Sleep!

Sleep

by Lana11 - 2016-12-24 14:40:57

I struggled sleeping at first too! My heart rate would be around 50 at night before my pacemaker. Now it's 80! At first I kept waking up after only a few hours sleep and couldn't get back to sleep, felt restless at night etc. Thought it was going to be like that forever, but after about 2 weeks, my body must have adjusted and I sleep fine now :) try not to worry about it and just give your body time to get used to the faster heart beat

Bike

by LORIAAA - 2016-12-24 14:55:07

My opinion is take your time getting on your bike.  An extremely small percentage of people have problems with their leads when they are active too quickly.  I am one of those people.  I felt great after my first surgery.  Unfortunately my two leads penetrated my heart wall.  Next the dual leads were replaced.  A few of us that got active too soon and had problems regret rushing.

sleep and exercise!

by Ileen - 2016-12-24 15:07:48

Thank you for the advice about sleep and exercise. I just did some leg exercises on bed. I will just not move to much. Walking around house. But scared me about leads! Now gonna  just rest! Good to know that my body will get used to the sleep mode soon! Thank you both! Happy Holidays!

Sleep

by Good Dog - 2016-12-24 15:13:53

I had the same sleep problem for the same reason. My doc lowered my low setting from 60 to 50 and I started sleeping normally again. So that is always an option. 

Sleep

by Gamal - 2016-12-25 08:15:20

I had a pacemaker/defribillator implanted on 20 December. I spent 1 night in hospital. I got back home next day on my vespa. The furst night at home I couldnt sleep very well because the heart beat was too fast and I ciuldnt relax. I saw the doctor next day and I explained my problem to him and he programmed the pacemaker reducing the pulse rate for the period 11.00 pm to 6 am. That helped me to sleep better. Today - the 5th day after the implant - I feel my body is starting to adjust to it. So I think we have to be parient as it will take time to feel the benefit as the body is also trying to accept a "foreign" body! I am really grateful to you that you shared your  experience and by doing it helps  us all to cope.  Wishing you a speedy recovery.

Life expectancy after a pacemaker

by Selwyn - 2016-12-26 08:06:10

Having had your pacemaker, the chances of you dying have lessened.

Your life expectancy is now in line with the next person providing you have no other heart disease except for a pure arrhythmia (ie. you should not have coronary artery disease, or heart muscle disease as an additional problem causing your arrhythmia etc.)

Celebrate this!

Have a healthy New Year,

Best wishes,

Selwyn

my $.02

by Gotrhythm - 2016-12-26 13:50:49

Addressing the second paragraph of your post. Weepiness is not uncommon. First of all, it's the way some people react to anesthetic, but also having an emotional reaction is hardly surprising. Think of all the feelings that include the word heart. LIght hearted, soft hearted, heart broken, heart sore, kind hearted, sweetheart, etc. Look at the emoticons on your phone. A symbol for love is a heart. These are not just abstractions. They reflect real life experiences. And if emotions can affect our hearts, why shouldn't it go the other way? Why shouldn't the heart affect our emotions?

In your case, something has literally touched your heart. :-) Many people tear up when that happens. Don't worry. It will pass.

As for what others say about your  PM. A pacemaker is not a pump. What you have is a new switch for the pump since the old one had become undependable. Getting a pacemaker is not a problem, it's a solution.  How you're gonna live now is most likely better than you've been for a long time.