Quality of life

I am a 59 year old male in pretty good physical condition. Resting heart rate in the low 30s that responds to exercise. diagnosed with sinus bradycardia and /or complete heart block at rest. No symptoms. Scheduled to get a dual chamber pacemaker in a couple days. Still not convinced I need one but more than one electro physiologist has recommended it for safety sake. concerned about quality of life after. looking for responses from those who had a similar situation. Also having it placed sub pec. and would like to hear from folks who have had that done also. wondering if my golf game or exercise tolerance will suffer.

6 Comments

Quality of life

by Theknotguy - 2016-01-11 09:01:22

Quality of life will be the same, possibly better. Sorry to sound the same as TraceyE but she's right. You'll find a lot of warnings about pacemakers are just that - warnings. No real basis in reality.

I'm doing everything I was doing before I had the pacemaker plus more because I now have a steady heartbeat. Sleep better too.

The pacemaker isn't a hindrance, it's a help.

TraceyE does heavy exercise so she needs the subpec. I get along fine without the deep implant.

Hope you're able to adjust quickly.

before and after

by Tracey_E - 2016-01-11 09:01:29

Your quality of life will be the same, possibly better. You may be surprised how much better you feel. My rate was in the 40's, then dropped to the 30's. I would have told you I felt ok, but after I was paced I realized just how tired I really was with the lower rate. If we deteriorate gradually, we compensate and get used to it. My stamina skyrocketed.

Golf, you can putt and chip as soon as you feel up to it. Doctors vary, but you'll want to wait anywhere from a month up to 3 months before doing a full swing.

Mine is subpec and I love it! Recovery is a little harder than when they place it just under the skin, but it's not that bad and once it heals you may not even know it's there. Mine does not get in the way at all. I do Crossfit which means barbells, pull ups, push ups. I also love to kayak and recently discovered treetop zipline courses. I've been paced 22 years now and can honestly say it's been nothing but good.

Ditto

by Good Dog - 2016-01-11 09:01:59

After a year or two you'll likely forget you have it. I've had my PM for 30 years and it hasn't stopped me from doing anything.
However, my golf swing was horrible after getting it. Thing is; it was horrible before I got it. So not much changed with my golf game.

Best wishes,

David

You will probably need it someday PART 2

by IAN MC - 2016-01-11 10:01:10

Following on from Rodger's comment :-

It is good that your sinus node is making your heart respond to exercise at the present time. As long as this continues, having a PM will not impact on your quality of life.

An unfortunate fact of life is that a lazy sinus node, which at the present time is giving you sinus bradycardia , may change over the years and begin to respond inadequately to exercise. Having the PM will mean that a simple change to the settings will help with this.

Best of luck

Ian

You will probably need one someday

by zawodniak2 - 2016-01-11 10:01:22

When I asked my electrophysiologist after a rather non-eventful tilt table test "What if I get the pace maker and really don't need it"----he said "You will be needing it in the future". I said "Let's do it"! That was 8 years ago at the age of 65. I have no regrets and sometimes wonder what would have happened without it. My heart rate was in the 40's at times and had a few fainting episodes---no more issues with the pace maker..

Good luck,
Rodger

just had mine done in December

by Bee bee - 2016-01-11 10:01:32

My heart rate was low also 40-50 ish when not exercising and then 30's during sleep. Got implanted this past December so still in healing mode. I had it done below muscle as I am still youngish and active. Some days it really has hurt like it's going to pop out of my chest - but mostly it's been fine - better everyday.

Good luck with everything.

You know you're wired when...

Born to be Wired is your theme song.

Member Quotes

It may be the first time we've felt a normal heart rhythm in a long time, so of course it seems too fast and too strong.