Picking a Pacemaker

I had a Medtronic InSync III for a little over 8 years. In those 8 years I never had a problem and the settings never had to be changed. Last March 2012 I finally needed to replace it due to the battery running low. My doctor (for reason yet explained to me) decided without informing me until after I checked into the hospital that he was changing me to a St Jude Anthem Crt RX 3210. When I went in for my 1 month post op check I only had 3 years left on the new pacemaker !! I just about had another heart attack when I saw this. The doctor lowered my voltage on the LV and RV pulse amplitude by 20% below what it should be (and what my Medtronics was set at) in order to get me to 4 years of approximate use. The Medtronics lasted 8 years and a month. I personally think the St. Jude does not work as well but that could be because of the lower voltage settings. The only different mechanically I can find is the St Jude can be monitored by phone. But only if you have a land line which I don't. I am still trying to get an explanation for my doctor as to why he put what I think is an inferior product in my chest. If any one else has had similar experiences like I have had I would be curious to hear of your thoughts and experiences .

As a last thought I would say that if you have a choice research it very well but I will be going back to Medtronics in 4 years (if I am alive) and will change doctors if need be to get it.

3 Comments

monitoring

by Alma Annie - 2012-10-04 06:10:46

I have a Medtronic and it can be monitored by phone. It is a free call number, so if you don't have a land line you can go to a friend who does, and it will not cost them anything.
I think all new pacemakers can be phone monitored.
I have had my pm for 16 months, have 8 years left on battery, and am 100% paced.
Good luck
Alma Annie

St Judes

by Tracey_E - 2012-10-04 09:10:48

I'm on my 4th St Judes and have had nothing but good experiences, both with how I feel and my St Judes rep. Last change I was offered my choice of St Judes or Medtronics (it has one minor feature that might be useful to me that St Judes does not offer) but I chose to stick with what works for me.

Something else is going on, if all is normal there is no reason why a new one should have only 3 yrs left on it.

Is your dr adjusting the settings or someone else? If it's a nurse or tech in the office, ask for the dr himself or a rep from St Judes.

Some questions to ask...
What was the expected life when you left the hospital?
Were the leads tested when the lead generator was changed out?

I had one pm that lasted only 3 years but it was a bad lead, had nothing to do with the pm itself. It was like leaving the window open while the AC is running, the house still cools but the power bill goes up. The voltage had to be turned way up to get the signal through so the battery life plummeted. I got a new lead when we changed out the battery and now my battery life is back to normal.

Changing the voltage shouldn't affect how you feel. It should always be set to the lowest necessary to get the heart to beat. Anything higher than that just uses up battery life with no added benefit. The way I understand it, either the signal is strong enough to make the heart beat or not, so if it's strong enough to get your pulse up you shouldn't feel a difference. Your heart muscle is doing the work, not the pm.

Good luck getting answers!

Get a Copy of Your Medical Records

by IRONFISH - 2012-10-10 10:10:14

What I do is get a copy of all medical records, reports, printouts, everything. I read them, every single word. If I do not understand something I look it up on the internet, call my M.D. and ask a nurse, or post on this site. I have learned a lot! Some of it was scary. Patients are frequently not give all the information they need to know to understand their situation. Some of that is our own fault. Many people do not want the particulars, so the medical professionals just do not give out anymore than basic information.

I guess it is intimidating when some of us start asking questions that are a little deeper than "will it hurt", "how big is it?"

I thought most Doctors were locked into one company or another. My EP defiantly is, he only does Medtronic, so I will be changing to another clinic.

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