7 weeks post pacemaker implant

life paced

by Tracey_E - 2018-03-13 11:33:15

It's not true that everyone feels better. Some are safer but don't feel better. 

It sounds like the surgery left you with av block? If yes, then your sinus node is setting the pace, all the pacer is doing is making sure the ventricles stay in sync with the atria. When we've been missing beats and out of sync, this can feel very fast at first. What we are used to is abnormal, so this faster rate is what our heart should have been doing all along. It took me a few months to get used to it. 

Do you have a CRT or ICD? Because many of us pace 100% and batteries last well over 3 years. My average is 6-7, some people get well over 10  years from a device. Replacements are super easy, I'm on my 5th. They go in the same place so it's all scar tissue, and leads last a lot longer than batteries so they only change them out if needed. 

When the battery gets low, there is lots of warning so we have plenty of time to get a new one. If you were to choose not to get it replaced, your heart would beat like it did before you were paced so most likely you would just feel really really bad. They can tell you what your underlying rate is, mine is anywhere from 20 to 60 depending on the day. But there's no need to worry about that because they'll tell us we have 3-6 months left and we get a new one before the old one stops working. Easy. 

Give it time

by Gotrhythm - 2018-03-13 14:00:22

What we feel and how we feel is subjective, and whether if feels "good" depends on what we felt before. 

It is true that not everyone feels better after a pacemaker, but in your case it's too early to call. It's only been 7 weeks. You say that the initial lightheadedness and headaches have dissipated, and that your pulse has slowed. People, and their hearts, adjust to the pacemaker in their own time frames, sometimes immediately, but sometimes only after a number of months.

Your own heart, not the pacemaker, is driving your pulse to 78. The only difference the pacemaker makes is that your heart is now able to keep up with itself. It must have been working terribly hard before, just to keep you going. Maybe it's like a kid that's just been let out of school and it's running fast just because--at last!--it can. :-)

As for battery life estimates. They're just that--estimates. They are not predicting when you will need a new device. Changes in your settings can change the estimates. I've seen mine go down and up and down.

I think it's reasonalbe to ask "what would happen if I allowed the battery to run out?" but it's way to early to stress over needing a new pacemaker eventually.

Subjectivity

by High Voltage - 2018-03-14 00:45:45

I haven’t been on this site real long but it seems that everyone has a different experience post implant.Or at least there are a lot of different “camps” 

I think it matters what your overall problems are and past issues.

It is also interesting that different doctors have different post recovery rules too.

maybe you could have your device turned down a little for normal rest.Mine is set at 60.I don’t feel a thing.78 still seems in the normal range if I have read articles right.

The hard thing to figure out is if it pscycological or not.I know just in general your mind can really give you anxiety and that might make your rate go higher too.

If you really aren’t comfortable and your doctor isn’t helping you could always try for a second opinion.At least it is something to consider if your are miserable and the doc seems  reluctant to  do anything

Confused

by The real Patch - 2018-03-14 12:35:35

I think you are confused on several items. Frankly I know a lot of people who are paced 100% in both ventricles (CRT or Bi-Vent) and their batteries are over 7 years old. There's no reason to believe your device is going to give up the ghost in 3 years. Also replacement is a quickie in and out usually you stay overnight more to monitor you before release, not a big deal and usually they do twilight anesthesia meaning the lights are on but nobody's home. They open the current incision site and pull your device out insert the new one and done. Not anywhere near as invasive as the first implant or open heart. and FYI I've got the t-shirt.

a normal resting heart rate is between 60 and 100 bpm. When I had my CRT-D implanted they set my pacing at 60. No big deal but I had issues with PMT where my pacemaker was getting confused so they upped it to 70. Again no big deal but PMT was causing problems so they upped it to 80bpm. At that rate I started getting jitters and felt anxious because I wasn't used to that rate. After a short get to know you period I adjusted and no longer even notice it. With your heart rate running at 48 it's highly likely at 78 you are just not used to that rate and it'll take some time to adjust and acclimate. You might ask the Dr why it's at 78 for your own understanding but again that's well within a normal.

So when the battery expires...well really very few people expire when that happens unless they are pacemaker dependent, meaning their native heart won't beat on it's own. You'll go back to the rate your sinus node drives and feel like you did before the pacemaker.

Let me just add, this ain't the end of the world for you, it's a beginning. Don't look for negatives, enjoy your new beginning an get out there and live.