Fluttering

I am 32 and had my pacemaker implanted 6 weeks ago for mobitz II heartblock. I have had the settings changed 3x now.  Since this last time i have been having a very distracting fluttering in my chest. I am so having occasional sharp chest pains. I was evaluated in the ER and they didnt seem concerned.  Im wondering if anyone else has had similar experiences.  I feel alone in all of this, and am looking for input from others that also have this condition. also did you find a cause for the issue? I have ventricular standstill and no apparent reason has been discovered for the block. 

3 Comments

ER

by Tracey_E - 2019-08-02 09:24:52

It's always good to have chest pain evaluated, better safe than sorry, but the ER isn't usually much help. The ER will check to see if the pacer is pacing and if you are in immediate danger, like heart attack or other distress. Then they send us home to follow up with our doctor. 

They usually turn the pacer down after 4-6 weeks, so they may not have done that yet. They start it out with a higher until the leads settle in and the heart gets used to pacing.

If you ever feel worse after an adjustment, tell them so they can undo whatever they did. No two of us are alike so settings are not one size fits all, and they like to do the changes in small increments, so 3 or more tries isn't unheard of. I've had a lot more than 3 changes, but eventually we found the sweet spot where I feel good and can do whatever I want. You'll get there, don't be shy about staying on them. 

Most of us with block never know why we got it. It's a short circuit that can happen for no reason in an otherwise healthy heart. If they've ruled out meds and infection, you haven't had a surgery that caused it, then you will probably never know. It doesn't much matter, the fix is the same. 

Fluttering in chest

by Selwyn - 2019-08-02 09:37:25

I had a fluttering muscle twitch over the chest after insertion. A change from unipolar to bipolar pacing solved the problem at the flick of a switch!

Check your pulse at the time and make sure the fluttering is not due to your heart rhythm.

If all is well with the pulse the problem is likely to be muscular or sometimes you can get the diaphragm twitching. You then need to discuss this further with those involved in your care. It is most unlikely at your age that any chest pain is angina.

Twitch

by JLou - 2019-08-03 04:18:04

I had a very unpleasant and distracting twitch, always in the same place in my chest, that felt like an electrical twitch, for the first few months of having my pacemaker. It always seemed to occur within the first hour of getting up each day, for a few minutes, and I'd sometimes get it at other times in the day. Once they turned the voltage down at my first pacemaker check (5 months after implant) it stopped, and now I only feel it very faintly once in a while. 

I hope this site makes you feel less alone. I felt the same at the beginning because I didn't know anyone who had similar problems,  but since joining this site I find out there are thousands of us! X

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