Difficulty Sleeping

I received my St Jude PM March 18, 2013 and have had great difficukty sleeping ever since.

When I lay down I get muscle and joint pains that affect different areas of my body. I also feel my heart beating fast (heart rate is set for 70 although it was normally in the 50's before the PM).

Could the problem be caused by the PM making the heart rate too fast or could it be one of the medication I am taking (Plavix, Sotalol, Warfarin).

I have to stay up until I am so tired that I finally fall asleep and most times I must sleep on the recliner or at least semi inclined.

It is not restless leg since the pain occurs any where and most times it is almost too painful to move from one position to another. If my one arm is bent at the elbow, it hurts to straighten it. If a knee is straight, it hurts to bend it.

Ieven get pain in my toes, fingers, head and neck. Lower back is the worst.

Any thoughts are greatfully appreciated.

By the way, i can only take Tylenol for pain (alergic to anything stronger).

5 Comments

Sleep

by teddybear - 2013-05-08 03:05:33

They had night checks turned on, on my pacemaker. There are 3 checks, top and bottom chamber and wires. I would wake up every night with an anxiety attack and my heart going out of control. I think it was a malfunction. But top and bottom checks are turned off and I am a lot better for it. Also she had the amps turned up to 4500 on both chambers. She turned it down on the top chamber and I am a lot better.

Night rate

by Suzie_G - 2013-05-08 04:05:09

Sounds like you need a night rate set on you pm. You should be able to state the times you are in bed and have them set it lower - sounds like 50 would be max for night time.
Sue

Hi....

by Pookie - 2013-05-08 04:05:10

Plavix may cause chest pain, influenza-like syndrome, general body pain, or fatigue, so I would check with your doctor for sure about this!!!!

Sleep issue - ask that your sleep mode be turned ON. Perhaps they could set it to 50 beats per minute (or 60) so you hopefully won't feel it. As we go to bed and are laying there so quietly, we tend to feel our hearts more versus when we are upright and tending to our day.

Another thing that may be helpful, but please discuss it with your doctor first, is to start walking on a regular basis.

Best of luck,
Pookie

If this is something new

by janetinak - 2013-05-08 04:05:47

maybe you need to see your GP. I get a lot of this type of pain from my various "itis's" tendinitis, osteoarthritis, & bursitis & when I take statins it only gets worse. I take Tylenol PM (generic versions) as I am on Coumadin also & am limited on OTC meds too. So again I have stopped the latest statin as it works on the blood levels but get a lot of pain. So no statins for me & take Tylenol PM to sleep. Guess if it were me I'd run the problems by your GP & if no answers try the Tylenol PM

Hope my opinions help,

Janet

Thanks for the responses

by lkayh - 2013-06-19 01:06:57

Sorry for the delay in responding.

I would like to say thank you very much to everyone who responded.

I have contacted my EP's office and asked about the sleep mode. At the present time, it is not set. I am waiting to hear back to find out whether or not the EP will approve the setting (it has been several weeks :( I hope they respond soon (yawn). In the meantime, I am drinking Chamomile tea (recommendation from the Cardio Nurse). It does seem to help some although it negatively affects my blood so my blood thinner warfarin had to be adjusted.

I continue to have the strange pains in the muscles and joints throughout the body (traveling pain). It is not restless leg, since it also occurs in other areas (not just the legs). I thought it might be caused by the Plavix (shows as side effects on Internet) although it might be related to my White Matter Disease (vascular - brain) especially since the symptoms with vascular WMD are similar to MS. Will check with my Neurologist (will see her soon).

In the meantime, I am scheduled to have the Watchman device implanted. Can anyone provide positive or negative information on this device?

Thanks again everyone!

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Hi, I am 47 and have had a pacemaker for 7 months and I’m doing great with it.