Little tiny shocks?

I'm 23. I got my pacemaker when I was 21 because my heart randomly stopped for 16 seconds. I'm otherwise healthy. I have a dual chamber pacemaker, not a defibrillator. And everything has been relatively fine except for the new-to-pacemaker-jitters I had the first few months.

Lately I've been getting little shocks. They don't hurt at all. They kind of feel like rhythmic little pricks right around where my pacemaker sits in my chest. I don't know what they are. But when I get them I think my anxiety kicks in because I get really nauseous. It's just worrying me. Has anyone else ever had this?

4 Comments

A relatively common problem

by donr - 2015-01-19 11:01:22

I've had themas have others.

Mine turned out to be a broken lead. The outer conductor sheath in the lead failed & the PM went into a lead operating mode called "Monopolar," where the body became the return path for the pacing current. What i was feeling was the electric current jumping from my body to the PM case. I could feel it in conjunction w/ the rhythm of my heart beat. Is that how you feel it or is it all the time?

Donr

Tiny shocks

by Grateful Heart - 2015-01-19 11:01:49


It could well be what Donr said.

Another possibility....it could be your nerves knitting back together. This usually happens after the first few months and can continue off and on for almost a year. We are all different. I used to say they felt like "ant bites" or getting stuck with a needle. I would actually look at my scar when they first started, thinking I was getting bite by an ant! They really hurt and are random.

It seems it's over a year for you now so probably not....be we are all different.

Grateful Heart

follow up

by Lkrager - 2015-01-20 01:01:43

Donr,
What if it is that? What happened so that they could fix the problem? It isn't all the time. Just random moments, I seem to notice if mostly at night.

Grateful heart,
It could also totally be what your saying. My cardiologist told me that because I am so young getting it, that my nerves and muscles will all be much more sensitive to it. So it totally could be that too!

Thanks so much for replying!

Tiny shocks

by donr - 2015-01-20 07:01:42

They had to replace the lead. They can do a bunch of diagnostics to determine if this is the problem. If so, they would probably just insert a new lead into the same vein iof there is space to handle it. Your leads have been in there so long that they are encapsulated in tissue & embedded in the vein's wall.

Don't worry about that till they determine if the lead is, indeed, broken.

Here's a small test you can run to help determine if it is nerves regenerating:

Get a friend to take a needle, or a paperclip straightened out. You close your eyes. Have them lightly touch the skin around the area where the tingling is located w/ the end of the needle or paper clip. See if you can feel it.

If you can, the nerves are intact & functioning. I've been through having my pocket opened three times & never had that sensation. I just checked my PM area & it has full sensation to touch around it.

I've had the incision area itch like mad for a long time, however & it still itches when it's hot & I'm sweaty.

A word about nerve regeneration - when they cut those itty, bitty nerves that supply feeling to the skin it is nearly impossible for the surgeon to line up the severed nerves so they can reunite, They are so small in diameter that they cannot be seen w/o a micro scope. Instead, the severed ends of the intact portion of the nerve still connected to the spinal cord will grow at a very slooooooow rate out in the direction it used to go before being severed. To give you an idea how slowly they grow, I had a knee operated on back in 1956 when I was but a callow youth of 18. The area across the scar was numb for years! I finally noticed after about 50 years that I had full tactile sensation across the scar. so expect it to be a while before it stops. lest I be considered a fear monger about this - I had a major incision down the mid line of my belly two yrs ago to remove a bunch of colon. It was back to normal feeling w/i a year.

Donr

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