Two-lead pacemaker

Hi everyone. I am 82 years old and after wearing a heart monitor for 48 hours I was diagnosed with complete Bradycardia. In fact the monitor showed that my heart would stop beating for several seconds when I was asleep. I had my Advisa DR SureScan Pacemaker implanted on 27 July 2017. The lower threshold was initially set a 60 BPM. However, at my first followup on 10 August 2017, I complained of being listless and with no energy when I awoke in the morning and the lower threshold was set at 70 BPM.

Normally my heart beats naturally and the pacemaker only forces a heartbeat when my heart stops for more than a second (i.e. less than 60 BPM). If my pacemaker has to force two out of three beats, it goes into a sustaining mode where it forces heart beats for a period of one minute.

When my heart is beating naturally I have no sensation at all, but when my pacemaker forces a heart beat I can feel each beat. Each beat hurts. It is not painful when this happens, but it is not a pleasant feeling. In my mind I think that the fact that I am having this discomfort is somehow damaging my heart.

My question to Pacemaker Club members is, “Is this feeling normal?”

 

2 Comments

Not normal

by AgentX86 - 2018-07-13 13:26:38

No, it's not normal for you to feel it pacing and it's certainly not normal that it's unpleasant. However,  it's unlikely that it's doing any damage. It may be set so the pacing voltage is too high. Often this is set higher, early on while your heart gets accustomed to being paced. Ask your doctor about this. There should be a simple remedy. In the meantime it's not likely to do any harm.

call them

by Tracey_E - 2018-07-13 13:34:28

It's more likely you're feeling the effect of the pacing rather than the pacing itself. The signal that the pacer sends out is very small, mimicking what the heart should have been doing on its own. The heart responds by contracting, that's more likely what you are feeling. A very small percentage can feel it but it's rare. If you are one of those few, know that they will turn it down at 4-6 weeks, once the leads are settled into place and the heart has had a chance to get used to being paced. It is not doing damage. 

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