; it operates nuclear power plants. It's better than your desk top or lap top computer. It's kept Janet functioning for thirty years. Now what more can you ask for? have you ever seen a headline that exclaims "Man dies because his PM failed"? You haven't & probably never will.
On to the next subject: Your PM does NOT only "Kick in" when your heart rate drops below 60. It functions EVERY time it thinks you are going to "miss a beat, regardless of what your heart rate is" Remember this when your interrogation report says that you are being paced X % of the time, yet the printout never shows your pulse going near 60 BPM.
I wrote the following comment to a member last week:
Begin copy & paste
"Comment posted by donr on 2012-09-21 15:15.
Try this as an...
...explanation of why you are being paced nearly 100% while the monitor shows 70 BPM & your lower rate is 60 BPM.
There is no Santa Caus, Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy or Heart Rate. Sorry to have to be the one that tells you that at such an early age. Please don't tell all your little friends, we don't want them to be disappointed, do we?
Having a true Heart Rate would imply that there was some nice, periodic wave generated in your SA node that the heart followed in beating. T'ain't what happens. In actuality, each & every beat is an individually timed event, w/ the timing coming from the SA Node. It is a tribute to the accuracy of all the many events that are required to generate a heart beat that the variability from beat to beat is as low as it is. We are talking milliseconds variation - that's pretty darned small!
Your PM paces at the rate the heart is working w/in the boundaries of your upper & lower limits. If your heart is beating at 70 BPM because that's what the body demands, the PM is adaptable enough that it follows. Suppose for example, that your heart was pumping along at its upper rate very nicely at 130 BPM & your PM sensed that a beat was going to be missing. It would try to insert a pulse to trigger the missing beat - IF it only worked at the lower rate of 60 BPM, it would try insert its signal 1 beat too late because the heart is going twice as fast (roughly). This supposes that your RR is not fuctioning to drive the PM.
The PM functions the same way the heart does - it times things for each beat independently. It will sense the various waves that make up the trace on an ECG & it starts timing from when it senses one & if the appropriate next event does not happen w/i its prescribed interval, it provides the signal. F'rinstance -the PM senses a P wave; it starts counting time & if a QRS complex does not occur w/i the appropriate time interval, it sends a signal to initiate one.
So, back to your reality: If your heart should be pumping at 70 BPM, it may be malfunctioning "a lot of the time" & generating a near 100% pacing rate for short intervals of the time, requiring a signal from your PM."
End Copy & paste.
Don
You know you're wired when...
You know the difference between hardware and software.
Member Quotes
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Longevity w/SSS
by donr - 2012-09-25 03:09:12
Wiliam: Doesn't matter to the PM whether or not SSS gets worse w/ age. It just keeps banging away on its little drum regardless of what your heart's electrical system does.
Consider all the folks in here who don't even have a Sinus Node! Their PM just keeps them plugging. Some of them have been TOTALLY PM dependent for more than 20 yrs.
No one can answer your question about whether or not it WILL shorten your life. It might, it might not. You might be hit by a meteorite, also, or struck by lightning. Try being hit while stepping off the kerb in Downtown London & not looking the correct direction first & being wiped out by one of those great big, lumbering London double decker buses?
Worry more about the whacky scenarios I outlined above. They are far more likely to happen than your PM letting you down because it cannot cope w/ a piddly little thing like a case of SSS gone awry!
I sent you a Pvt Msg several weeks ago. It came back to me from you three times w/ no answer, but like you had tried to send a reply. Send me a PvtMsg & I'll reply to you. I may be able to help the emotional wreck part. I run a road service for peolpe who have emotional wrecks - truck that tows you in for help. Has a special hook on it.
Don