Nervous about new symptoms after pacemaker surgery

Hi all and happy Easter! Just had pacemaker (two leads) installed two weeks ago today and wondering why I'm having what I think are serious episodes of coughing when I stand up and move around a bit and sometimes it's coupled with extreme lightheadedness. It all comes and goes. Saturday was a very difficult day for me all day with the above symptoms, Sunday was a super great day. Didn't cough almost all day and felt normal. Then today I woke up feeling nauseous, lightheaded and back to the coughing as soon as I stand up and start to move around. It lasted till 2:30 and then the fainting feeling disappeared and I felt much better even though the cough was still present. Went to the doctor and after doing an EKG, said he pacemaker is doing its job and he doesn't know what my symptoms are all about. Seeing the surgeon on Wednesday. Maybe he'll shed more light. Anyone out there having the same symptoms? Anxious and waiting! 💊

4 Comments

Thanks

by Pm - 2016-03-29 02:03:37

Hi Shaun, thanks for your reply. Got a pm cuz my heart/pulse were constantly skipping beets. Glad you're feeling better now. Happy I'm not alone in all this anxiety ridden emotions and not feeling well. You give me positive hope.

Another Bradycardia person here

by hawaiilad - 2016-03-29 08:03:07

I am 71 and received a PM on 3/14/16 and right away I felt so much better. I am able to walk around and up stairs without having to stop and catch my breath and I seem to be able to breath so much better, but, I have really allot of light headedness. I saw the Dr. last week and told him about it and he said "Oh that's just a bit of vertigo". Now I have to look that up on the net. But to read that many people have the same problems after receiving a PM I was wondering if the light headnedness is from the blood flow pumping so good. I also feel tightness in my chest, but that was because everything inside is still healing. I would really like to learn more about this.

You don't say why you have a pacemaker

by Shaun - 2016-03-29 09:03:32

18 months ago I received a dual lead pacemaker for slow heart rate (Bradycardia) and I experienced among other things the following post-pacemaker symptoms: coughing, breathlessness, lightheadedness and nausea. I'm a very active cyclist and my stamina is better than many people 20 years my junior, yet after the pacemaker I could not stand up quickly without feeling like I was going to pass out. Also, if I got up from my desk and climbed just a few stairs then I would get out of breath quite easily. Within the first year of receiving the pacemaker I was subjected to a whole battery of tests, whereupon everying was found to be working fine and I was pronounced "fit as an ox". The only thing which was abnormal was my blood pressure which was on the low side.

After 18 months my post-pacemaker symptoms have either gone away or reduced to the point that I can now manage them without getting concerned. For example, I stand up more slowly and take deeper breaths when I feel breathless. I don't really have any explainations for my post-pacemaker symptoms, but after 18 months my body and MIND seem to have adapted to having the pacemaker.

SYMPTOMS AFTER PM

by BLACKCLOUD - 2016-03-31 09:03:04

Hi am new to all this, but after reading your problem with light headness after your new PM just wanted to comment that I had the same thing happen to me. After a month or so I started feeling light headed and dizzy, weak etc. Went to the PM clinic to check out the PM and what they did was make an adjustment to the pacing.
Basically as I understand it the standard PM setting waits a few seconds to see if your own heart will beat, if not it will send an electrical current (pacing) to the heart. What they had to do was turn off the delayed pacing and have it pace immediately.
After that I never had another spell. The ER Dr would not be able to correct this or do anything you need to go back to the PM clinic and have them check the PM settings.
Hopes this helps.

You know you're wired when...

Your pacemaker interferes with your electronic scale.

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It is just over 10 years since a dual lead device was implanted for complete heart block. It has worked perfectly and I have traveled well near two million miles internationally since then.