2.5 Weeks Out Doing Great: Need Sleep

Re post I lost my place somewhere :-)

Hi Everyone..

First of all a Wonderful happy New Year to all of you. I dont know about you but I am pooped out! Nothing like getting a PM 10 days before the holidays and saying you cant do anything. " Right" :-)

Well I did have my adjustment, again, Took HR from 60 to 70 and adjusted the RR to 6, I must say I feel pretty good.

Scar is healing nice, I still Hurt ? ouch..
New Issue: I cant sleep all night. And I love my 8 Hours.
Two things are happening. Well actually three.
1) I really fall asleep fast :-) which I never did before
2) I wake up every night at 2.10 AM Like i just had a coffee. I really could vacuum the house if I did not force myself to go back to bed.
3) Then I wake again at 4.15 like clock work.

Finally I wake at 5.55 am and thats it I am UP!.

Pre PM I was always tired and everyday at 3pm I took a good two hour nap. Well those days are gone. But I am not getting quality sleep.

Now I have searched your site and read allot. I do have a night mode on my PM, However I did find out that if you put the " sleep mode on " then automatically the RR is turned off until you awake.

My Issue is two fold with my HR, I go Brady and Vaso sometimes very fast at night when I lay down to 45/35 hence I also from this get Possible at times Tachy/Afib from the sudden drop.

Yes I am getting to the Point? lol..
Will turning on the sleep mode affect these drops I get? I do not want to have them change it and then have to go back in and change it again.However I Need some sleep.

I have read that many of you have had this issue and that is also takes time to adjust to the higher HR and be able to sleep. Like I said I am falling asleep just not staying there.

Best to all of you .....

Cynthia

5 Comments

Body is still adjusting

by Theknotguy - 2014-01-03 03:01:55

Your body is still adjusting to the new, faster, and more complete heartbeat. Not to mention you're probably going into an adrenaline rush - hence the wide awake, wide eye staring.

Hopefully someone else on the forum will give you some additional suggestions. I'm still working through it at 90 days. I can tell that as I got closer to the 90 days I'm sleeping better.

Don't know about the sleep mode as they either didn't give me that option or haven't told me about it yet.

Surprisingly taking about a half glass of water before bed has helped instead of hindered. It's counter intuitive I know but somehow the water helps. Also, get rid of, or cover any light sources. Seeing light tells the brain to wake up. So if you have a clock with a luminous display, either cover it up on get ride of it.
If your bedroom window faces east and you get the early morning sun, use blackout curtains to shut it off. When you see the early morning sun your brain starts screaming to wake up.

Another thing is to quit worrying about waking up at night. They tell you that you're supposed to get eight hours straight without waking up. Wrong! Sleep patterns are to get 3-4 hours of sleep, wake up, then go back to sleep for 3-4 hours. So if you start fretting about waking up it will wake you up. Better to think, "Oh I woke up." then turn over and go back to sleep without worrying about it.

Try not to take naps during the day. Now that the PM is working you don't need the extra sleep.

Hang in there. Life gets better.


Theknotguy

PM self interogation

by BillMFl - 2014-01-03 06:01:10

I used to wake up at 2 am every night. Eventually figured out that was when my PM did its check. It sends a jolt to each chamber to check for continuity etc and the sensation is similar to a strong PVC for me. Had my rep change the time to when I am usually watching the evening news. No more 2 am wake up calls. :)

Self check

by Tracey_E - 2014-01-03 06:01:30

Call your doc and ask if you are programmed for a self check. They do them during the night so theoretically we sleep through it, but some people wake up from it.

Night mode

by Harrie - 2014-01-04 04:01:12

Hello Cynthia
I'm afraid I don't know what effect night mode would have on your particular condition - you would really need to discuss it with the experts. I only have intermittent complete block with no other problems, so for me night mode makes a lot of sense. The lower limit is set to 50 (previously set at 45 which suited me just fine). My new cardio changed the hours from 10-6, to 12-5, which I definitely do not like. I use a Fitbit to monitor my sleep and I'm averaging 4.5 hours of quality sleep in no more than one hour bursts with up to 15 periods of restless sleep per night. A sleep study is on the agenda for this year. So I can relate to your frustration at not getting enough sleep.
In my situation I want minimal pacing - your heart naturally slows down at night because of reduced demands, so it makes no sense to me to have it going at the same as your daytime rate when you're sleeping.
I was interested in The knotguys's reference to an adrenaline rush which leaves you' lying there wide-eyed -that exactly describes what has happened to me a few times, first immediately post surgery, and then when they've changed the night settings. I hate the feeling.
So, If I were you I' d definitely discuss the night setting with your doctor. You may find it doesn't suit you but as my referring cardio said to me - you need to feel well, just keep going back till they get it right.
Good luck

new PM

by GrampaJohn - 2014-01-05 09:01:31

Just got my dual channel PM the end of november, 2013.
For the 1st 3 weeks I felt like I had had 16 cups of coffee. But now after 5 weeks, (I have my 1st PM check tomorrow) I now generally sleep good at night, and don't feel so "wired". I had started out years ago with a RBBB, undiagnosed syncope events, leading to bradycardia / 3rd deg block.
Give yourself some time, your body will adjust to the new heart rate.

You know you're wired when...

Your pacemaker receives radio frequencies.

Member Quotes

I wouldn't be alive if it wasn't for pacemakers. I've had mine for 35+ years. I was fainting all of the time and had flat-lined also. I feel very blessed to live in this time of technology.