having a pm implant

hi all
i am new here and have just been told that i will need to have a pm put in and that has been scheduled for this saturday. today is tuesday and i am getting anxious and stressed. i know i should not be having read the postings here. i am 72, having af and blackouts too frequently. there was another unusual symptom - a buzz in my head and a slow spreading warmth down to my waist. no doctor could explain it but it is something that i now link to my heart stopping and restarting and the warm blood rushing back into my arteries. could i be right? has anybody else experienced this?
it is reassuring to read the positive comments here but i am wondering and concerned whether post implant the blackouts will cease?

6 Comments

Blacking out

by IAN MC - 2014-07-29 04:07:30

Hi msdhillon

Just to reassure you ; if your blackouts have been caused by your heart rate falling too low ( bradycardia ) then they will DEFINITELY cease after you get your PM.

Having one faint is "too frequently " in my opinion ! Having none is great !!

Best of luck for Saturday; it usually is a very simple procedure having a PM implant . I haven't a clue about the buzzing though , let's hope that it disappears too.

Cheers

Ian

having a pm implant

by msdhillon - 2014-07-29 05:07:39

Thanks Ian for the wishes.

I too hope the buzzing will stop. It happens several times a day and usually when I am experiencing shortness of breath.

Regards.

Low blood pressure

by Selwyn - 2014-07-29 06:07:14

Buzzing and ringing in the ears is a symptom of low blood pressure, so low that the hearing cells in the inner ear are 'screaming' for oxygen. It is not an uncommon symptom prior to fainting.( the buzzing goes under the medical term of tinnitus, the low blood pressure associated with lack of cardiac output is hypotension). In order to try to get extra oxygen your breathing rate increases.

I would also think that the warm flush you experience is when the blood flow resumes to parts of the body ( ie. the upper body that is most likely to be affected first in the upright position) and the tissues starved of their oxygen supply for a little, suck in more. You do see rebound hyperaemia ( redness) following a period of oxygen deprivation ( such as when you have white finger associated with cold and you warm up- this is a similar mechanism).

I hope this potted explanation helps you understand your symptoms.

Low blood pressure

by msdhillon - 2014-07-29 07:07:25

Thanks Selwyn. It does. For a while the doctors were associating everything to an acoustic neuroma in the head.
Thanks again and regards

warmth

by Gotrhythm - 2014-07-29 12:07:55

I too had the slow, speeding warmth down my back and sometimes up my neck until my ears felt like they were on fire. MDs didn't seem to know what to make of it.

I've heard of people who are about to pass out hearing a buzzing sound, though I've never experienced it.

I also had spots before my eyes. No, NOT floaters. They didn't float. They looked like tiny black holes in the fabric of reality.

A friend who has vasovagal syncope tells me she experiences the same kinds of spots prior to fainting.

The good news is that all these symptoms should go away after the PM is installed.

Blacking out

by msdhillon - 2014-07-30 01:07:46

hi angrysparrow1

I am having a pacemaker implanted.

when I say I 'black out' what I mean is that I am unconscious and have no recollection afterwards of what happened immediately before it the incident to the point I come around. it has happened when I was standing as well as when I was seated. when they found the acoustic neuroma in the head I too thought all this was neurological. I then saw a top head surgeon in south London, described the symptoms and was dismissed with a brief rejoinder - he had never heard of these symptoms before! you used the description 'altered state'. those were the exact words I used in describing what I felt I was going through in addition to the blackouts. it was all very frustrating. doctors seem to think we cannot describe what is happening to us and they can be very dismissive.

to cut a long story short [it has taken me several years to get to this point and that included repeat ecgs. echos, stress tests, multitude of blood tests and several holter episodes plus an immense amount of stress, worry and sleepless nights] I have now been told that I have sss and need a pacemaker implanted.

the acoustic neuroma is now on the backburner. and Saturday and the procedure is just three days away.

thanks for your input.

have a great day!

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