I need hope

I would like to hear success stories from people who got pm's because they had a-fib. Did it help? Thanks so much!

3 Comments

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by Tracey_E - 2015-01-26 08:01:14

There is a search button in the upper right corner, you'll find all sorts of posts. A pm can't actually fix afib, but it can be helpful. Many of our members have afib and are doing well. Are you getting the pm after an ablation or so they can up the meds?

My story is probably

by Theknotguy - 2015-01-26 09:01:47

My story is probably on of the most glowing success stories of having a PM along with afib. Unfortunately that may not happen for everyone.

Problem started with afib. Going back, I may have had afib sessions clear back in my early 20's but they were dismissed as heart palpitations. But we'll never know. Was OK for most of my life until about age 54 when I had a bad afib session which put me in the hospital and brought the whole problem into focus. The initial afib problem along with misapplied medication put me in the hospital seven more times over the next four years. Finally found a cardiologist who was willing to listen to me. He adjusted my medications and I was getting along fine. My afib sessions at the last would happen as much as once a day. Probably exacerbated by stress from work. After retirement my afib sessions decreased in quantity.

Cardiologist had me on Flecanide. Had a couple sessions of syncope but he didn't catch the significance of the syncope sessions and was looking at mitral valve regurgitation as the problem. Everything was going along smoothly until I was walking the dogs and collapsed on the hiking trail. (If you want, you can read all the messy details on this forum if you search under my pseudonym and read the first posting.) Woke up six days later from a coma in intensive care in the hospital with my PM.

Mainly due to the trauma I received on the way to the hospital, it took me seven months to get back to a "normal" life. The rest of the time was spent resting or in some kind of therapy to help me recover. At fifteen months I'm still having problems because of medication and cracked ribs. I'll probably be going through a medication change because of changes in liver enzymes. Don't know what changes that will cause. Other than that, life is good.

As for afib, I've had over 200 episodes in the past year. Some sessions lasting over 24 hours. Other sessions last less than a minute. The EP who implanted my PM gave me a Medtronic (I had been unconscious for four days at the time) with the APP (Atrial Preference Pacing) program. At the five month period I had my EP turn on APP. He indicated the jury was still out as far as benefits from APP but it wouldn't hurt to turn it on. As soon as APP was turned on you could see a change in the graphical printouts from my PM.

Even though my afib sessions didn't stop overnight, the frequency and intensity of afib sessions did decrease after the APP had been turned on. At first, when I went into afib it would feel like I had three heartbeats as the APP worked against the afib. Over the course of the year I'd feel the APP kick in not knowing I was in afib. Towards the end of the year the frequency of afib decreased. At the year plus three months, I've only had three sessions of afib. A couple of sessions did last up to 24 hours but they weren't as intense as before. The frequency has also decreased where I'm going into afib once about every four weeks, sometimes less. I still can have afib, and probably will but it sure is nice not to have it as often.

My EP was reluctant to do an ablation at first because of the trauma I had been through. His second opinion was that ablation my not be as effective due to the type of afib I have. So he's concerned with heart damage from ablation with no benefit. Since the combination of medication plus the APP seems to be working very well, we don't have plans for doing an ablation in the near future. He has indicated we could proceed with an ablation if I feel my afib sessions are preventing me from leading a "normal" life, but with the decrease in episodes, I'm not considering it at this time.

One caveat here. While I feel APP has helped me and a study by Medtronic has indicated APP has helped people with afib, that doesn't mean it's a cure all for everyone. Questions by other members on this forum have suggested changes in medication may have done the trick. Or it could be medications plus the APP, or even the APP. No one can really give me a definite answer. Obviously I'm no willing to have my APP turned off and I'm not willing to drop the medications either.

As medical science progresses, the odds are in our favor. The longer we survive the better our chances. Posts on this forum by other members have spotlighted various medical advances including advances in ablation techniques. So the outlook for the future is much more positive.

I hope I have been able to give you some good information.

afib controlled

by ellen53 - 2015-01-26 12:01:38

I have had my pacemaker for about 3 years. Before that I had an ablation that helped for about 2 years. My afib is under perfect control. What a pacemaker will do is keep your heart rate at a healthy clip so that the meds to control the afib will work. The problem with beta blockers is they slow the heart down so well you will feel like crap.The pacemaker gave me the speed I need. I feel great! Good luck!

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