New to group

Hello all, I have been reading many posts on here for about two weeks since I found out I needed a pacemaker. So I'm still new to all of the terms as well. I'm 29 and I'm on the 3rd day of having a pacemaker. My doctor told me I could remove my bandage today and the incision with the staples looks really good. I have no complaints on that and I can actually feel my heart beat. I was down to 38 bpm. The main complaint I have is my arm and chest muscles are pretty sore. How long does this normally last?

9 Comments

It is very individualized

by janetinak - 2012-09-26 09:09:27

but the soreness will last a wk or so & mine was achy (not too much tho) as my PM settled into the new pocket the 1st time. If it helps, the last 2 were very easy. They usually use the same pocket. I took Tylenol & that worked for me. Actually they gave me stronger stuff but I was allergic to it.Make sure you read up on what you can do with the arm & shoulder for 1st several wks. If you want to look up things, go to the search button on the top rigt of this screen.

Welcome to the club,

Janet

Thanks

by Mtullier113 - 2012-09-26 10:09:51

Thank you very much!

Sincerely,
Mary

Welcome to the Site

by PKite - 2012-09-26 11:09:09

I have now made it to the 8th day after implant of my pm. All the soreness is gone and today my bandage has been removed. They used steristrips (sp?) to close my skin. I can begin to shower and let the strips fall off by themselves.

Three days after the surgery I went to the gym and did 30 minutes on the tread mill and stationary bike. On the 4th and 5th day we (my wife and I) spent time (about 2 hrs each day) walking around Busch Gardens -- we live only about 10 miles away from BG in Tampa.

I feel better and notice that I have better blood circulation than before. It will likely get better for you.

PKite

Wow

by Mtullier113 - 2012-09-26 11:09:44

Well I am excited to start to have energy back, I still play co-Ed softball, and was nearly blacking out at times. Just thought it was due to the heat, boy was I wrong. I'm in decent shape physically and actually took all of this by suprise. Being this sore has shocked me as well. My doctor said he will release me to start doing activities after a month. Staples will be removed a week after my surgery, so another 5 days. I have read about some stuff about "lock arm". How to prevent this if I am unable to remove my arm from the sling for a week? I have tried to straighten my arm every once in a while but I must say its pretty tight. Along with my incision.

Again thanks
Mary

Energy back

by ElectricFrank - 2012-09-27 01:09:28

I know how you feel on that one. A HR of 38 can sure take the energy out of us.

The implant surgery, particularly making the pocket that holds the pacer can be a bit rough on your body. How sore it seems to be can depend somewhat on how near it is to an area that is moved a lot.

I had my arm out of the sling in a couple of days. The doc said it was only to make me comfortable and as a reminder not to raise the arm above shoulder level. You might consider taking your arm out long enough to move it gently through a range of motion while staying below shoulder level. Do this a couple of times a day.

frank

Just replaced mine too

by Jennheart - 2012-09-27 05:09:46

I just replaced my pacemaker on June 21, 2012. It was my 6th pacemaker implant and I am only 24 lol I had my pacemaker since i was one month old. I can say that the soreness will take time. I tend to heal very fast and i deal with pain well but this time it was different. My pacemaker has always been implanted behind breast muscle, so its a different recovery. I couldn't move my arm much even after my one week check up. The day of that check up the surgeon told me to do some arm exercises and it helped. I couldnt lift arm above head but i tried to do it VERY slowly. I say about a few days later i was okay. Now I am 3 month post op and i feel great!! Actually, my 3 month post op check up is tomorrow (September 28,2012)

I tried taking tylenol but it wasnt strong enough. They put me on oxycodone but it made me very exhausted and just weird lol I only took that for 3 days

Day 3 after surgery

by Mtullier113 - 2012-09-27 06:09:24

Thank y'all so much for your responses I see a lot of people have similar issues that I've been having. Today was a rough one. The area feels pretty heavy and some times takes my breath away. My bruising is getting worse which I'm sure is expected, from my neck to underneath my arm. It's amazing to feel so many different things now. Especially my heart beat :). But again thank you, this is such a great group and I'm so glad that I found it!

Mary

Soreness

by wrg - 2012-09-27 11:09:36

I got mine on July 25 2012, it will take a few weeks or more for sorness to go away, after that, you will still have some discomfort at times in the shoulder and arm and some in the neck. The incison will stay tender for quite awhile, mine is still tender in certain areas. Take care of incision to avoid any infection. Most important.

William

7th day with my pacemaker

by C.e.g. - 2012-09-28 12:09:43

They didn't put any bandage on my wound instead used glue. Healing very well. My pusle was at 28 which was a complete heart block. I'm feeling better as each day passes. My pusle is now 60. Good luck to you.

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