shoulder pain

3 wks out and having worsening shoulder pain. I could feel the discomfort right after the surgery. I cannot sleep on my left side as is my norm because of this pain. I have a rotator tear on my right side so sleeping on that side is not an option. I snore if I sleep on my back and that is painful for the other folks in my house. The pain is of the nature of a rotator cuff tear. When I get my arm in a certain position to the posterior not over my head or out to the side, the pain level is about a 5. When I try to move my arm back it is about a 9 and feels like it is going to dislocate. This complication was not discussed with me before the procedure and I am upset about that. I am hoping I can somehow resolve this with some therapy after my six week limitation is over. I will bring this up with the pm rep in a couple of days and with my ep on the day after. If anyone has experience this and were able to resolve it, I would like to know how.

4 Comments

Depends

by Theknotguy - 2013-12-16 02:12:22

Your pain depends upon what was going on before you had the implant. You didn't say how much trauma you had before the PM implant, so I'm assuming you only had the PM implant and nothing else.

I had a lot of trauma before the implant. I had a broken rib, collapsed lung, chest tube, and a previous separated shoulder on the right side. Also had at least three people pounding on me for at least an hour doing CPR before they could get my heart restarted. Then pneumonia from the intubation. So I was in pretty bad shape.

At the three week period I could only sleep by sitting up in a hospital bed. Couldn't even lay down flat because of the pain. In fact the pain was so bad my brain would say, "I'm not going to deal with this!" and I would be off to la-la land. As I got better I felt more pain such as the chest tube area and the broken rib. Sounds funny I know but the brain couldn't deal with all the pain. So as I got better I could feel more pain instead of less. Anyway....

At the three week period I had pain in the left shoulder from the PM implant. I also had pain going up and into my left jaw. Some people on this forum have mentioned feeling a thumping in the artery going up to the head. Since I had the separated shoulder I could also feel the pain from the rotator cuff too.

Since I was unconscious at the time of the PM implant, no one could have a discussion about pain with me so everything was a "Surprise!" when I woke up.

They also wouldn't let me use my left arm so the implant pocket healed "tight". As I got better I had a lot more pain because I would first have to stretch out the pocket before exercise.

I would take walks and the pain would be in the shoulder going down to the fingers and up into the jaw on the left side. It would gradually decrease over about a 20 minute period. I attributed the pain going up to the jaw as sympathetic pain from the leads insertion into the vein under the collar bone. I also had sympathetic pain in my back directly behind my PM implant site.

Everyone experiences pain differently so I'm not discounting what you have.

If you aren't running a fever I would guess it's normal adjustment pain. I know I was also more sensitive right after the trauma so I was feeling a lot more than normally. A minor flip of the heart and my brain would be yelling, "Emma! It's the BIG one!"

The pain started gradually going away and really dropped off after I started exercising in rehab. Other suggestions are:

Drink a lot of water. I kept half-liter bottles and drank three liters a day.

Take tylenol. For some members it seems to help.

Do light exercise. Sometimes more movement helps.

For sleeping I also used a "hug" pillow. That was an extra pillow I could use to grab onto while coughing. I would also use it when I attempted to sleep on my right side. I'd put the pillow down, put my head on the sleeping pillow and lay on the "hug" pillow. It really seemed to help.

Doctors seem to discount pain and since everyone has a different experience they seem to dismiss it. Very frustrating, especially when you're trying to get back to a normal life. You might discuss your pain with the cardio's nursing staff. They can sometimes: 1) Tell you what you have is normal and not an infection, 2) give you alternate strategies for dealing with the pain, 3) Refer you to a doctor or rehab group who can address your pain.

I'm about 70 days out and 99% of the physical pain is gone. It's a rough period to go through - I won't argue it for a minute. I though I was never going to get over my pain but it gradually lessened. Now I feel a lot better because I'm getting a full heart beat from the PM.

Hang in there. Life does get better.

Theknotguy

Get the sleep study

by Theknotguy - 2013-12-16 02:12:35

I usually agree with Angry Sparrow so when she mentions the sleep study, she's right. If you're snoring that bad, good chance you've got sleep apnea too. It goes hand-and-hand with heart problems.

Depending upon the level of sleep apnea you may have it cured with just a mouth device. CPAPs are for more intense sleep apnea and BI-PAPs for the really bad.

And don't pay attention to some of the advertisements. CPAPs don't make a lot of noise. You can barely hear mine running. Even if you could, the better sleep makes up for the noise.

Oh, and I had a smart alec ask me how you had sex with a CPAP. I told him I didn't. It's a machine and I don't have sex with machines. I prefer sex with women. Preferably my spouse.

Theknotguy

Forgot to add

by Minnesota - 2013-12-17 02:12:09

Ibuprophen helps me especially at night.

I feel your pain.

by Minnesota - 2013-12-17 02:12:50

I have similar trouble with PM pain and rotator tear. My first PM had to be relocated to my right side due to infection shortly after implant. My left rotator has a tear. Before the relocation I had my right side to sleep on but now it's uncomfortable due to PM which is right under my collar bone and right at the bend of shoulder. So now both sides hurt to sleep on. I snore sometimes when flat on my back. It's positional. I had a study for apnea before my PM to rule out apnea as cause of nighttime oxygen starvation. (Bradycardia was the culprit). I use a pillow also (like the knot guy) to hold against my PM site at night. The cushioning helps. I sleep with my body towards the right side with another pillow at my back to prop me. It's a modified side sleep position. Not the best but it helps. Can NOT sleep on left side with rotator tear and pain. Hope you can find some relief.

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