24-year-old with a Pacemaker

Hey guys! I wanted to see if there were any other youngins with pacers. I got mine a month ago and I am almost cleared to raise my arm and resume normal activity. I'm just looking for other people who are experiencing the same things as I am. I am a little worried about what it is going to be like when I resume exercise. Any words of advice, encouragement, support, empathy, are welcome.

7 Comments

Get out there!

by jgra4794 - 2014-06-23 09:06:26

I got my first pm implanted when I was 28, being very physically active, and an international representative athlete was itching to get back into things.
Do start slowly, it does take some time to adjust. Can remember my first 7km walk, and was wondering if i was going to make it. Later found out that one of the leads wasn't working properly.
Since then i have done 2 marathons, 2 half ironman triathlons, a full ironman and climbed Mt Kilimanjaro.
I suppose just one word of warning from my experience, be careful doing weights/ exercise with arms overhead. I managed to break one of my leads when it got caught between my clavicle and ribs (prob from chin ups my cardiologist thinks, but i have done many other stupid things that could have contributed).
Have fun and enjoy being active.

Same age :D

by kermiehiho - 2014-06-23 11:06:00

I had my first (and so far only) pm implanted when I was 24 too. I am now 28. I have since resumed playing volleyball, but am careful to wear a towel over the pm to pad it against incoming balls, people, or my hitting the court floor. Doing yoga positions where the front of my torso is on the floor still feels a little uncomfortable. I have arrived at the conclusion that the device is meant to help me live, so I might as well live well and do things I enjoy as carefully as I can, like volleyball, despite the risk of fracturing leads, etc.

been there

by Tracey_E - 2014-06-24 08:06:51

I was in your shoes 20 years ago. I've gone through 4 batteries since then, had two kids. I'm healthy and active, there's nothing I want to do that I cannot. No one would look at me and see a cardiac patient and I rarely give the pm a thought. It's normal to think about it all the time now and wonder if things will ever be normal again, but this is very temporary. As you finish healing and get back to normal, it will fade into the background and life will go on.

31

by Tick-tock - 2014-06-25 12:06:37

I had my first pacemaker implanted, then 2 months later an ablation followed by new pacer and leads. It's been a bit of a journey, but I feel relatively good. I do suffer from fatigue but did prior to pm. I used to love to run, but struggle now with that. I continue to try, but settled on biking instead. I find it much easier. I also do yoga, body flow, and an abdominal class.i find it uncomfortable during some of the upper body stretches, so I go as far as I can and don't push things to much. Since my pacemaker I continue to live my life... I actually live, enjoying everything. Ive only been living with my metal friend for 6 months total. Since then I have swam with dolphins, zip lined, exercised, was forced into slip and slide with my niece..... The point is, we can do just about anything. I have other issues and need to learn not to push myself (ie: heart) so much,.....but we all have a flaw or two.
Best of luck

Relax

by Lee24 - 2014-07-02 12:07:13

You not alone, I'm 25 just had mine 2weeks ago and I feel great. Not symptomatic anymore

Also young

by LizzieB - 2014-07-11 03:07:09

I'm 19, I'll be getting my pacemaker sometime this week or weekend. Had a sinus node ablation a couple days ago and developed a junction rhythm, so a pacemaker it is. It's not out of the blue though, my doctor's been warning me about the possibility of one since last November. I was surprised not to wake up with one, but I should have known I couldn't escape.

I'm also really looking forward to getting back into exercise, particularly biking, and I want to try yoga. I'm glad to hear you've zip lined tick tock, I'd heard somewhere that you couldn't with an implant and I've always wanted to do it.

7 months!

by Louiselily - 2014-08-20 01:08:05

I'm 17 now and I first had a pacemaker fitted at 7 months old and I've had 3 operations to replace the battery. Once the scar has healed verything gets back to normal and you are able to resume mostly everything that you normally would, expect for pulling to strenously one that arm, but other than that there is really nothing to worry about. Nver known life without one

You know you're wired when...

You can finally prove that you have a heart.

Member Quotes

I'm 35 and got my pacemaker a little over a year ago. It definitely is not a burden to me. In fact, I have more energy (which my husband enjoys), can do more things with my kids and have weight because of having the energy.