Pacemaker problems? are his leads messed up. Help!!!

pacing

by Tracey_E - 2019-07-28 09:07:28

If they interrgated the pacer and everything is ok, then the new pacer is connected and working. A disconnected lead would be impossible to miss. 

It's possible the new one is not on the same settings as the old one, or the new one has bells and whistles the old one didn't that may need to be fine tuned.

What you are describing does not sound like just pacing, tho. Maybe start with his GP and see if something else is going on? Is he depressed? 

Questions

by Cheryl B - 2019-07-28 20:53:57

Hi, Dodie:

I, too, felt "whooshed" out of my EPI appointments at first, and didn't have a chance to ask questions. I also felt like I wasn't asking "smart" questions.  Now I write my questions down as they come up, and then take that whole list to the doctor.  I also have a new EPI doc because I wasn't comfortable with the last one.  Sounds like you are very concerned about your husband's health.  Well, then you might need to make his doctors see how concerned you are.  Let them know how he's feeling and don't let them hurry you out of appointments until you've had every last question answered.  Your husband has been through a lot.  But Tracey is right, if there's a problem with the pacemaker, it will show up.  I had to have my first one fine-tuned a couple of times.  He might need to speak to a counselor also.  I see one every couple of weeks just to talk.  But you keep after them until it's right.  You also might have to go find a doctor who will listen.  They are out there. 

Cheryl B.

Rocketman .. Saw nurse practicioner today, this is Dodie

by Rocketman - 2019-07-31 03:10:26

Hi has titanium in his back, so he had to go see his nurse's practicioner for medication for his back.. He relates better with women, and he likes her, so it sounds like he got a little help today. His blood pressure was good, but they wouldn't even tell him his heart rate, it was so high.. I am not kidding.. also his legs have gotten spotty from the calves down, left foot is kind of blue. He has developed some leaking coming out of his legs.. I also have this weird notion that scar tissue may be interrupting the pacemaker signal.. at least his cramps have subsided the last two nights. This poor man, we will be watching television, and all of a sudden his fingers start cramping.. and when we go to bed, then the leg cramps start, especially at the inner thighs in the groin area.. He hates lasix (furosimide), even though he is taking potassium I try to get him to take calcium, magnesium and zinc.. I have him drink juice, eat tomatoes.. another thing, this man does not like to always eat! ! He likes to only eat at dinnertime, and sometimes even that is a challenge.. Once i get him to eat he usually eats way more than me. He always has been a big man, popeye arms, meat hook size hands, small hips, big shoulders, but he did the high voltage linework climbing poles and it kept him very young for his age.. And today he told me he feels like he is getting to be a decrepit (don't know how to spell it, sorry) old man.. I told him he just needs a good doctor to manage his heart problems.

He is under quite a bit of stress, but not until lately have things just added up.. Our seventeen year old daughter has been gone a year.. she has had one heck of a life, she's actually our granddaughter but we adopted her after a two and a half year battle with DCS.. Talk about stress.. but, after now hitting rock bottom she wants to come home. back to rocketman and me. 

So, his nurse practictioner gave him antibiotics for his legs, is running lots of labs on him and gave him a referral to a different heart doctor.. Oh, what is an E.P.I. doctor?

Thanks so very, very, very much for your kind support and wisdom, I greatly appreciate it. Dodie

hi

by Tracey_E - 2019-07-31 10:28:10

Blue is not good!!! Stay on them to follow up with antibiotics to be sure they are doing the job. .

EP is an electrophysiologist which is a cardiologist that specializes in electrical problems of the heart. Many of us here see an ep rather than a regular cardiologist, electrician vs plumber.

If scar tissue was built up on the leads, it would take more current to get the heart to respond to pacing. This would show up in the pacing report, and can be fixed with settings. If his heart rate is normal, his pacer is working. 

All the pacer does is make the heart beat faster. It can't control how hard the heart beats, how well the blood circulates once it leaves the heart, how much oxygen we are getting. It's easy to blame the pacer but it's just a small piece of the puzzle, and often the most dependable. Try not to get caught up in thinking of ways it can fail and miss something else that is going on. I hope the new ep has some answers, and the antibiotics help.