uk user advise needed please

Hi new to this site but could really do with some advise had problems for 15yrs finaly diagnosed with svt had ablation march 2011 cured that but since oct 2011 had problems with dropped beats and pausing been very symptomatic to the point its over taking my everyday life had various tests to try catch wot the prblem was finally got my answer yest and been told my only option is a PM iv told the cardio that i will think about this and he is sending me the paperwork and booklet so i can decide he told me it will cure the pausing and dropping of beats but he said i may feel the pm beats. can anyone please help me and advise on this really undecided but this is my only option of ridding me of this awful rythem .

thanks .

10 Comments

Kim...tell us all more,please...

by Tattoo Man - 2012-10-19 07:10:55

..there are so many people out there who can respond to your comment.

Please telll us more.

You are not alone

Tattoo Man

decided!!!

by kimbo - 2012-10-20 02:10:16

well think im going with the pm gunna be scary having it put in but lived through an ablation now that was scary hope yoy guys on here can get me through it?

kimbo

Good Decision

by IAN MC - 2012-10-20 03:10:16

Hi limbo

I have had an ablation and a PM. I found the ablation 10
times more scary than the PM ( but if I had to have another ablation it wouldn't scare me one bit )

I would rather have a PM fitted than go to the dentist .We are so lucky, here in the UK, cardiology care is among the best in the world and is all free under the good old NHS.

Please keep us informed re your PM - you will be fine !

Ian

Apologies "kimbo"

by IAN MC - 2012-10-20 03:10:21

I just called you "limbo" . I guess you will be in limbo until you get a date for your PM

Best of luck

Ian

We're here for you!

by SaraTB - 2012-10-20 05:10:04

Hi Kimbo - I'm a Brit, but live in the US. I had an ablation for SVT too, but unfortunately while it cured the SVT, it damaged my AV node, resulting in third degree heart block, and an emergency PM implant the next day.

As I'm paced all the time now, I can't tell whether you'd feel when the PM actually does 'kick in' to pace you - I think it fairly unlikely, and even if you did, it would only be coming on to resolve the arrhythmia you would be experiencing, to smooth everything out, which - to me - sounds infinitely better.

Based on how you describe how unpleasant your 'boat load of symptoms" that are making you feel poorly, I think I'd want to go with the pacemaker, as the better alternative. As Ian said, the procedure is very straightforward, and like him, I'd rather go through that than a root canal at the dentist (and I've done that too).

Welcome to the PM Club - I hope you'll find this place helpful in future, when you have questions, as I'm sure they're going to arise over the next few weeks while you decide. There are plenty of UK members too.

undecided

by kimbo - 2012-10-20 05:10:36

hi not sure wot more info you want ??my cardio has given me for my symptoms the only option of a pm the other is live with my symptoms which are very dilibitating when it kicks off light headed,dizzy, spaced out and the pounding to the head were ya eyes feel there gunna burst out it can last anything from 20 mins to all day on and off which wears me down and makes me feel right off it for some time when i dont get it i feel great i also have whenkibach motz block and am brady through the night iv been told the other syptoms are caused by beats been dropped alot and the pause that comes after. iv been told cause im so sensitive i may feel the pacing beats when they kick in but surly this must be far better than a boat load of symptoms thats causing me to feel poorly when they kick off since last oct they have been more or less every week and say that the ablation i had for ARSVT in march last year has been a benifacter to this my cardio dosent think this prob will resove itself and settle he awaits my dicision am so unsure wot to do as when i have a run without symptoms i think its settleing down but raises its ugly head again and the cycle starts again. Has anyone else had problems like this and had a pm fitted my ablation surgion did say he burnt as close as he dare to the av node to rid me of the svt which was racing at 300 beats a min . my restin heart rate is around 55-60 drops below 40 through night and when iv been in an episode drops to around 37-45.

thanks
kimbo

thanks

by kimbo - 2012-10-20 05:10:52

thanks for the response i feel more certain now and need to make that call so i can get the ball rolling not sure how long the list is for surgery. the ablation was unpleasent and not something i would do again but hopfully wont need to. iv had a loop recorder fit 3yrs ago and the dr found it difficult to make a pocket as im so thin i think this is wot i fear as im even thiner near my collor bone plus were do the wires go?in chest wall or via the neck god the more i think of it the more i feel paniced. i will keep you posted and once again thanks everyone.

kimbo

You won't feel the leads

by SaraTB - 2012-10-20 09:10:10

The leads go from the pacemaker itself, to the heart, via veins (not arteries) - you'll never feel or see them.

I'm also fairly small, and was worried it would be difficult, but although there was a little swelling to begin with, from bruising where the pocket was formed, it went down and now I'm hardly aware of it at all, and unless you knew, you'd never see it.

I would urge you to ask your cardiologist to stitch the PM in place: they can put a stitch into the muscle to hold it in position, and it's so much more comfortable (my first wasn't stitched, my second is).

Decide ! Trust your cardiologist !

by IAN MC - 2012-10-20 10:10:59

Hi kimbo . It sounds like a no-brainer to me , the PM should cure your cardiac pauses which arel causing many of your symptoms, otherwise live ( or die) with them !

Best of luck

Ian

PM

by shaybill - 2012-10-20 12:10:19

First of all, you use a lot of acronyms that creates uncertainty about what you are asking. I have a PM and Sick Sinus Node Syndrome. Heart rate dropped to 29 and had to have inserted. It is so important to make sure that your device is properly set and not set to pace with every movement. You can feel beats throughout the day and it can be worrisome, until you finally accept the fact of the device and remind yourself that you are okay. I just returned to sports-tennis today and played hard with no problems. I recommend a good surgeon and would have it inserted to give you a better quality of life. But, you probably are still going to have irregular rhythms. Be forewarned.

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I had a pacemaker when I was 11. I never once thought I wasn't a 'normal kid' nor was I ever treated differently because of it. I could do everything all my friends were doing; I just happened to have a battery attached to my heart to help it work.