Problems post insertion fo bradycardia

Club

1/25/2018

Had a pacemaker for brady cardia two weeks ago it has caused nothing but grief.  The day of surgery and the day after were perfect.  The next morning everything went wrong.  Sorry to be so negative, but I am so ill and having problems with surgeon and cardiologist not listening to me for two weeks.  Finally, I went to the ER everything but very high BP's was OK,  I am 76 and did and I do not expect miracles, but what has happened is frightening.  I have gone from vibrant senior doing zumba, riding my bike 20+ miles , lifting weights to a cardiac cripple.  I can hardly maneuver around my apartment. I have vertigo and pre syncope every time I stand up, headache, nausea, fuzzy thinking, weakness and fatigue so bad I have to grab onto things to walk around the apartment. I now have hypertension I never had before.  Cardiologist finally agreed to see me and said it may be orthostatic hypotension and the hypertension is my body trying to perfuse my brain.  

 

I found this most current article Arrhythm Electrophysiol Rev. 2015 Dec; 4(3): 189–192, that states about 15% of people with Pacers for bradycardia have this. It also states,

"Syncope in a patient with a pacemaker commands urgent action to ascertain its cause and provide appropriate treatment."  Why did I have to beg for someone to see me??

 

The medication he suggested after finally seeing me has serious side effects. Particularly since my BP can go from 150/98 to 112/60 in the same day.   Has anyone had any similar problems?

1 Comments

Advoocate for yourself

by Gotrhythm - 2018-01-26 16:09:22

To state the obvious, something is wrong.

It means nothing that they told you at the ER your pacemaker is okay. Your pacemaker is okay only means your pacemaker is doing what it is programmed to do. It does not mean, your pacemaker is doing what is optimal for your condition.

Sometimes all that is needed is a change of settings. Small changes can make a big difference in how you feel. Hate to tell you, but agism is alive and well in cardiologists offices. Without looking at what your activity level was, they may have given you settings appropriate for a sedentary little old lady. (That happened to me. I felt like I was going to die, just trying to go up stairs.)

I don't have any opinion of the BP issues. Mine sometimes fluctuates a lot in a day's time too. Since it doesn't go too high, stay high, or go too low, my doctor isn't concerned.

In my experience, if a doctor is missing something or failing to consider something important, he or she is unlikely to do a turn around on subsequent visits. Even good doctors misdiagnose. If you do think your doctor is telling your the right thing, if you doubt your doctor understands your condition and knows how to treat it, find someone else. That's the biggest lesson having a pacemaker has taught me. 

Advocate for yourself. That's the other lesson. But really, they are the same.

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