pacemaker - 3 months old

• by Pm
• 2016-06-12 00:57:58
• Checkups & Settings
• 1430 views
• 0 comments

hi everyone out there.  Hope you're all doing ok.  Went yesterday to check my dual lead pm cuz the last few weeks (basically since I was last there for a check) my complaint was missed beats off and on throughout the days and sometimes a rapidly beating heart for no apparent reason.  I always know when something strange is going on as I cough each time my rate changes.  Also it was doing a check/test every eight hours.  That was set up at my last visit.  So.... First the doc said that he doesn't see anything wrong.    Somehow I knew he was going to say that.   He said that when I feel let's say three even beats, then a pause before th next beat, (and that is when I cough),  it's not really a pause.  It's the pm kicking in.   But at the same time he said that he will change the settings slightly but he doesn't know if I will feel better or worse.  I also asked him to  turn off the automatic test every eight hours, to which he said fine.  He had no problem with that. He will do a manual check when I come back, hopefully only in November.  Was so worried about "maybe feeling worse"  and  wondering what that would  feel like, but so far, day two and I feel soooo much better.  Let's hope it lasts.   I have a most difficult time to understand all the med jargon, so basically I can't tell people what changes were made when they ask, and family really want to know what was, why, and what changes were made.  I feel really stupid when I have to tell them I don't know.  I try to ask the tech, but they're so busy,  I can't get proper answers.  Who do I turn to?     FYI we have a weird medical system.  I have a cardiologist who will see me again only in one year, and the pacemaker clinic is a whole other department with a doctor checking everyone's pm like an assembly line.  I asked and was told that they don't communicate at all with my doctor unless they detect a problem.  And they don't consider this a problem, I guess.  As a reminder, I had  my pacemaker put in on March 14 in Florida as an emergency, then came back home to Montreal where I saw my GP right away to get referrals, and it took almost two months to get an appointment to start follow ups.  First cardio I called wouldn't take me cuz I already have the pm, second one I called doesn't take new patients, and finally the third one gave me an appointment and faxed all my info from the Florida hospital to the pace maker clinic.  Hooray!    Would love to hear some words of encouragement.  I know you can't explain what's going on with my pacemaker settings as I haven't been able to tell you anything about what it was set at or what changes were made, but maybe a suggestion or two with how to get this info..  I guess it's not all that necessary, but I am curious and like to understand better.  Keep well and sorry for carrying on for so long.