Recovery Time

Hello all I had a Single lead pacemaker fitted in May 2014
because I had third degree heart block. After several months
I am still having problems. The area where the pacemaker was implanted is still sore and painful after lifting. I am concerned that at this moment in time i still cannot walk at my normal brisk
pace as i now have to walk steadily. I find that if i hurry a little
i get out of breath and feel uncomfortable inside for a while which passes after resting. Climbing stairs can be a problem
if i hurry it can cause me discomfort in my chest area and breathlessness. Not severe but a feeling of being a little out of breath. I have spoken to the doctor and he said the cardiologist
report has come back everything is ok. It it normal to feel like this still after several months. Thaks in advance for your replies.

2 Comments

It takes time

by Theknotguy - 2014-11-05 05:11:36

About the points you made:

#1) The area where the pacemaker was implanted is still sore and painful after lifting.

Depending upon the type of lifting, the weight lifted, repetition, and movement while lifting you will be sore for some time. I volunteer at a woodshop for a local charity. I went back to working in the woodshop after seven months of recovery. I was really sore for the first month I went back to volunteering. Part of that was due to what I listed before - type of lifting, weight lifted, etc. There were a couple of instances where I had to lift and swing the wood and I would "pinch" the PM between my shoulder and my rib cage. Some of the pain was due to stretching the PM pocket - something I didn't have to do during cardiac rehab. Sometimes my PM pocket would ache after I lifted over a hundred pieces of wood that weighed three pounds a piece. It just took time for my body to build scar tissue around the PM pocket. Even now, at the one year mark, the pocket will still get a little sore if I push it too much. Raking leaves this fall meant I had a whole different set of sore spots because I haven't done that sweeping motion since I got the PM. I don't get as sore at the one year mark but it took that time plus the exercise for things to get better. So depending upon what you are doing, your PM pocket will be tender. It's going to take time.

#2)I am concerned that at this moment in time i still cannot walk at my normal brisk pace as i now have to walk steadily. I find that if i hurry a little
I get out of breath and feel uncomfortable inside for a while which passes after resting.:

What you are describing is chronotropic incompetence. I was accustomed to standing up and taking off at a brisk pace. I was accustomed to walking the dogs for four miles in the morning and then doing another two and 1/2 miles in the afternoon. (Everyone slept good.) After I got my PM there was a lag between when I would start off and when my heartbeat would catch up. Medical name is chronotropic incompetence. I was able to see this during cardio rehab when I was walking on the treadmill with a heart response display.

On the treadmill I'd see my speed take off but my heartbeat would lag far behind. I'd go at a fast pace for a while but then have to cut back until my heart rate caught up and I wouldn't feel out of breath. Part of the reason my heart didn't react as quickly as before was due to 1) the PM response, 2) medications I was taking to control afib. The nurses were always slowing me down during cardiac rehab which frustrated me to no end. I've been out of cardiac rehab for seven months now and don't have the problems with chronotropic incompetence I had during rehab. It took that time for my body to learn how to adjust to the PM. I can even run now with no problems. One year ago it took two people to help me stand up so I've come a long ways.

We live in a fast food world. You walk in the restaurant, order your food, and walk out with a cooked meal. We have microwave ovens where you get cooked food in seconds or minutes. The body doesn't work that way. Sometimes it takes months for the body to adjust to the new reality. Mentally we think things should happen much more quickly than they do but, like I said, the body doesn't work that way.

Hang in there. Hopefully things will start getting better.

upper limit?

by Tracey_E - 2014-11-05 11:11:43

When they say everything is ok, that means the pm is functioning and the lead is in place. It doesn't mean the settings are where they need to be. Check your pulse when this happens. If it's always the same, like 120 or 130, then your upper limit may need raised. With av block, the atria beats normally but the ventricles don't keep up. The pm paces the ventricles as needed to keep then in sync with the atria, but it will only do it up to a preset limit (often 120 or 130). It's an easy fix.

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