Pacing

Hi. I'm Christy 40 years old and new to the group. I had my second check up today since receiving my pacemaker and it went from pacing at 6.5% to 26%. I was shocked to say the least. I also have a lot of light headless. Is this normal?

3 Comments

Don't get hung up on pacing

by Theknotguy - 2015-11-02 09:11:25

Don't get hung up on pacing. You'll pace what you pace. If your heart isn't kicking off at the right time, the PM steps in and initiates a beat.

I'm set at 60 BPM. My normal, pre-PM pace was somewhere down around 50 BPM. That wasn't necessarily good. Post PM with it set at 60 BPM that means I'm going to pace more than I would without. No big deal. I'm more alert, feel better, am more active.

If the PM were to suddenly stop - which it won't - it doesn't mean you would immediately die, it just means your heart would revert to a "normal" pace that is determined by your biological pacemaker. That may also mean you won't feel as good as you would with the PM, but you won't immediately die. Even the people who pace 100% still have a biological pacemaker. May not be very good, but they still have one.

As for the amount of pacing, I went from 40% to 80-90%. So it is a shock when you find out. And, yes, the faster heart rate can make you feel light headed. That goes away after a while.

The most important thing is that your heart continues to beat and you are still alive. Everything is semantics.

Hope you are doing well otherwise.

Another Lightheaded Newbee

by PhilPace - 2015-11-03 01:11:21

Hi Christy,

I'm a 14 days in and also experiencing lightheaded feeling. Not dizzy but light headed with a kind blurred vision. I'm checking the pacing and its doing well. I'm walking 2- 3 miles already but with persistent lightheaded episodes. I've read other users say it takes a while to settle down and I hope that's true.

follow up

by Tracey_E - 2015-11-03 02:11:43

Make sure they know you are having symptoms. They may need to adjust your settings or something else could be going on.

The first few times you go in, they will be adjusting the settings. They start out with a good guess, then adjust to fin tune it to our needs. Every time they do this, the pacing percentage changes. The estimated battery life does also, if you are paying attention to that number. That's because the numbers are based on the settings at the time of the report. There is no good or bad number, the important thing is how you feel. If you feel good, you are pacing the right amount. However, you are not feeling good yet, so call them back and ask to be seen again. And don't be surprised if the numbers change again, it's all good! Many of us pace every beat, no big deal.

Phil, ditto the advice in the above paragraph! Call and ask to be seen. If you are getting dizzy on exertion, your settings may need fine tuned.

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I had a pacemaker when I was 11. I never once thought I wasn't a 'normal kid' nor was I ever treated differently because of it. I could do everything all my friends were doing; I just happened to have a battery attached to my heart to help it work.