Pacemaker

I had my Pacemaker installed in Feb 17' regular check up every 6 months. Unit has been working flawlessly. I live in the Philippines and have a good cardiologist in Manila. Today I received a reality slap I will never forget: I was driving my stepson to school this morning, with my wife & Mother in law in the car.... suddenly I started geting dizzy, a sensation I feel is normal given the Xeralto, Lasinipril, carvidol, etc I am on. Dizzy turned  intense, I felt blood loss to brain,I cried  out: I'm passing out and I feel unconscious within 1 second. I didnt have time to pull over. I slumped over in seat and pulled the wheel hard to right. My 17 year old son tried to pull the e-brake and get control from the back seat,but it all happened so fast.  I hit a man on a motor scooter with his 14 year old daughter. I destroyed our car, lightly fractured her leg. I regained consciousness 5 seconds later. I woke up and quickly realized everything had changed. I couldn't  understand why the front tire was flat or where the rear view mirror was, or why my wife was hysterical crying:  wake up, wake up, then stay with me honey stay with me, I asked what happened?  Dozens of unemployed  Philippine people were pointing at my car and running over. I asked if I hit anyone and was told I did. At a youthful 69 I now will never dare drive again, I had no driving  restrictions but get nauscious at the thought..... what if I had been on the interstate? I do not believe my defrbrillator fired, I will have to make my way back to Manila to find out. Has anyone else passed out suddenly and with no indication anything was wrong. I am 100% depedent on battery operation, so heart stoppage only happens if the unit shuts down.... I have an Abbott Labs unit. Any feedback is welcome

 

1 Comments

Not really true

by AgentX86 - 2020-01-13 23:14:39

You may have had an arrhythmia that caused your loss of consiouness.  A PM can't do a thing for most arrhythmias.  That's only one possibility. 

I'm PM dependent also (100% paced is not the same thin), so it paces every beat in both ventricles.  Nothing wrong with the pacemaker or my heart but I felt lightheaded, turned around to tell my wife and down I went.  Not the heart at all (we don't think), rather a seizure.  No clue what caused the seizure but I've been getting a cluster of these lightheaded spells once  a month for a couple of years but no one seemed interested. Fortunately, we were eating lunch at a restaurant, not driving.  I still can't drive for six months (three to go).

The bottom line is that there are many reasons behind syncope episodes.  The heart pausing is just one.

 

You know you're wired when...

You get your device tuned-up for hot dates.

Member Quotes

I have a well tuned pacer. I hardly know I have it. I am 76 year old, hike and camp alone in the desert. I have more energy than I have had in a long time. The only problem is my wife wants to have a knob installed so she can turn the pacer down.