Brand New Pacemaker - I'm confused and scared

Had my pacemaker put in 4 days ago due to Bradycardia. For about the past 18 mos., my hr has been steadily decreasing until the cardiologist decided it was time for the pacemaker. The incision site is sore but that was to be expected. What I did not expect was the feeling of lightheadedness and general feeling of BLAH! I also have afib - have had that for about 8 years and know the pacemaker will not cure it, however, since implantation, I have awakened two mornings with a rapid (90-100 bpm) heartbeat. May not seem rapid to most, but I had gotten used to 40-45 being normal. Still taking my pre-pacemaker meds of Cardizem and Metoprolol. I believe the rate of the pacemaker is set at 60-63. To sum it all up, I am confused and feeling just plain yucky!! Any advice?

1 Comments

healing

by Tracey_E - 2013-03-26 06:03:23

It's common to not wake up feeling terrific!! It takes time, sometimes it takes adjustments to the pm settings. First thing, a normal heartrate can feel really fast when you've been way too slow. I went from 20's to 80's, it felt like I'd been mainlining coffee for a while until I got used to it.

What caused the bradycardia? Brady is a generic term for low hr, it can come from different causes, often either the atria (sinus node) not functioning normally, or av block, where the sinus node works just fine but the message to beat doesn't make it to the ventricles. If this is what you have, then it's normal to have a big jump in hr that unrelated to the minimum setting. Ventricular pacing is just the pm making sure the ventricles beat when the atria does. Lower limit is for the atria, makes sure it never gets lower than 60. Does that make sense? So, if you have av block, the pm may make you feel the afib more until they get it adjusted. Any time you don't feel well, call your dr and ask to be seen. It could be an easy fix

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