My dad

Hi all

My dad has been blacking out for a few years and has had all sorts of tests including tilt table. Earlier this year he had a reveal monitor placed In his chest which showed his heart was stopping for up to 10 seconds, causing the black outs. He then had a pacemaker fitted in May this year and has been great, no blackouts and seemed to be getting his confidence back. However, today I took him and mum shopping and he went as stiff as a board and just fell like a plank of wood to the floor and smacked his head. He wasn't unconscious for long and am ambulance was called. We explained everything and said he had a PM etc and they insisted he was fine and had maybe fainted because it was mild weather and he was a bit warm.
How ridiculous. He didn't 'faint' he just completely blacked out with no warning symptoms, just like before the PM. My thoughts are thank his pm needs looking at and altered so despite the paramedics advice of just go home he'll be fine, I made my mum phone the cardiovascular dept at hat fitted the pm and they
Said pop in in the morning.

Does this sound normal to you all and are you inclined to agree with me that it sounds like a bit of tweaking is required?

Thanks a lot
From a very shaken up and worried daughter, having never seen him pass out before:(

9 Comments

My dad

by Troodles - 2013-10-31 08:10:05

Hi Lou

Thank you so much for your reply. I now have lots of questions and information for the doc tomorrow. Fingers crossed.

Take care

Troodles

Blacking out...

by lbdina - 2013-10-31 08:10:53

Can be caused by a number of things. It took years for me and my doctors to figure out what was happening with me, which has some similarities to your dad. I had occasional blackouts, but we never could find the smoking gun.

It so happens I have SSS (sick sinus syndrome), bradycardia, Vaso Vagal Syncope (VVS) and Carotid Sinus Hypersensitivity (CSH). They all appear to be interrelated, and the bottom line is that my heart slows down and sometimes stops. We finally recorded a 12 second pause in the hospital.

VVS and CSH can cause blood pressure to plummet, even if the heart rate remains normal. If heart rate drops at the same time, it is a double whammy! There is also a condition called Orthostatic Hypotension, where the body is slow to react when you stand up, so blood pressure drops. Exactly what causes all these things is unclear to me, but it seems to have to do with an overly active parasympathetic nervous system.

If your dad's blood pressure suddenly drops, it could be depriving oxygen to his brain, and that could lead to syncope. If his heart rate drops as the same time, it just compounds the problem. I was recently implanted with a Sorin reply DR pacemaker. This particular PM has an Acceleration mode, which rapidly cranks up the heart rate when it senses that one of these episodes is occurring. By increasing the heart rate, it is hoped that this will counteract the concurrent drop in blood pressure and prevent syncope. So far, it has worked so far.

Your dad's situation may be completely different, so it is worth investigating the data and possible causes. If his situation is the same as mine, perhaps there is a setting or programming mode on his PM that responds quickly to rapid drops in heart rate. Hope something here is of help. discuss this with his cardiologist and see if it might apply to him. best of luck!!

Lou

Good luck

by lbdina - 2013-10-31 09:10:26

Hope you have a successful meeting with the cardiologist. As I have read many times on this forum, not everything is heart related. When one has a heart problem, it is all too easy to assume that is the problem every time we hiccup. It may be and it may not. It's definitely a good idea to err on the side of caution and make sure it isn't a heart problem, especially when one passes and has troublesome symptoms. But, it could be something else too.

Let us know what you find out. There are a lot of very knowledgeable people here who are ready to offer assistance.

Hmmmm...

by lbdina - 2013-11-01 02:11:03

Troodles…did they do a full interrogation of his pacemaker, including looking for any unusual events, sinus arrest, extreme bradycardia, look at any stored EKGs, etc? I'd hope so, especially after passing out.

If his pacemaker kept his heart beating properly and pumping blood, it could be something other than a heart issue. Fainting or syncope can be caused by dehydration, medications, diabetes, anemia, heart conditions, age, and more. As mentioned earlier, even if the heart beats normally and is pumping, if one's blood vessels lose tone (for whatever reason, such as orthostatic hypotension), blood pressure can drop, and if it drops low enough, it can result in syncope. Since he has a history of syncope due to heart pauses, and since he is so worried, I'd probably insist on seeing a cardiologist for a full workup, just in case. It may be the pacemaker, a pacemaker setting, or not. If it were me, I'd want to rule out any potentially dangerous or life threatening causes. Fear can be debilitating.

If your cardiologist won't see you, you can consider seeing a different cardiologist or your GP. We're all different in the way we deal with things. I'm very determined and won't take NO for an answer when I consider something important enough. I just try to save the big guns for when they are really needed. I think you need to try to find out WHY your father passed out so you can address it. Sudden syncope without an obvious trigger isn't normal.

Best of luck,

Lou



Syncope link...

by lbdina - 2013-11-01 02:11:15

Here is a link to an article that discusses many of the causes of syncope (fainting). Maybe something in here will uncover a potential cause.

http://www.medicinenet.com/fainting/article.htm

Back to square one

by Troodles - 2013-11-01 02:11:17


Hi sorry to hear about your neighbour.

We didn't even see a doctor, just the technicians and they said there's nothing wrong with he pacemaker and if he blacks out again he should see his GP. It's crazy, there is clearly something wrong. My poor dad, he is scared to go out again now after just about getting his confidence back. They also said that his check up in July next year will now be put back to a year from today.

Really don't know what to do. It's such a worry.
T

Thanks

by Troodles - 2013-11-01 03:11:16

Thanks guys.

I personally never take no for an answer and am always badgering my specialist (I have diabetes). If I'm not happy I go on and on. However my parents are in their 70s and are that 'old school' type that just accept what clinicians tell them and that's that. It's hard for me to get them to push it.

I have persuaded them to see their GP on Monday so hopefully he will get dad seen by someone.

Fingers crossed. Will keep you posted and thanks for advice etc.

T

My Dad

by Troodles - 2013-11-01 04:11:01

Thank you.

Really hoping it's the PM that needs adjusting. Feel so bad for him and mum having to deal with all this at their age.

Will update later x

Good to see the cardiologist

by BillMFl - 2013-11-01 11:11:13

Your dad may need a new pacemaker that can shock the heart back into motion. Don't be surprised if they tell him that. Coming to a complete stop is not a good thing. A neighbor of mine had the exact same thing happen several times. His doc advised changing his pacemaker to the type that can shock the heart and restart it immediately. My friend decided to take some time to think about it. Sadly we went to his funeral a few weeks later. Make sure your dad follows the docs advice whatever that may be!

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I am 100% pacemaker dependant and have been all my life. I try not to think about how a little metal box keeps me alive - it would drive me crazy. So I lead a very active life.