PM appointment next week...

So I have my f/u appointment with EP next week to discuss further options. Since I have tried medications that have not been helpful for my low heart rate with arrythmia I think a pacemaker will be the next step. This worries me, but what worries me even more is they will send me on my way with no real solution and a "come back if your symptoms get worse". This is what happened the first time through with all of my issues over two years ago and I felt a little frustrated with the whole process, plus it was expensive!

Any advice/suggestions/questions I should ask at my next appointment? Especially if I get the "come back if your symptoms get worse". I want to move on and start feeling better now, rather than waiting until I feel worse.

3 Comments

Good news - bad news

by Theknotguy - 2014-10-28 09:10:16

As TraceyE said, be firm - you want to be functional.

In my case, I have afib - if they don't treat it my heart keeps beating faster and faster until it kills me. If they do treat it, the medications kick in and slow my heartbeat down to where it can't keep beating and it kills me. So I'm between the proverbial rock and a hard place.

What they have done is to give me medications to clow down my heart and use the PM to bring it up to a speed that will keep me alive. Pretty sneaky, huh?

These guys have a lot of options if you can find one that knows the options.

So I'd be asking what options are out there so you can go back to being functional. As TraceyE said, start making a list. What do you have, what options, where can you go, what can you do?

I hope they can do something for you. If nothing else, the OSU Hospital in Columbus, Ohio has some leading edge solutions if you still find yourself in a corner with no solutions.

My best wishes go for you.

good luck!

by Tracey_E - 2014-10-28 09:10:21

My best advice is to be firm, that your condition is keeping you from being fully functional so you want to fix it. Now, not when it gets worse. They can make recommendations and give advice but ultimately it's our body and our decision.

Know going in that some drs are automatically averse to giving a pm to someone young. It's stupid and completely illogical reasoning, but it's common. If we have symptoms that can be fixed with a pm, who cares how old we are?! If you were 70 with the same symptoms, would you even be having the conversation? (probably not, you'd be scheduling surgery) Stand your ground and stress that you can't get through the day, that you've given up activities because you don't have the stamina. It may help to take someone with you so you have two sets of ears hearing what they're saying and someone to back you up.

Also write down your questions. I always get amnesia when they ask if I have anything else. I stare blankly then get to the car and start remembering my questions. So now I take a list.

Good luck!!!! Let us know how it goes.

Hello Heart Friend

by NiceNiecey - 2014-10-28 09:10:27

I read your previous post from a few weeks ago. It sounds like you've run out of steam and one cannot function (or live for very long) with a HR in the 30s.

One word of caution and I don't want to discourage you in any way but this is just something to keep in mind: if you do go ahead and get the PM, you may still need to be on a BB.

After the initial "breaking in period" (don't mean to trivialize this like a pair of new shoes), you will feel much better. I had been "pacing" myself for several years before I got my PM, which is before I even knew something was wrong. I just couldn't do anything really active for more than 30 minutes without feeling like I needed a nap, whether it was yard work, laundry, anything physical. That started in my mid-40s. Now I have a LOT more energy. I have other issues now, too, but having energy for the day-to-day activities of my life has been a positive game changer.

Please, please, please let us know what happens at your appointment.

All the best,
Niecey

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