Pacer info.

can you explain a bit more ?

by Gemita - 2019-11-19 05:23:52

Hi Liz,

My understanding of your question is that you transmitted your pacemaker data to your clinic and they found the information downloaded in some way inconclusive, incomplete ?  

A pacemaker can only record what it has been set up to record by your pacemaker clinic technicians.  They will have set the parameters for recording events (events like dangerous rhythms seen, duration of events, highest/lowest heart rate and so on).  For example my EP told my team to aggressively reject certain events (like benign ectopic beats) and only set the parameters to show arrhythmias of a certain duration and speed.

I would go back to your clinic and ask them (if they havent already) to explain clearly what they mean by "the pacer is not getting all that it should".  You could ask if it is a transmission problem or a problem with what the pacemaker has been set up to record.

Were you having symptoms when you sent in the data and did the clinic specifically ask for a transmission of data?  If so, perhaps your data downloaded did not correlate with the symptoms you were getting.  Either way, you need to speak to your clinic again for clarity.  I hope you get some answers

Pacer info

by pogerm1 - 2019-11-19 14:32:53

This last 2 weeks I have been having episodes of AF, it seems to come and go.  I have had AF episodes occassionally for almost 20 years.  I would have an episode and it would last for a few hours and stop.  I got AF  initially because I became hyper thyroid I try to keep my thyroid not hyper or hypo.  However, about a month ago I became hyper and a few weeks ago I started getting quite a few episodes of AF.  I could always tell when I was in AF but this was a little different, my heartbeat was fast and when I was resting my heartbeat seemed normal.  So, I sent my pacer data in to the pacer clinc.  The person I talked to said I was in and out of AF then she said that my pacemaker may not be picking up everything.  I asked if it was AF or some other kind of rhythm, she said no, it was AF.  About a year and a 1/2 ago I would go from AF into a fast heart beat, I found out they had me pacing at 80, which I never wanted, my heartbeat was alway in the 60s, so they changed the pacing and I was fine.  I will call and see what they will tell me.

Thanks

paroxysmal AF

by Gemita - 2019-11-19 15:33:27

Hi Liz,

I know all about in and out AF and my heart seems to dance from one episode to another, multiple times a day and it does wear me out.  

I recently heard my doctor tell his colleague to leave my LINQ loop monitor (implant) in as long as possible to capture my AF and other arrhythmia episodes.  When I suggested I didnt need it any more now that I have a pacemaker, he suggested that the loop monitor gave them a lot of detail and to leave it in until the battery expired (it now has).  From this I deduced that the pacemaker may not always be the primary form of monitoring since I have heard that an external monitor is still often used with pacemaker patients.  I expect it may be easier to place an external monitor to detect all (however brief) episodes of AF/other arrhythmias, than change pacemaker settings to pick up this sort of detail, but I may be wrong.

I hope they can programme your pacemaker to give them more information about your AF, like duration, speed and % time you are in AF so that they can offer you better treatment.  However in and out AF must be as difficult for the pacemaker to cope with as it is for us !!   In the meantime, I hope you can get your thyroid problems under better control because that is a strong trigger for AF.  Good luck Liz