Non Traditional Cause

When I was 51 I started to develop palpitations and dizziness. I was diagnosed with 3rd degree heart block and fitted with a pacemaker. Have felt fine since.

I had no previous heart trouble, no underlying issues anyone could find...even though the literature attributes heart block to these causes.

Anyone else have an outif the lue case of 3rd degree heart block?

4 Comments

Me2

by Reboot1212 - 2013-03-09 02:03:17

I got mine in Dec as an emergency. Age 57. No history or likely cause either. Seems to be working well. Hang in there and enjoy the ride.

Oh Yes "New NormaL"

by syoung00 - 2013-03-09 06:03:23

Yes my friend. Age 54 out of the blue. Two years now with my wonderful friend that let's me do everything I want and need to do. I, like you, wondered why a healthy person with no previous issues would have this but I have finally just let that go and now...I call it my new normal.

traditional

by Tracey_E - 2013-03-09 11:03:16

Having seen many, many new members come here confused/frustrated/angry/shocked because they have av block with no known cause, I would say "no known cause" is probably the number one cause of heart block. Some get it from medication or infection, sometimes it happens during surgery or ablation to repair another problem but the majority have no idea why. Mine is congenital. The main reason for congenital CHB is the mother carries Lupus. My mom does not, so mine has no known cause either, it's just a fluke, an electrical connection that for me has never been there. In your case it was there but broke down.

What we do know is it's not caused by lack of exercise, too much exercise, not eating right.. in other words, it's nothing you could have prevented and you didn't do anything wrong to cause it.

The good news is we generally have otherwise healthy hearts- the structure is normal and the arteries are clear, and it's the easiest fix with a pm because the sinus node, nature's pacemaker, functions normally so all the pm has to do is watch for the atria to beat then make sure the ventricles keep up. If we have to have a heart condition, this is a pretty good one to have. As you've learned, we get the pm then move on.

Yup

by kdb - 2013-03-09 12:03:14

Tracey is including me as one of the confused/frustrated bunch! I was diagnosed with complete heart block out of the blue last year when I was 22. It has since downgraded to marked 1st degree with periods of Mobitz II. The heart is a mysterious organ!

You know you're wired when...

Your pacemaker receives radio frequencies.

Member Quotes

A pacemaker suddenly quitting is no more likely to happen than you are to be struck by lightening.