Low pain tolerance

ice

by Tracey_E - 2017-09-25 21:50:11

Other than something a little stronger the first few nights, I got by just fine with tylenol and lots of ice. 

I suspect you should be just fine

by MartyP - 2017-09-25 22:41:19

I remember my surgery from May 27th this year and there was just no pain at all from the surgery.  My biggest complaint was not the surgery, it was a wicked stiff neck that lasted for almost 3 weeks .... 

Just follow their instructions .... don't raise your arm over your shoulder height for about 2 weeks, some people keep their arm on the side of the PM in their T shirt when they go to sleep, and don't lift anything say over 5 pounds for a couple of weeks as you need to let the leads heal into the heart wall.

Let us know how you do, and over the next few weeks you may have a lot of questions, so we are all here to help😀

Pain killers

by Marmitegeoff - 2017-09-26 07:45:01

If you feel anything during the op tell the surgeon and he will give you another dose of local.  It happened to me.  Afterwards I just used Paraceltamol and Coedin in the evening to get to sleep otherwise OK.

Pacemaker insertion pain

by Selwyn - 2017-09-26 13:27:46

Provided you have adequate local anaesthesia ( injection) there is no pain !

The injection itself stings a bit ( just as when you have one for the dentist) - then with a few seconds, magic, no pain. Tell them it you feel any pain. 

Some local anaesthesia injections are designed to be long lasting ( hours). I dare say you could request one of this type. 

Personally, I did not need any medication by mouth for pain. There was a little throbbing discomfort. 

At the time of my surgery, I was having a convesation with the cardiologist fiddling with the technical bits about the wisdom of drinking caffeine and having paroxysmal atrial fibrillation. 

Good luck.

Selwyn

Pain?

by Peter P. - 2017-09-26 23:23:31

Pain? There was pain? What pain?!

I had my pacemaker implanted November 2016. I didn't feel squat before, during, or after. I'm no tough guy, either. Had the best sleep that first night as I presume there was lingering anesthesia  in my system.

The lunch they fed me after the op was pretty good, too!

Pain? What pain?

by LondonAndy - 2017-09-27 20:02:28

When I go into hospital and they ask if I am alergic to anything, I usually answer: "pain"!

But frankly I had none with the pacemaker op, and remarkably little with full blown open heart surgery the week before (I needed the pacemaker because of a surgical complication - ie they messed up.  But I am not complaining - not easy to see where the electical wires are in a living heart!)

Pain management is amazing these days.  Here in the UK they do 40,000 pacemakers a year, so this is completely routine surgery that is very well understood and managed.  You will be fine.  (Not sure where you are, but operation is common everywhere I am sure).

Come back afterwards and post your experience.

Pain Management

by 0o0 DC 0o0 - 2017-09-28 12:09:35

I am in my early 30's and I had mine put in on the same day (26th) so making the assumption that all went to plan we are possibly at a similar stage of recovery! I had a duel chambered device fitted sub-pectoral which is apparently the more painful option (although I have no basis for comparison). Once all of the local had worn off I felt pretty sore, more of a pull and ache over the surgical site though and a slight ache in the centre of my chest. I appreciate everyone experiences pain differently but 48 hours post op now and haven't needed any pain relief since this morning. Hope you are feeling alright about it all and recovering well, I was extremely nervous about it all too.

Smoother than expected

by Derek E - 2017-09-28 23:55:37

The first 48 was rough but mostly because of lack of sleep. Outside of soreness i feel great actually alot better. Thank you all for opinions, advice, and stories.TraceyE you were 100 percent spot on about the ice.