Energy

Tomorrow marks 4 weeks post op. When am I going to feel like my old self again.? I cleaned 3 vacation condos, with help, and was exhausted when I got home. I used to be able to do this s
and more before PM.


4 Comments

good question

by cb - 2014-07-20 11:07:53

...and I will be rechecking this to see what other people write for, 18 mos after getting my pacemaker, I am still not back to my pre PM stamina. Stairs and steep hills are taken at the pace of a much older, out of shape woman, not ME (I am 52 and go to the gym 4x/week) so I learned here that the rate response may need adjustment. But this is not a case of "lets put this in and your problems will be a thing of the past". First, I had NO problems until a month prior to getting this (was diagnosed with 3rd degree heart block). I am not the same. I have the idea I will never be the same...and why I was lead to believe I would be, I don't know.
Do you need to be done with the day earlier? By 8 pm I am done...no more endurance left...and housecleaning is hard work ....three condos in one day is a lot of energy expenditure! If your docs, who do not have a PM, told you that at this time you would be back to your normal activities...well darn, I just don't understand that!
good luck tho.....wonder what others have experienced...

Please remember

by KAG - 2014-07-21 03:07:42

that when they do the device checks and say " everything is working fine". What they are saying is that the device is doing exactly what it is programmed to do. Whether that programming is optimized for you is another question entirely.

You must be your own best advocate. If you're feeling fine and can do your normal activities, then great. If not you need to work with your Dr or PM tech to make adjustments that will make you feel better. No one else can know how you're feeling. An activity log can help. Jot down when and what you're doing when you don't feel well or feel "funny".

These devices are pretty amazing when you think of what they do but they're not perfect and everyone's condition is a bit different. Depending on your model, modes and settings, some actually adjust themselves to your activities. I'd suggest that you get a copy of your device interrogation report and get familiar with what your device is programmed to do. This is a great site to get help with that. Someone may be able to make suggestions that you can take to your medical people.

Most people who are more active need to get tweaks made, I did. They typically send you out with average settings and then adjust from there, but if you don't work with them to get the settings optimized I'm not sure how they ever could.

A few thoughts

by TPMan - 2014-07-21 04:07:10

Hi again Heartthrob,

I would expect that during your four week recovery period, you took it easy. If so, it may take you a couple weeks to get your stamina back. Second thought is your PM might not be optimized yet. I would suggest that when you go for your checkup, ask them to put you on a treadmill to see how the PM is responding to activity. If you are cleaning, your heart rate should probably be up around 100 or so and if it's stuck at 60, you would be getting tired and out of breath constantly, just a few thoughts.

Tim

Device Adjustments

by Grateful Heart - 2014-07-21 04:07:51


It sounds like it may be time for some setting adjustments for you. The device comes out of the box with standard settings that do not work for everyone.

The Doctors usually like to give it some time for the swelling to go down and your heart to get used to the device before making the initial adjustments. Since you are already active and feeling it, give your Doctor a call, don't wait and be uncomfortable.

Grateful Heart

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