Newbie

• by Hearton
• 2014-10-30 02:10:29
• General Posting
• 1182 views
• 9 comments

Hello all,

I read some posts regarding feeling tired after the installation of someone's pacemaker, that is my issue prior to and now.

What a strange trip this has been. I went to the doctor almost three weeks ago due to feeling exhausted, out of breath and confused, I felt that way for about ten days prior to seeing the doctor at a respected clinic on Bainbridge Island in WA State. The doc clocked me at 44 beats per minute, I wore a Holter monitor for 24 hrs, turned it in and waited for 4 days before I was called by a rude and abrupt nurse and told "sorry for the bad news but there is nothing we can do for you, call 911 if you feel like *&#@^&, naturally I fell like *&#@^&, that's why I went in the first place.

It took the clinic ten days to advise me I needed to see their cardilolotist, the soonest apt was 14 days out, to me that seemed way to long to wait based on how I was feeling; tired, exhausted, dizzy and confused. I decided to call the cardiologist at the Hospital in Seattle to see if I could be seen sooner than fourteen days. I explained my symptoms to the nurse at cardiology, she said to call 911 immediately and not to drive. When I arrived at the hospital I was placed in observation overnight, my rate dipped into the 20's but was stuck in the 30's. I was given a shot of atropine which stabilized me at 57 for a few hours then held at 44 until my pacemaker surgery the next day. Had I not taken the initiative and called the cardiologist I may have died that night, yet my clinic had written "not urgent" on my paper work after they wrote Bradacardia on my paper work.

I want to make this clear, if your gut tells you there is something wrong do not let anyone tell you differently until you have exhausted all avenues for results. The clinic I go to has a quota, each doctor has to see around 30 to 40 patients each day, that is the only explanation I can come up with as to why they did not pay attention to my issues, either that or it could be my new Obama Care insurance plan, or both, you get what you don't pay for.

To get to the reason I am posting tonight, I feel the same way I felt ten days prior to going to the clinic, I am still weak, tired, exhausted and dizzy after the pacemaker implant. To sum it up, I had the symptoms mentioned above almost three weeks prior to the pacemaker implant due to the clinic dragging their feet and me waiting ten days to see the doctor. The pace maker has been tweaked once since the surgery which was four days ago, I still feel how I felt three weeks ago even though I was told by the cardeologist I will wake up feeling fantastic and told by the pacemaker tech I would feel fantastic after she tweaks it a bit, both wrong. By the way, I was awake for the surgery, I could not feel the doctor cutting me but the wires placed in the veins....that hurt like hell!

I understand the medications need to flush out of my system however I don't understand why I am still feeling identical to how I felt three weeks ago when I first arrived at the clinic. Could there be any other issues causing my symptoms other than anesthesia and meds still floating around in my system or are they the main culpret? I can see them contributing to my current symptoms but the meds didn't cause the symptoms to begin with. I realize nobody has absolute answers to any of these questions because the doctors and techs do not, but those of us who have gone through this are the best ones to ask, so I ask.......help....it has been almost a month and I still feel as weak and exhausted as ever with moments of feeling like my heart is going to pound out of my chest. I am set for 64 BPM, originally set at 60 until tweaked.


Thanks for any insight you may be able to share with me, anything is better than nothing so please do not hold back, the littlest thing could help me get through this, I need to see the light at the end of the tunnel, at least it would be nice to see it.

I have another apt with the cardiologist in two days, any questions anyone can think of would be appreciated, such as does it hurt to skydive without a parachute?

Thank you,

Jim