arrhythmia

Hello, my names Kait. I'm 15 years old. I had my very first pacemaker implanted at the young age of 2 days old. I've never had any problems with it that I can recall. This past weekend I was playing soccer with my team when I noticed that my heartbeat was iragular. It would go fast, then slow down and go fast again. It's happened before but never as bad. My father took me to the hospital and it turns out I have an arrhythmia. They put me to sleep to do the "paddles" being almost 100% Possitive it would work. It worked for a mater of minutes but my heart rate went up again. I saw specialist and for the mean time he turned the communication off between the two (I don't remember the name but its where the wires go in) so that my heart no longer speeds up. Back in may I had my pacemaker replaced. Ever since then I noticed my heart bested a bit fast with new settings. The specialist I saw on the weekend at the hospital changed the setting back to what they were in my old pacemaker. So I'm still adjusting to a lower heart beat of about 72 where before it was regularly 92. Tomorrow I have an appt with my specialist to try to figure this out. I'm very nevous and I already have bad anxiety. So, has anyone ever had this issue ? If so, what became of it ? Thank you soooo much! Xxx

5 Comments

hi

by Tracey_E - 2012-09-18 10:09:04

Hi Kait, glad you found us!! First of all, relax! Getting nervous about it is going to make it worse. I know, easier said than done, huh?! Odds are this is an annoyance and an inconvenience, nothing serious.

Question... how fast were you going? And why do you have the pm?

I have a couple of thoughts... It sounds like maybe your new pm has some functions that are competing with your natural hr. There is a function called rate response. If you have heart block (most babies who get pm's get them for hb so I'm making an assumption that's what you have), you probably do not need rate response. Sometimes they leave it on anyway, assuming it won't do anything, but it can compete with your heart's natural beat and cause problems similar to what you are describing. I'd ask the question, is rate response turned on.

Or sometimes our hearts change a bit over time. Mine did that, too, about 5 years ago. I got my first pm in 1993, btw. We adjusted the settings a few times and got me back to feeling good again. It can be trial and error because they like to make changes a little bit at a time, so don't be surprised if it takes a few tries to get it just right. That worked for a few years then I started getting some racing again. Now I'm on a low dose of beta blockers to prevent the racing, the pm prevents my heart from going too slowly, and once again I'm feeling great.

Considering you just had it changed and didn't have problems before, I'd be looking at the settings first.

Good luck!!!! Let us know how it goes tomorrow.

Thank you

by Kait127 - 2012-09-18 11:09:35

Yeah I have a congenital heart blockage. And I'll be sure to ask my doctor about the rate response tomorrow. It was going 140 beats a minute. But I haven't had to go over 90 the past few days thank god. Thank you so much you have no idea how much relieve it brings me to know someone finally understands what I'm going thru. It's hard and it's nice to have some reinsurance :)

TAKE IT EASY

by pete - 2012-09-19 05:09:21

I expect you love football but it is very strenuous for someone with a pacemaker. Rest and relax and only walk for the timebeing. A lower heart rate will put less stress on your heart muscle. Remember the heart never rests except between beats. So a lower heart rate equals more rest. Take care. Peter

how did it go?

by Tracey_E - 2012-09-20 10:09:41

Hey Kait! Wondering how your appointment was yesterday. Hope it went well!

It went okay

by Kait127 - 2012-09-22 12:09:18

It's went okay. But I have to wait until November 16th to see a specialist again :( I'm having pain in my arm and neck but they say that's expected from all the stress going on. And consolidating my upper chamber is still beating at a rate of 138. But they said that its not a dangerous thing because my lower chamber is controlling my heart rate at the moment because they turned the communication off between the two so my heart rate is that 70-85.

You know you're wired when...

You can feel your fingers and toes again.

Member Quotes

I am 100% pacemaker dependant and have been all my life. I try not to think about how a little metal box keeps me alive - it would drive me crazy. So I lead a very active life.