It feels like a baby is kicking my liver

I have non-obstructive HCM, AF, left BBB, an enlarged LA, Bradycardia and frequent PVCs. I have had three ablations in the past four years for AFib and AFlutter -- the most recent ablation in August 2013. I had a rapid aFib episode with syncope less than one month after my last ablation. At the time, I had an implanted loop recorder. My recorder showed a life-threatening rhythm that they believed caused the syncope. It was the first bad rhythm on the recorder in almost four years -- and my first ever syncope episode. Because of that episode and my family history, I had an ICD/PM implanted in October 2013.

I can feel my device pacing, which is a very strange (and annoying) sensation. I cannot lay or sleep on my left side anymore because it causes my heart to beat irregularly. Could my body weight be putting pressure on the pacer when I lay on my left side causing the irregular contractions?

Another oddity is if I slump down in a particular position when I am sitting, there is a major twitching/jerking that happens in the area of my liver. It feels like there is a baby kicking inside of me. It stops when I sit up straight. I asked the tech about it during my last ICD check and he wasn't sure. He said maybe it was a nerve that was reacting to the pacer?? Has anyone had a similar experience or know what it could be?

I have an appointment with my EP and pacer check on Friday, so I will be asking them these questions again.

4 Comments

Capture problem

by Grateful Heart - 2014-01-09 02:01:56

I have an ICD too. The lead wasn't capturing and it was stimulating my diaphragm....same kind of feeling, as if a baby was kicking. It's the pacing that you are feeling. They turned up the voltage and then it was even STRONGER so that may be a good test for you....ask them to turn it up and see how you feel.

I complained about those issues but they did not show up right away upon interrogation....it took a few months for it to show and by that point I was feeling it much stronger.

For me, they had to replace the lead. They did not remove the old lead but capped it off and put a new one next to it in the same vein. Easier on the body than the initial device implant but you have to maintain the usual precautions with the new lead until it imbeds.

Good luck Friday, let us know how it goes.

Grateful Heart

I can only answer one....

by donr - 2014-01-09 08:01:28

...of your questions - why you cannot sleep on your left side anymore.

First off, I need a training aid: a chest X-Ray.

Go to the left column of this page & look at the laundry list of items. Underneath CLUBHOUSE right at the top, come down & click on MEMBER GALLERY; A screen will open w/some search boxes to fill out. In the box labeled POSTED BY, insert the screen name "Golden_Snitch" & click on search. a bunch of photos will come up. find the one that looks like a chest X-Ray & click on it to enlarge it.

You are looking at Snitch lying on her back, so the sides of her body are reversed. Note that on her RIGHT Side, it is all very dark w/ all the ribs a bright white. On the left side is a huge amorphous, white blob sagging from the center down toward her left side. That's her HEART. It is enclosed in a large sac, called the Pericardia (or some such word) and is only anchored in place loosely by that sac & all the BIG veins & arteries at the top of the heart, which really don't show up. All that black stuff surrounding the heart is soft, spongy lung.

Now picture Snitch rolling up onto her LEFT side. That relatively heavy heart (Which is a big muscle), loosely held in place, saaaaags down toward her left side, squeezing the lung tissue against the ribs. Notice how much closer the heart is to the left side than the right; also note that the muscular part of the heart is the bottom & closest to the LEFT side ribs.

Every time the heart beats, you can sense it more on the LEFT ribs because of its closeness.

Now imagine Snitch rolled over onto her RIGHT side because feeling her heart beat while on the LEFT is uncomfortable. The heart now sags more toward the right ribs, but is MUCH further from them, so she cannot feel the heavy pulsing of the heart as strongly - perhaps not at all.

Now then - consider what happens if after many yrs of your heart beating very regularly, you develop arrhythmias - you suddenly sense them because they are DIFFERENT. Different, so they are attention-grabbing & & annoying/ scary.

When your body was designed eons ago, the great master designer engineer realized that he/she needed more space on one side for the heart, so created it by having three lung lobes on the RIGHT & only two on the LEFT. Next time you go to your Cardio, note that he/she listens to your lungs from the BACK & tells you to take a deep breath at each of 5 positions of the stethoscope - three on the right & two on the left. Then he/she comes around front & listens to the heart - starting w/ the stethoscope near the top center of the body and progresses down & to the left, following the heart structure. There is the graphic reasons for the lying on the left side problems.

Whoops! I forgot one thing. You have cause & effect backwards, The heart's irregular beats are NOT caused by lying on your left side. They only SENSED in that position. They are caused by the mal-functioning electrical system that the PM/ICD is inserted to correct. Now there are some arrhythmias that the PM cannot correct - like PVC's. The PM can only correct for things that are about to occur LATE or not at all. It cannot stop things that are going to occur early. That would require predicting the future & that is not possible!

Also, the PM body is a hard, rigid capsule of Titanium. Lying on your left side will not affect it or its internal functioning at all. All the guts of the PM/ICD are protected from external pressure by that case. Other than an itty-bitty reed switch, everything inside is electrical & impervious to external pressure anyway.

Someone else can address all the electrical issues you have.

Don

Electrical

by Theknotguy - 2014-01-09 10:01:28

Some people are more sensitive to electricity. I can hold the bare wires on a six volt battery charger and not feel a thing. My wife can't. Just the way we're made up.

There have been a couple of posts on this forum about people feeling the jolt from their PM. A couple of the responses said the tech at your PM place could turn the voltage down. Don't know if that's accurate enough but worth a question.

I got my PM in October, 2013 also. At first I could feel the PM kick in when my heard decided not to beat. But as my heart got more regular, the sensations stopped. So if you're still feeling the mild jolt/tickle at the 90+ day period, I'd see if they could back off the voltage a little. If they can't back off the voltage, I'd see if they have any other suggestions to reduce the sensations.

Hope this helps.

Theknotguy

It was a bad lead after all...

by MsDaffodil - 2014-06-06 11:06:43

Thank you all for the detailed responses. We were in the middle of packing and moving from Florida to Kansas when I posted in January and was not notified of any responses and, with the excitement and confusion of the big move, failed to follow up. My apologies.

I also did not keep my EP appointment on that Friday, as scheduled, because of the packing and moving. My FL EP recommended an excellent EP at KU and I am so blessed to have met him.

Even after my third ablation (8/2013) and ICD/PM implant (10/2013), my heart did not want to stay in sinus rhythm with Multaq, so earlier this week I was admitted to the hospital and switched to Tikosyn. I was in aFib and aFlutter upon admission, so they also cardioverted me.

Following the cardioversion, the nurses noticed on the monitor that my device was spiking "in the wrong place," so they notified the doctor who ordered a chest x-ray. The chest x-ray showed a problem with my atrial lead. At first, they thought it might have been fractured, but determined that it is not fractured, but it is longer attached to my atrium! They don't know for sure, but think it may not have been properly attached to begin with in October and then the cardioversion knocked it loose.

When I explained to my new EP about the kicking or spasms, he said almost exactly what Grateful Heart said, above, that there had been an issue with the lead and it was stimulating my diaphragm.

I am scheduled to have the lead replaced on 6/23/2014. He also will perform a left atrial appendage closure.

Thanks again!

MsDaffodil

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I had a pacemaker when I was 11. I never once thought I wasn't a 'normal kid' nor was I ever treated differently because of it. I could do everything all my friends were doing; I just happened to have a battery attached to my heart to help it work.