Throbbing

Hi, I've had my pacemaker since October of 2013. I wasn't sure where to post, so I chose General Posting. When I went for my 2-week checkup to the cardiologist, he had also checked my pacemaker, and said it was working fine although I had complained of throbbing sensations. Then I changed doctors and went for the one month checkup back in November of 2013 to another dr. than the one who inserted my pacemaker, and she said that the pacemaker is not working well, and it needs to be changed and that was after a minute of checking it. I declined and went to have a second opinion with the original electrophysilogist who inserted my pacemaker, she said it's working fine, did some adjustments because it was difficult to lay down on my left side, I was feeling the beats to the bone. She was very nice, but told me I have to chose a cardiologist and they will check me there on the 6th month. When I went for the 6-month check-up (on the 8th month), to yet another cardiology group, I was told that the pacemaker is working very hard. That it worked fine up until a certain point (they didnt tell me the month) and then I saw the chart/graph also, it just spiked up. I was wondering was would cause that. I went for an x-ray to check the leads, they are fine. EKG was okay also.
On another note, since the end of May, coinciding with the weather fronts, I have a very strong sensation of my heart throbbing from deep inside at times when I notice the barometric pressure drops. It also feels the throbbing coming from the top of the stomach, like between the heart and the stomach and it is very uncomfortable. If this is affecting the diaphragm, would that need another surgery to replace the pacemaker? I did go to the dr. about a week ago, thus the x-ray. So, my question is do weather fronts affect pacemakers? And low barometric pressure? More electriciy in the air? All three may or may not be related, of course. Thank you.

3 Comments

cold fronts

by Gotrhythm - 2014-07-31 01:07:22

It isn't unusual for some people who are more sensitive to notice changes in the body when the barometric pressure changes. I myself acquired my own barometer when I broke my wrist a couple of years ago.

But does the weather affect the PM? Seems unlikely to me.What a PM can do is amazing if you think about it, but when all's said and done, it's just a teeny, tiny machine.

What I'm saying is your heartbeat might conceivably feel different when a cold front is moving through, but the cause would be the weather's effect on your BODY, not your PM.

Many people will feel a deep throbbing in their chest right after a PVC. I often do, but I just notice it and go on. I figure it means my heart is definitely still beating.

Reading your post, it seems to me you have changed Dr's quite a lot in less than a year. Why all the changes? What specifically makes you think the PM "isn't working?"

If you can make your questions specific there are quite a lot of people here who can answer them.

Hope you're doing better soon.


Cold fronts

by Grateful Heart - 2014-07-31 09:07:10


I agree with Gotrhythm. For many years I felt the screw in my ankle when weather changed drastically. As more time went on (over 20 years), I've noticed my screw doesn't make so much noise anymore. Maybe it's getting old too.

I have mostly PAC's pretty often...94,000 at one point over a 3 month period but much less lately but I do feel the throbbing in my chest.

Pacing your diaphragm would be a separate issue.

Grateful Heart

Weather changes

by Keithwhelpley - 2018-06-06 22:47:43

I was just noticing in the last few weeks that I feel flutters in my heart and don’t feel the greatest when wind is very strong. I researched a bit and found out that breathing isn’t controlled by any muscle in our body, but rather pressure differential Berenice the outside and inside our lungs. So it would stand to reason a change in Batam eyrie pressure would make us feel different. But I agree with others that it’s not the pacemaker. One thing that makes everything impossible to understand is our beta blockers. Mine, metoprolol, actually makes breathing more difficult because it blocks signals from the brain. So often, I can’t get a derp breath when I feel like I need one. So, put on top of that an unfavorable barometric pressure and you don’t feel good. 

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