Pacing caused by arm motion, Pericarditis

• by migaines
• 2015-11-28 02:11:39
• Complications
• 1650 views
• 0 comments

Hello,

I'm a 37 y/o female, pacemaker implanted in April 2015 for 3rd degree AV block. I have had a strange issue recently in which moving my left arm across my chest would reliably result in pacing (I have always been able to feel the pacing when it occurs). In addition, whenever I bent over, I would feel fluttering in my heart that would subside about 30 seconds later. After these issues had been occurring for about two weeks, I sent in a download and was told there was "a lot of interference" that had been occurring for the past 3 months. I immediately wondered why the beside monitor (St. Jude Merlin) did not alert the doctor's office that something was awry sooner.

I went in for a device check, and was easily able to reproduce the events described above multiple times, which the technician was able to see on her monitor as well. She said it was very rare for this to happen, stated "something happened" in August that caused a lot of noise or interference to happen from then on. She asked if I had been on a "rowing" expedition in August. She adjusted some settings to the point that the pacing when I moved my arm and the fluttering went away. I asked if we should do an echo to check for lead dislodgement but she said it looked like it was all in place based on the interrogation. Has anyone else had a similar issue, and does this mean that one of my leads must have moved?

Also, since the adjustments were made, I have been having a feeling of tightness in my throat and pain in my chest and between my shoulder blades, along with heartburn and trouble breathing deeply when lying down (I've been having to prop up on pillows to sleep). In addition, I am now getting pacing when I lie on my left side or stomach. It got so bad that I was convinced I was having a heart attack and went to the ER yesterday. I was told I (thankfully) was not having a heart attack, but that I may have pericarditis related to the pacemaker and prescribed Ibuprofen. I have a follow-up with a mid-level practitioner at my cardiologist's office Monday. I am wondering if anyone else has had anything like this before, and if it seems to suggest that my lead could be moving and causing irritation. I wonder if I should request an echo to make sure there has not been microdislodgement of one of the leads, and if microdislodgement could also be the cause of the pericarditis?

Thanks very much for your help.