How Long Will it Take??

After having a pacemaker installed on 12/31/12 due to bundle branch block in which my heart rate was 30 and stopped for 10 seconds, I am still tired all the time. I really expected to be back to my normal active lifestyle by now. It's been 6 weeks and my legs still feel like rubber. My pacemaker has been adjusted once. The doctor told me to walk 30 minutes a day and after 5 minutes I am exhausted. At times I have experienced muscle spasms on the site side and skipped heart beats. I have friends who had pm installed and were back to normal much sooner than this! I have taken 50 mg of Lopressor twice a day for the past 20 years to control blood pressure and fast heart rate. I guess my question is: " How long can I expect to feel this way?"

3 Comments

How Long

by SMITTY - 2013-02-09 11:02:31

Hi Jean,

I'll offer a suggestion or two because based on what you say about the heart function that caused you to get the PM, as my guess is you should be feeling better.

First you need to know what the low setting is on the PM. A good way to get that is get your resting heart rate. Do this by resting for 20 to 30 nin. then count your pulse. You may do this by hand or with a BP monitor, or some other electronic device. This should tell you what the low setting is on your PM. Of course it should be above the 30 that was causing your problem and got you the PM. If it is not then I would say you are not getting benefit from the PM and need to talk to the dr. I'll not even guess what your low setting should be, but here is what I had when I got my first PM in 2000 at age 80, The low set point I had at first was 60. Over the years I had them ranging from 45 to 80. My current, setting which I got about 3 years ago, is 80.

I see you are taking Lopressor, which is a beta blocker. All beta blockers are famous for causing some folks (I am one of them) the tired feelings you are having. While a PM can overcome a slow heart rate a beta blocker will give, it will do nothing for the tired and rundown feeling you have now and had before you got the PM. So I can't even guess why if the Lopressor didn't cause you to feel tired before you got the PM and is now be causing it.

I know what I'm saying is of no help for you, but I'm trying to compare your problems with my experience with the same problems and it leads me to say you really need to talk to your cardiologist. You may need some changes in the PM settings. I know you said you your PM has been adjusted once. If this was done by a technician without input from the dr at the time they may not have made all the changes you really need. One other thing, skipped beats are not uncommon for a few weeks to a few months after getting a PM so unless they are troublesome try to ignore them as they are noy dangerous to your heart function. So, my cardiologist told me.

Good luck,

Smitty

Continuing problem

by ElectricFrank - 2013-02-10 01:02:37

By now you should not be having that sort of problems due to having the pacemaker. I can think of three things that could lead to your symptoms.
1. The pacemaker is not set properly for your needs
2. You have some heart condition that the pacer can't correct.
3. You are excessively anxious about some of the sensations of your heart, and are limiting your activity to protect yourself.

The important thing is to let the doctor know you are not ding well and want him to explore the situation further. Don't take a put-off answer from him/her.

I won't go into possible settings that could be changed. The comments above have covered them well.

best wishes,

frank

unfamiliar tiredness

by Hope - 2013-02-10 03:02:11

Hi! If you and your cardiologist determine your unfamiliar tiredness is not adjustment or medication(s) related, perhaps, a general checkup with blood work is in order. There are many causes of tiredness unrelated to the heart. Have you also considered a second cardio opinion?Please do get an answer. I hope you feel better soon. Hopeful Heart

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