Feel the Pace - Lead Revision to Bundle of HIS

I had a dual chamber Boston Scientific pacemaker installed back in May for Third Degree heart block as a result of an AVNRT ablation. My heart did not like the right ventricle pacing. One week ago today I under went a lead revision to replace the right ventricle lead with a bundle of HIS lead.

 I am now pacing 100% in the HIS versus about 30-40% in the right ventricle. I immediately felt much better than I have since the pacemaker was implanted, the strength in my legs came back very quickly, my shortness of breath went away as did my constant nasua.

However, I can still feel the pacing as I could before.  Can anyone else feel the pacing, mine feels like a very hard heart beat, I am not having any PVCs. Do you every get use to it, if so how long does it take? Does anything help?

 

Thanks

Dave

3 Comments

HIS BUNDLE PACING

by Dprib - 2019-09-03 18:47:26

Thanks for the reply, I don't know if it is just the heart readjusting or if it is the delay setting or what, It is pretty annoying.

Feeling your heart beat

by crustyg - 2019-09-04 05:04:22

I can feel my heart beat all the time if I lie on my left side - my preferred sleeping position.  Ironically it was significantly better immediately after my PM - I went from 38 huge heart beats per minute, to 50 much smaller ones (vent activation only to proper sync A then V contraction).  And just to be clear, what we're feeling is our hearts beating, not the pacing - it's not as though we are aware of the electrical stimulation from the PM (except in very rare circumstances).

But depending on your heart size, heart function, position, posture, it's very common for folk to be able to feel their heart beat, especially when there are no other distractions.  There's a reason why trans-thoracic echocardiograms are done with you lying well over to the left - helps the heart fall towards the rib-cage.

There's no fix for it, other than to ignore it, and try and find positions where it's least noticeable. It's just like breathing - you focus on it for some reason and suddenly you feel that you have to control your every breath, but a little while later you realise that you haven't thought about your breathing for some time.

Rate Response

by Dprib - 2019-09-05 12:35:38

Rate response was turned on, turned it off and no longer feel the pounding heart!!! Hope this helps someone else going through this hell.

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