Pre PM symptoms during pregnancy

Hello,

Currently I'm 26 weeks pregnant. I had a PM put in for severe bradycardia about 6 years ago. Since I've been pregnant my cardiologist has increased my PM to min 80BPM but I still have lots of cases of difficulty breathing, lightheadedness and even loss of vision. I'm worried as the baby gets bigger this will get worse. Or even worse, more harmful for her.

I've given up exercise and even taking the stairs, but the episodes still happen on a daily basis. So far my cardiologist feels this is the pain for the gain. Does anyone else have similar symptoms or know if there is something different i can do to help?

5 Comments

Thanks

by sescutia - 2012-09-17 08:09:28

Hello, Thanks for responding. I guess I should add some more facts. My cardiologist is Male. He's highly regarded in his field but not the most sensitive as you can tell. I thought about finding a new one, but other than this instance I'm very healthy run marathons etc

I am actually on a high salt diet due to my low blood pressure. If I eat less salt I tend to have worse symptoms. I do however drink tons of water (a good habit that works well for me in pregnancy). And I love tap water over bottle water. I can walk a mile but no more. I can't breathe and then I have to take it easy the rest of the day. I tried swimming once with some problems due to the humidity. I haven't tried again since these symptoms have gotten worse.

I really appreciate your feedback. Thank you.

pregnancy

by Tracey_E - 2012-09-17 08:09:39

What was the cause of the brady? Brady is simply a low heart rate, it can be caused by a lot of things. If you felt better before he changed the settings, I'd ask to change them back. I'm not dr but 80 seems kind of high, even if you are pregnant.

I have a pm for heart block. I had two pregnancies post-pm. We didn't make any changes to the settings during either pregnancy. I exercised right up until I delivered both times, didn't feel any symptoms other than the usual pregnancy stuff.

I also had very low blood pressure, was on a high salt diet and very diligent about water intake. Canned soup, bleh, but it helped. I was dizzy a lot early on both times due to low bp but it went away as I got into the second trimester. Cardiologist checked me out and determined my pm and heart were both fine, I was just pregnant and having normal pregnancy side effects.

And my cardio is a guy, he's awesome. I've had women drs that were clueless and insensitive, you can't generalize by gender.

You aren't going to find a cardiologists or ob with a lot (if any!) of experience with pregnant pm patients. It's not reasonable to expect either of them to have all the answers since you're likely their first, but it IS expected that they listen and take you seriously.

Best wishes for an easy remainder of your
pregnancy and healthy baby.

pregnancy

by sescutia - 2012-09-18 07:09:19

Well, we upped the pace from 60 to 80 cause in the beginning about 12 weeks I had the same issues. It was good then for a couple months and now the issues are coming back worse every week. His new recommendation is to go on bed rest.

Maybe this is just my pregnancy. I know every woman is different. At least we know the baby is growing healthy.

Thank you

Still Bad

by sescutia - 2012-10-31 08:10:43

Thanks for your comment. Unfortunately, after 3 hospital stays and 2 cardiologists and countless OB's they learned my heart is lazy. We can't go back to my original settings or I won't get enough oxygen to support the baby.

As is they said my heart won't pick up past the paced 80bpm so I'm confined to my house due to extreme lightheadedness, blurred vision and shortness of breath. They also determined I won't be able to go through labor. Thank goodness only 7 weeks left!!

At least the baby is healthy!!

pm rate

by pmredhead - 2012-10-31 12:10:16

I agree with TracyE. I would advise you to change the PM settings and go back to your regular settings. I have a heart block as well and had two pregnancies with my pacemaker. You have a rate of 80 and pregnant that is the worst thing to do because you're carrying the baby and all that weight is on your heart which is why you are having shortness of breath and feeling light headed. I also think you should change your OB because males don't understand what it means to be carrying another human being and giving birth.


Good luck

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