Pacemaker Removal

I am curious to know if anyone out there has had their pacemaker removed prior to the generator change date? My single lead (RV lead) pacemaker was inserted in Feb 2016 for pre-syncopal events caused by intermittent 3rd degree AV block (3 sec and 6 sec pauses). If there comes a time when I am not paced ever again (i.e. no more pauses), I wonder if my EP doctor would consider removing the pacemaker? How long a time without pauses would be considered a reason to remove the pacemaker? Has anyone out there have this experience?

8 Comments

Pauses

by Pinecone - 2016-05-28 04:05:52

My pre-syncopal pauses were recorded by Medtronic Implantable Loop Recorder early Feb. 2016. They detected a 6 second pause and a day later, a 3 second pause which warranted an emergency pacemaker implant for me. I just came back from my 3 month follow-up and PM interrogation and surprisingly, my PM nurse said that I was zero (0) paced! The question of pacemaker removal came about because of this finding. If I continue to be zero paced (meaning no pauses) in the next year or two, would my EP doctor considering removing the device. My condition is "idiopathic" because I have normal structural heart, normal ejection fraction, normal EP study BUT I get these "intermittent" long pauses (atrial beats not conducted to my ventricles). I guess it best for me to hang on to my pacemaker until my doc says otherwise. Who knows it might save me from a sudden death situation if my heart decides to go into it's long pauses again. . .

I believe in miracles...

by donr - 2016-05-28 11:05:06

...too, but I don't plan my life around them! Have you ever seen a TV set, tuner, amplifier or toaster oven or car ignition go belly up & eventually repair itself? The probability of your heart's electrical system doing so is the same - darned close to ZERO!

I cannot tell if this is just a question generated by idle curiosity or a PM host who has yet to come to terms w/ a new reality - that their heart has an electrical defect that needs artificial backup. Tracey, et al, have told you in other comments that life will go on about as normal as before the advent of your electrical problems. As to the pain while swinging your arms while walking - Of course it hurts! You had a 2-3 inch gash in your collar bone area that has to heal & any cut that size will hurt when you start stretching the tissue again.

We are all different in this area - I never felt a thing post op. The second day out I was doing carpentry work on our house, using my Dear Wife as a left arm while letting my own kinda dangle limply for a few days. Others have some real misery.

I checked out a few words to confirm my understanding:
Idiopathic - "relating to or denoting any disease or condition that arises spontaneously or for which the cause is unknown."
Paroxysmal - "a severe attack or a sudden increase in intensity of a disease, usually recurring periodically." My understanding of "Periodically" is that it occurs at random times; as an engineer, periodically implies regularly & predictably.
Pacemaker Syndrome - Go to the link Tracey gave you - it's more complex than what you describe & I agree - too soon for that diagnosis.

Your condition is probably NOT going to go away. It came w/o apparent reason & will come back the same way.

As far as continual pauses - IF your PM is functioning correctly & has been implanted correctly, AND the sensing thresholds & pacing voltages correctly adjusted, you will not have a true pause - not like your pre PM situation. Get your check up & ask if you have PVC's. There is a good chance that is the situation. To the uninitiated, they feel just like a pause. You may well have been having PVC's all your life & never sensed them till the PM was placed. A lot of strange things go on that we don't sense till we get the PM implanted.

Donr

You are right...

by donr - 2016-05-29 03:05:36

...it's best to hang onto the PM for a while. After all, you went over a bunch of years before the firs episode - & that one was NOT pretty. Why do you think it was an emergency implant? A 6 & a 3 w/i 24 hrs is not indicative of anything pleasant.

3 months is not very long in the life of a human. Hearts typically go 60, 70, 80, 90 YEARS w/o anything like that occurring. They have no idea why it happened to you. Even if you had some physical (as opposed to electrical) heart abnormality, that would not necessarily lead to electrical problems. Conversely, electrical problems have a relatively low correlation w/ causing physical problems.

It's paroxysmal, remember - that means sudden & unpredictable; without warning; random.

Relax & enjoy the insurance policy you have.

I recall back in 1942 our family was moving from New Jersey to Georgia - back in the days when the only 4 lane highway in the US was the Pennsylvania Turnpike. I was all of 6 years old. It took all day to get from NJ to Washington & we arrived late at night. I remember "sitting" in the back seat, often leaning over the front seat & constantly asking "Are we there yet?"; or "When will we get to Georgia". We still had 3 days to drive. The only reason I was not left by the side of the road was the infinite patience & love of my parents.

Donr

Idiopathic

by Grateful Heart - 2016-05-29 06:05:23


Wise choice Pinecone, let your Doc decide.

I had a Cardio tell me..."that means we're idiots, we don't know what caused it". I laughed so hard....I didn't expect that definition.

Don: And you were about 32 yrs. old on that road trip...right? :)

Grateful Heart

I've wondered that too!

by vich21 - 2016-05-29 07:05:35

I had a reveal device implanted which showed nothing for 2 years and then a 20 second pause. I was fitted with a pacemaker immediately...however the presyncopal symptoms didn't improve with the pacemaker and a specialist cardiologist diagnosed a form of PoTS and prescribed Ivabradine....he mentioned at the time that had he seen me originally, he may not have considered a pacemaker. This is because the pauses are preventable by sitting/ lying down and the heart itself is healthy...it's the wiring that's dodgy! Be interesting to see if you're still zero paced at next check!

GH: I was only 6...

by donr - 2016-05-29 08:05:35

...but my aching back was already about 32 - that's why now it's at least 125.

In retrospect, that was an interesting trip. Today we do the 612 miles between our house in Atlanta & our #1 Daughter's house in Washington in a single day & it isn't really a horrible day - about 12 hrs. Our Daughter does the same trip in about 10 hours.

What it must have been for my Parents when it took 4 days w/ a couple small kids in back seat must have been a terror beyond belief.



Don

Don

by Grateful Heart - 2016-05-29 09:05:55


LOL....I know. I pictured a grownup sitting in the back saying "Are we there yet"?

It was the visual.

GH

RE: I've wondered that too!

by Pinecone - 2016-06-17 00:24:09

After the pacemaker implant, I stopped having those pre-syncopal episodes! It's funny, but pre-pacemaker implant, I get the pauses when I am lying down or sitting down! I've been having these pauses for over 15 yrs., and just recently caught on  implantable loop recorder, it became an emergency pacemaker implant because the pre-syncopal episodes occur when I drive and when I do my job (I am in patient care). It is idiopathic because my heart is structurally normal and have a normal EP study. In short, they are not sure why I have these pauses. At my 2 week check-up, another PM nurse said I paced less than 1%. At my 3 month follow up, my PM nurse said I was zero paced. Next follow-up (3 months) is a remote transmission. Also curious to see if I am less than 1% paced or zero paced. . .

You know you're wired when...

Friends call you the bionic woman.

Member Quotes

You now get to start a new life it's like being reborn.