Was feeling good...

hello everyone!

I am new to the site, I had my PM inserted on 02/11, first week was not so good, however last week I started to feel better and better to the point that Thursday and yesterday I could have swear that none of these happened at all, went to work ( just a few hours) went shopping and even barbaque with some friends at night. However last night I woke up around 5 feeling exhausted all my body felt like a truck ran over it, I had to spend all day long today in bed...
Is this something that anybody had experienced? are these set backs to be expected? btw I am 41 years old I suffered a heart block and my settings are 60/150 I have a dual chamber on demand..
Up until yesterday i was very optimistic about my progress.. I guess it takes time? thanks for reading, and thanks for this website I have read amazing post already and lots of support.
best
Pilar

9 Comments

Welcome

by jeanlancour - 2014-02-23 01:02:29

Glad your here, keep coming, lots to hear lots to share. Now is the time to learn to push gently, every day do a little more, you have a long life ahead of you to enjoy. Take your time, give yourself time to heal.

THANKS!

by pilarnusa - 2014-02-23 02:02:57

Thank you all for your support! I am learning as I experience my PM, Sheila, Don John and Duke thanks for sharing with me your stories as well. Is good to know I am not alone on this journey.
best

Pilar

Your life is changed

by Duke999 - 2014-02-23 04:02:33

Now that you're here with the PM, your life is changed forever. I'm not going to paint a rosy picture, but just keeping it real. Unlike life before PM, you will learn to appreciate 1 day at a time. If you are given a day with energy and no episode, take it and enjoy it. Then, there are days that appear like things are taken away from you which you just barely experienced. It's unpredictable. It's up and down like a yoyo. But that's what we all PM recipients or heart patients have to deal with. Like theknotguy mentioned, PM is not a cure. There's no cure. The PM and the meds are just to help control the problems. So, going forward, I suggest you stop pushing hard with work or play. Moderation is key.
Anyway, I don't want to go on and on, but I hope you know what I'm saying. Be patient, take it easy and listen to what your body tells you. I wish you well.

Duke

The Understatement of the YEAR...

by donr - 2014-02-23 08:02:48

Tampa, FL! (I translated for non-residents of Fla so they would have a decent idea where you live w/o looking you up on a map.)

For the uninitiated, it can become hotter than the 6th Furnace of Heck - even at this time of year at that latitude. Wait'll JUly if you want it HOT - & HUMID.

So much for a geography & climate lesson.

Pilar - If you had one of those kinds of days, it is completely possible that the heat got to you. Yes, you pushed it, & pretty badly if your level of activity was more sedate before that.

You gave us NO particulars about the run-up to getting a PM. How long it took; symptoms; exact diagnosis that got you the PM; HOW you reacted the first week; are you on any Meds - like for High Blood Pressure; what % of time are you paced?

You have forced us into a lot of guesswork!

1) Heat CAN become a bugaboo for many people w/ a new PM for some reason. ESPECIALLY if they take ANY meds whatsoever. It can take some adaption after the PM installation.

2) What variety of block? Type I, II, III? Intermittent? That can also be a factor in how you feel/

3) We have one member who jumped out of bed in Hosp recovery room & started running laps around the halls, dragging an IV bottle on a wheeled stand. Had the gown on w/ the opening in rear & it was flapping in the breeze so badly she mooned the entire hosp staff. They had to tackle her, subdue her & give her enough Morphine to stop a charging, enraged Rhino. They dressed her while semi-conscious, stood her in front of the door & when they opened it, she took off like a whirling Dervish & has not been seen since.

I would say that everyone does NOT react/recover the same. Get back into life a bit more cautiously. You had a surgery, that can make you feel a bit puny sometimes. Your situation is not NORMAL - probably more on the COMMON side of the spectrum of recoveries as new Hosts adapt to their new normal.

4) Your settings, 60/150 should work OK. Here's why: If you were an intrinsic 75 pre-PM, The PM will take care of any block that occurs ABOVE the 60. The 60 would ONLY have an influence on how things worked if you had an ATRIAL HR problem. But you gave NO indication that you have any basic HR problems - just BLOCK.

Now, IF your base rate was set ABOVE 75, you might feel like your heart was running FAST all the time & that could cause a minor sensation of continual anxiety after a while.

The upper limit was probably set high because you had ZERO problems that indicated to the Cardio that you could NOT tolerate such a high upper rate.

5) There are other settings in your PM that can influence how you feel. Discuss them w/ the Cardio when you see him. AND: BTW - expect to be blown off when you do. That is not uncommon w/ Cardios - they can have egos as large as Texas; have little time per patient during a follow up visit; & look at every woman as "Just another hysterical, anxious, whining woman" who doesn't know what's good for herself.

Unfortunately, & this is reality - they really have no specific idea what settings are right for an individual. To give the Devil his due, there is no way they can. We are all different. So, they put in a PM w/ some generic settings that work most of the time for most hosts. They PLAN to tweak things later, but get distracted & don't get around to it & their ego gets in the way of remembering.

I had to guess at a lot of my discussion because you did not tell us enough. Hope I guessed right.

Don

Hope you are doing better

by bluebowtye - 2014-02-23 09:02:05

Hi Pilar, Sorry you are having trouble. I will have my PM a just week tomorrow and I too have had some ups and downs. There are times when I just don't "feel right" at all. My husband asks what's wrong and I can't explain other than I just feel weird. I have been trying to take it easy and get lots of rest. Yesterday I was feeling good so I got up and unloaded / loaded the dishwasher then went outside and was chipping some ice off my driveway with my heel for about 5 minutes. I put up an ear of corn for the squirrels and went back in. The fresh air felt great and I sat down and was working on a jigsaw puzzle when all of a sudden I started feeling really tired and had to go lay down. I felt awful the rest of the night. I was under the impression that I would be feeling so good a few days after my PM that these episodes have me worried but I guess it sounds like it is normal and I need to be patient. I go back to the Dr. for my first follow up appt. tomorrow. This is all just so new to me and very frustrating because I was really healthy before all this happened and I am still in shock about it. I was diagnosed with Second Degree Mobitz II AV Block. I am so glad I found this site because I do find it comforting and helpful knowing I am not alone in this and others are experiencing the same things as I. I hope you are feeling better. Take care and have a good day! ~Sheila

You can get back to normal

by Jonny - 2014-02-23 11:02:44

Hi Pilar. Each one of us has different experiences, after all we are all unique, and for me after 6 months I can honestly say that my life now is back to where it was just before I got my PM - in fact better because now I don't get the dizzy spells. I had a few minor issues in the first few weeks (most due to a deep head wound following my collapse) and then again for a couple of weeks after my 3 month review (when they dropped the voltage on the PM and my heart had to get used to that). I am lucky in needing no meds, just the PM. So hope your experience longer term is as good as mine. Best of luck. John

Probably pushed too hard

by Theknotguy - 2014-02-23 12:02:13

The reason you got a PM was because you have heart problems. The PM isn't a fix all, cure all. It's just a device to help.

You see a lot of posts on this forum where people have said they've had great experiences. And that is great. But some of us have setbacks. You don't always see that on this forum.

Even though it may not feel like it, having a foreign object put into your body is a major shock. It takes time to adjust. So even though you feel good, the body is still trying to adjusting to both the foreign object as well as the adjustments to your heart and heartbeat.

Based upon your description it sounds like you pushed a little too hard and paid for it.

If it's any consolation I pushed too hard last week and put myself into a-fib for about 20 hours. It's really hard not to push when you've done that all your life. But lying on your back looking at the ceiling brings the point home very quickly.

Hope you continue to feel better.

Theknotguy

Give it time

by LisB - 2014-02-23 12:02:24

Hi Pilar, It does take time. Try not to get too discouraged.
It took me a month or so to really feel better; I had 3rd degree heart block. One thing that did help me was when my dr. changed my lower setting from 60 to 70. It seems to have gotten me over a slump and I do have more energy. And, let me remind you, with the weather like it's been (although you did go to a barbaque! so maybe you're someplace warm) and it being winter, lo.ads of people without pacemakers feel like they've been run over, too.

Lis and theknotguy

by pilarnusa - 2014-02-23 12:02:32

Thanks guys for your words, It helps to talk to people with same experiences, Lis I live in Florida, USA and yes is warm around here :) , I am thinking about the settings as well, If I am not mistaken my normal HR before any of this happened was around 75 so maybe 60 is too low for me to begin with, I will discuss with doc.

Theknotguy... sorry about your fib..and yes I have pushed my entire life ,is hard for me to take it easy but I do get the point specially today..

thanks !!

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