Check up

Can someone tell me what is checked for on the pacemaker every 6 months and what the doctor does as well. Just thinking maybe they make readjustments or something to tune it to a different signal. Thank you

3 Comments

check up

by kmom - 2014-09-03 10:09:08

For me they run an interrogation on my PM to see what's happening if anything. I have afib so they can check that. see how much your PM is pacing. they can also adjust settings as necessary --make sure you're feeling alright etc. When I see my doc afterwards they run an EKG even though they can see on the interrogation report they always run a 12 lead. again I have afib and am on Rhythmol so they need to see what's happening. The doc comes in to make sure i'm feeling alright and see if they need to adjust the settings more. talks to me about what the report (from the interrogation) shows etc. this last time he asked me if we need to do anything for my afib. since I was in afib about 1% of the time and it wasn't all that fast I decided to not do anything for a while to see if the adjusted settings would make a difference. I see the PA next time I come in Feb. He fortunately wasn't worried to much about the afib just how I felt when I went into to. Like crap but fortunately it doesn't last long and I can usually lay or sit down and let it pass as the longest was only about 17 min.

More checks

by Theknotguy - 2014-09-06 03:09:28

Kmom has it right. They do diagnostics on mine. Then run a check to make my heart rate go up. Pull off reports.

I always ask them for a copy of my report. Keep all my reports in a notebook. I can refer to them in the future. Can't always read all the info on the report but it's good to have. By law, in the USA, they have to give you a copy of the report if you ask for it. Never had any trouble getting mine.

My PM (Medtronics) has APP - Atrial Preference Pacing. The PM does a counter beat when I go into afib. Doctor said there were mixed results with APP, but he'd go ahead and turn it on anyway. Since then the APP has helped reduce the number of occurrences of afib - for which I am grateful.

I'm usually just joking around with the PM tech while they're doing the readings. No big deal.

Hope everything goes well for you.

The basics

by tojo - 2014-09-21 06:09:05

I have had my pacemaker for 11 months. No symptoms but a stage 2 heart block was picked up on my annual physical. I feel somewhat unqualified to comment as I have not been one to get too inquisitive about the mechanics but what happens to me on the pacemaker checks is that the Medtronic tech runs a test, prints out some strips and I ask a few questions; like, how much is my pacemaker being used?. How much life is left in the battery given that usage? Does the pacing required seem reasonable and is my rhythm looking good? Then he gives the strip to the doctor who may or may not see me at that time. I think the doctor only would see me if the Medtronic tech saw something of concern. So far so good.

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It is just over 10 years since a dual lead device was implanted for complete heart block. It has worked perfectly and I have traveled well near two million miles internationally since then.