Pacemaker

Can you tell when your pacemaker kicks in ? I have low heart rate. My heart this morning just sped up for about one minute. Then subsided.

9 Comments

Yes

by scotia - 2015-01-22 04:01:50

I used to feel strange sensation once in awhile. I was pretty sure I could feel when mine kicked in. But they said that It is not possible. But maybe it might have been that I noticed my heart beating faster then it did before my pacemaker. I would have sworn I could feel it pacing though. I remember it felt like something was fluttering. I really don't notice it anymore. But they did some adjustments over the last few years as well so that might be why. You should tell the tech about it at your next appointment.

Good question

by Theknotguy - 2015-01-22 06:01:31

Good question. Right after my PM was implanted and while the voltage was set higher I could feel the PM when it kicked in. I would sometimes go into coughing jags because I'd feel the tickle, then feel the hard thump when my heart started to beat. However, after they lowered the voltage, I rarely felt it. Occasionally now I can feel the tickle and then the heartbeat, but it isn't very often. Most of the time I'm not even aware I have my PM.

I did have an occasion where it felt like my heart just stopped and the PM had to take over completely but that was a one time occasion. And, I don't even know if that was what happened. There weren't any alerts on my PM report either.

You received your PM in 2013 (according to your bio) so you should be well past the time they had the voltage set higher. Unless you have some other problem, of which we aren't aware, I feel you probably shouldn't be feeling your PM initiate a heartbeat although it is possible.

Hope you find a solution to your problem quickly.

feeling pacing

by Tracey_E - 2015-01-22 12:01:30

It is pretty rare to feel the pacing. I never do. I feel that my hr is where it should be, that's it. Do you know what caused your slow hr? How fast was it this morning? If the heart goes too fast (tachycardia) on its own, all the pm will do is watch.

Tapping

by valley01 - 2015-01-23 07:01:32

I sometimes feel a tapping (like someone is tapping with their finger) on the inside of my chest wall where the PM is. My EP said I could be feeling the PM.

Yup!

by Bean19 - 2015-01-23 09:01:00

I too have the pm for a combo of bradycardia and syncope. I can feel it every time it kicks in! I am only dependant up on my pacer about 1% of the time or less. My pm kicks in when my heart is at 35 beats and kicks me to 90 for a minute only. I feel it each time, mostly because it usually happens in the wee hours of the morning in the middle of an amazing dream. It feels like a tapping of a finger from the inside out just like valley01 said.

Yes, now that I know what if feels like

by Lurch - 2015-01-23 09:01:17

I have an ICD/PM; fortunately, I am not PM dependent. Shortly after receiving the implant, I awoke in the middle of the night with a weird tingly feeling in my chest. By the time I was awake enough to figure it out, it stopped.

The next week I went for my first interrogation and the nurse was going through the checks. She activated the PM part to test it and there was that feeling again! She told me that the device does a self test each week and that is part of the testing. Well, it certainly would have been nice to have that information before it occurred, waking me up and creating some unnecessary stress!!!! She turned that part off, now it only does it during the six month check ups...

pacing vs faster heart

by Tracey_E - 2015-01-24 08:01:06

Feeling your heart beat faster because it's pacing is not the same thing as feeling the pacer itself work. The impulse that the pm sends out is very, very small and it's very rare to feel it. Most of the time what you think is the pm is actually your heart reacting to the pm and yes, depending why you have it and how you pace, you may be able to tell that.

Once they were testing something on me and switched it to unipolar. Yuck!! I could feel every impulse in that mode, felt like a little zap followed by a thud. I was only in that mode for a few minutes, but that was a few minutes too long!

Yup!! Yup!

by Bean19 - 2015-01-24 10:01:42

Jmpetra my sleep mode is off or else I would never get to sleep! When I had a cardiac MRI the dr stated that my sleep mode was off and he didn't understand why, until he turned my sleep mode on! My normal resting rate is 45 bpm, teaching rate (I'm a PE teacher) is 65 bpm. My pm is truly to keep me from passing out.

My medtronics guy tested my pm in the hospital so that I could feel what it felt like when it kicked in. Having him test it was the most valuable piece of learning I received in the hospital. Knowing that feeling is comforting instead of nerve-racking.

Yup?

by jmpetra - 2015-01-24 12:01:12

Set to 35 bpm? I think the lowest "normal" setting is 60. That felt too fast to me, I felt it most of the time. After 6 weeks or slow they turned down the voltage. I was pacing over 75% of thr time. I'd heard about Sleep Mode (even though Dr hadn't) got it set to be able to go down to 50bpm between 10 and 8. As son as it had the new setting I was able to go to sleep easier and sleep thru the night. Ahhh, much nicer. I've checked my rate at night and it's often 58 or so, once in a while 54. So no pacing during those times and definitely easier to sleep. So last check shows pacing now in the low 50% area now. And yes I still often feel when PM kicks in, especially if I flop down into a chair or bed, I think the jarring makes PM think I'm needing the extra push - like when heading up stairs or running or what ever.

You know you're wired when...

You play MP3 files on your pacer.

Member Quotes

Today I explained everything to my doctor, he set my lower rate back to 80 and I felt an immediate improvement.