Feeling dizzy and weak is my pacemaker the culprit?

PM the Culprit

by davbrn1765 - 2019-06-12 21:24:28

Are you on any heart or blood pressure meds? If your PM was set low, and your dependent on your PM, then you would be feeling sleepy most of the time. When you become dizzy, do you feel cold?    

Not sure if my PM is set to low

by markanthony - 2019-06-16 09:56:52

Thanks for the reply and you mention that do I feel cold when dizzy, sometimes yes I do feel a little bit cold. and im not consuming any heart or blood pressure meds.

Culprit? Not exactly. Fine-tuning settings? Possibly.

by Gotrhythm - 2019-06-17 16:59:04

At the age of 19, hopefully, for many, many years a pacemaker will be a fact of your life.  Now, your brain is young, your mind is flexible and retains new information easily. Now is the time to learn all you can about your pacemaker and what it does for your heart condition. There are lots and lots of Youtube videos about hearts and pacemakers that will get you started.

Settings are things like your base heartrate and your upper limit heartrate. Like whether or not response rate is turned on, and other things. When your pacemaker is interrogated ask for a print out of the report. The report will show what your settings are, what percentage of the time your pacemaker is assisting your heart, and an estimate of battery life. 

Understand that your settings are decided by guesswork. Intelligent guesswork, but still guesses. Only your experience can show whether the settings are "right" for you. If you know your settings, you are able to help your cardiologist to fine tune until the settings are optimal for you. Often there's a period of trial and error and several adjustments might need to be made.

When you talk to your cardiologist and the pacemaker tech, the kind of answer you get will depend on the question you ask. If you ask "Is my pacemaker the culprit?" you will be told, "Your pacemaker is working fine." 

If you say, "I wonder if I have the right settings to support my activity level?" you'll get some interest in fine-tuning your settings.

Be aware that most people with pacemakers are older, sicker, and less active than a teenager. The people in your cardiologist's office don't have as much experience with the needs of someone your age and you might have to train them on settings that work for you. 

You have many wonderful years ahead of you. To get the most out of those years, to feel as good as you can and be as active as you wish to be, you need to learn about your pacemaker and how to communicate with your doctor.