What the heck!!!

I keep getting what feels like a kick, not at all painful but very weird. It happens on my right side(my implant is on the left), and in my back. Is this a muscel spasam? Has anyone had this? I have had my implant for about 1 month and I am doing great. My device has been checked twice so far and both times they say it is functioning perfectly. Also, has anyone had a lead wire come lose? What does that feel like? it doesn't sound to good. thanks for any comments as I am new to surgery and not sure what normal recovery feels like. I thought I had gotten a shock but after testing the device they said I hadn't, it was nerve endings. Thanks,Robin

3 Comments

I have a feeling

by dave969 - 2007-06-25 07:06:51

I have a feeling of small internal kicking, my nurse Pacemaker nurse said it is like what women feel when a baby kicks inside her.
It was explained that is when the pace is correcting for a improper heart beat to fast to slow ect.
Sometimes it is just 1 or two then there are times it is 10 to 15 minutes.
Is that similar to what you are going through.

Dave

What

by SMITTY - 2007-06-25 10:06:50

Hi Robin,

What you are feeling could be any one of a few thousand things, some from your pacemaker and some not. If you were having no such pains before you got your pacemaker, my money is on that being the cause. You say your device has been checked twice so far and both times they said it was working perfectly. I’ll not dispute that for one second, but the device working perfectly does not mean it is not the cause of your problem.

I was told probably 50 or 60 times over a five-year period that my pacemaker was working just fine and it was not the cause of a problem very much like what you describe. Turns out it was the pacemaker, but it was not the fault of the PM. In fact, it was really no ones fault, it was just one of those things. The lead in the ventricle was in such location that the electrical impulse from the PM was causing the desired contraction of the ventricle but was not ending there as it should have. Stray current from the ventricle lead was stimulating a nerve in my chest and at various time it felt like an ant bite, a bee sting or an electrical shock. These ranged from uncomfortable too downright painful.

The solution for my problem was to try and relocate that lead or to give me an injection to deaden the affected nerve. I chose the latter and while I was given no guarantee how long it would work, if at all, it has been almost two years now and it is still doing the job.

Before I got a new doctor that was able to tell me what my problem was, several things had been tried. The one that gave the most improvement, without solving the problem, was reducing the power output from the PM to a minimum level. This solved about 70% of the pain problem but at that power setting I was not getting much help from the PM. My real complaint to this day was the doctor and nurses/technicians they kept telling me it was not the PM. Yet I didn’t have the problem before I got the PM and when I was getting the painful impulses they were perfect sync with my heart beat.

While I can’t tell you what is causing your problem, I can say don’t let anyone convince you it is not your pacemaker. Like I said it took me five years (during which time I had the thing turned off for more than two years) to get a solution. Perseverance (and a little hell raising at the appropriate time won’t hurt) is the key to getting a solution.

Pacemakers are wonderful inventions but they can bring with them baggage that some doctors don’t know about and refuse to believe can exist. So, until some day, we will keep having them implanted and then have to convince the doctors the things are not perfect.

Good luck,

Smitty

I Also had that

by Aztec - 2007-09-17 01:09:07

Hi There, after reading your post i have had my icd for a month now and twice i was laying down and got the same feeling like i got kicked in the back on the right side my icd is on the left like my nerves just jumped ??
my doctor and the saint jude rep checked me twice and said the icd is fine ? there must be somthing going on with them i thought it was just me .

thanks
chris

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Member Quotes

The pacer systems are really very reliable. The main problem is the incompetent programming of them. If yours is working well for you, get on with life and enjoy it. You probably are more at risk of problems with a valve job than the pacer.