Wish I had never!!

Feeling great..Told I needed a pacemaker quickly.
Three weeks, and I have never felt so bad. U nsteady o n feet,
fuzzy head, and heart going at a great rate almost enough to hurt my chest.
Pacemaker checked yesterday..They are very happy with their work!!.
HELP

8 Comments

follow up?

by Reboot1212 - 2013-06-12 09:06:08

Do you have a follow up appointment scheduled? I had mine at three weeks and they made some adjustments based on how I was feeling. Helped.

more questions

by Tracey_E - 2013-06-12 09:06:57

Why did they tell you you needed the pm? Are you on any new meds? Pain meds and heart meds can cause all sorts of symptoms including what you describe.

When they say the pm is doing great, that means the leads are in place and it is functioning correctly. That does not necessarily mean the settings are where they need to be.

get help

by Hope - 2013-06-13 02:06:09

Hi! You obviously do not feel well at all. Ha e you notified your actual cardiologist of your symptoms? The pacemaker lab staff are only qualified for actual device issues. Your cardiologist is who can help you find the source of your symptoms which may not be the device itself, or your device may still not be adjusted for your needs. Take care and please get help to feel better. Hopeful Heart

settings

by Tracey_E - 2013-06-13 03:06:54

Definitely pressure them to check your settings! What Jenny said about rate response. If it's on and you don't need it, it can drive you crazy. If it's on and you do need it, it's likely the sensitivity needs adjusted. It's normal to take a few tries to get it right.

Did they say anything about why your hr was low? Bradycardia is more of a symptom than a diagnosis, something has to be causing it.

If you have av block (aka bundle branch block, heart block, and several other names), then I would expect your hr to go up significantly. With av block, the sinus node (nature's pacemaker) works normally but the signal was not getting through to the ventricles, which controls your pulse. The pm gets the heart in sync, causing the ventricles to keep up with the atria. My resting rate went from 40's to 80's (it eventually settled down to 60's) when my av block was fixed with a pm. With av block, our atrial rate was always higher, so now the ventricles are just keeping up. Also, if you have av block then you don't need rate response on because rr fixes sinus dysfunction, which is the opposite problem of av block, when the sinus node gets lazy and either dips too low or doesn't go up on activity.

If you don't feel good, then go back. I would expect your rate to be higher- that's sort of the point of getting a pm, our hearts are too slow for one reason or another- but if you are too tired, if you feel like it's racing, then go insist on being seen again. Can you get back to the first cardiologist?

Thanks

by october - 2013-06-13 08:06:14

The cardiologist is supposed to be first class, but I do n ot know if it was even him, GIVING instructions to the man doing my fitting. When you go back, you see somebody else, and next time somebody else. My heart is running much too quickly, a problem I never had before, but
they said 60 was right and left it at that. I thi nk I should have refused to have it done..but you really have to take their advice.
They all do their best, but you never get to see the mian man.
Feeling a bit betterf today, but as soon as I try to do something active, it the heart goes mad again.
Three weeks ago I had NO problem.

Settings

by jenny97 - 2013-06-13 10:06:37

Like the others said, it sounds like a settings issue. In fact, your last line "Feeling a bit betterf today, but as soon as I try to do something active, it the heart goes mad again" leads me to believe that what you are feeling is the rate response setting. This is a setting that is not always required (it's turned off on mine), and can be adjusted when it is required, depending on the condition that prompted the implant of the PM in the first place. Discussing it with your dr is the only way to "fix" it, or finding a new dr if your current dr won't listen.

Good luck!

Jenny

six weeks on

by october - 2013-06-28 02:06:06

I mam not as bad as I was, but after six weeks
all they suggest is a 24 hour blood pressure test.
I cannot understand how in six months I have got heart/lung/bloodpressure problems. I feel about fifty per cent as well as before I had the damned thing. If the blood pressure problem does not put it right, then I will follow some of the advice people have so kindly given to me.
I do think that anasthetic (bad spelling) effects me worse than it does most people, so keep hoping it is that.
Many thanks,
Peter

october

by october - 2013-07-08 07:07:38

Is there anyone who has felt less well in the car than before the PM was fitted. I have an old toyota, and wander if something in it effects the PM.
Any comments appreciated.
Thanks.

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