Newbie - Still Figuring Things Out

63 years old.  Married with two grown children.

Born with a congenital bicuspid aortic valve.  Had a St. Jude mechanical aortic valve implanted 12/15/2000, which requires me to be on Coumadin/Warfarin.  

Have always been active physically.  Have completed over 20 triathlons, 5 half marathons and numerous other running races since receiving my mechanical valve.

Due to chronic knee problems, gave up triathlons & running two years ago to focus exclusively on competitive Masters swimming.  Swim 5-6 mornings per week for 500K yards per year.

Was diagnosed with Dupuytren's contracture in my hands three years ago, but it has not progressed very rapidly.

Started to suffer from bradycardia a month or so ago.  My normal resting HR was in the high 40's, but dropped down to 28-30.   My cardiologist implanted a St. Jude PM 2272 pacemaker on 4/27/2017.  

Mark

3 Comments

Newbie

by Loonylil - 2017-05-08 14:12:09

dear mark

i hope you are starting to feel more in control of your health, it will probably take some time but you should begin to notice benefits from your pacemaker soon!

keep reading comments and posting on this site, it will help a lot?

best wishes to you ❤️

Welcome

by TBrous&Chip - 2017-05-09 06:46:12

Hope that you are feeling better since receiving your PM.

I am a Brady patient also. The PM has allowed me to resume normal activities.

This forum provides meaningful info and support. 

Good luck to you.

 

Another runner

by bhdavis - 2017-05-11 14:06:40

I had to get my St. Judes pacemaker last November due to Afib.  The Metoprolol medication I had to take meant a slow down in my heart rate which was already in the low 30s when I slept.  I always thought the mid-40s during the day and low 30s at night was actually a benefit from 40+ years of running.........now I'm not so sure.

I began running cautiously about a month after the implant and progressed over the next 4 months.  While the running endurance improved somewhat over this period it was a huge effort to even run a lot slower than before.  Small hills could leave me panting.

Then a month ago my doctor altered the exercise reaction slope of the Pacemaker.  What a huge difference.  In that month's time I've gone from just slowly jogging to being able to do the mountain runs I was doing before the Pacemaker.  I was in to the doctor's office again just yestereday with both my doctor and the St. Judes  technician.  The three of us discussed my progress and the decision was made to make a couple more adjustments including raising my max. excercise rate from 130 to 140 bpm. 

So be patient and stay in touch with your doctor and the Pacemaker engineers with questions.  I'm feeling very optimistic about my running progress in the future and suspect you will be able to feel the same in time.

BH

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Member Quotes

I had a pacemaker when I was 11. I never once thought I wasn't a 'normal kid' nor was I ever treated differently because of it. I could do everything all my friends were doing; I just happened to have a battery attached to my heart to help it work.