SVT post pacemaker

Gravity!!!

by donr - 2019-09-23 11:46:04

Happens to me all the time! 

But, MOST of the time it's a fiction.  Here's what happens:  Your heart is loosely held in place by all the humongous arteries & veins attached to it at the top.  It resides in a sac that  is also loosely held in place.  If you roll over onto your left side, the heart falls to the bottom due to gravity, & rests on the rib cage at its bottom.  You have no lung in the center-left of the chest, like you have on the right., hemce the heart puts pressure on the left ribs & you can sense every little odd beat your heart has.  Roll over immediately & it stops.  That's because your heart is now resting on the right center lobe of lung, not ribs.  You feel nothing odd - usually.  It's still there, you just don't sense it.  Tonight, lie on your back for a few moments, then roll to your right side, see if you feel anything unusual.  Then roll over to the leff side & check for the same thing.  See what you feel now.  If your heart is in NSR you should be able to sense the rhythmic rate.

Donr

Hard to breath

by Chapter - 2019-09-23 12:37:58

After 20 months with first Pacemaker and health getting worse, I got a new Pacer last month, a CRT-P.  With old device I started getting kicks on left side within days, They were hard like a baby kicking when pregnant.  They stated off slow but after 20 months were pretty often,  but I got use to them.  With new device I cannot sleep on left side at all, pacing at 60 while in bed I feel every beat, hard beats and it takes my breath away.  I cannot talk or relax while laying on left side.  So I guess I stay on right, never been able to sleep on back and I have real bad bed hair in the morning.  

I am glad to have a consistent heartbeat now, but wonder if this is something that can be turned down a bit.  I am feeling a lot better with CRT, have more energy and the daily nausea I had before is gone.  Happy so far, maybe just another thing to get use to.

Chapter

Re: chapter

by erincotter - 2019-09-23 15:29:24

Yes- your experience sounds very familiar. What I meant to also say in my original post is that during my check ins, my readings indicate I am having many runs of SVT, some as high as the 160s. The pounding and palpitations when I lie on my side feel very similar to that. I got a second opinion the other day, and she said she thinks there might also be an issue with my ventricle. She's considering a beta blocker. Do you take any meds in concert with your pm? Thank you!

Meds

by Chapter - 2019-09-23 20:23:51

Yes, Erin, I am on meds too.  I am on Beta Blocker, Perindipril for blood pressure, Spironolactone a kind of diuretic and of course 81mg aspirin.  

Chapter

Used to feel it, too

by MathTeacher - 2019-10-29 23:02:10

When I first got my pacemaker, my heart would race when I'd just get up to use the bathroom during the night.  I'd lay on my left side, and I'd start pacing like crazy.  It would be kind of strong.  I was told it was probably a nerve, but I'm sure it was my pacemaker.  My heart doesn't race any more when I get up, but I do pace when I lay back down in bed.  It's just not as noticable as it used to be.  I always sleep on my left side.