Pressure in chest

 Went to Cardiologist in Sept because I was having times when I felt like someone was stepping on my chest.  I am a tennis instuctor and exercise at least three times a week with weights twice a week.  Like may of you I was pretty surprised I could have anything wrong with (me at all) my heart.  After 6 months and multiple Drs, the Cardiologist I went to for the second opinion diagnosed me with Symptomatic Bardycardia or Sinus Node Dysfunction (he used them interchangeably).  Having had a low pulse my whole life (usually in the low 50s upper 40s) this seemed strange to me.  However, the monitor they put on me showed I was consistantly in the 30s dipping into the 20s.  Thus, I had a pacemaker put in one week ago ranking my pulse up to 50.  Truthfully, I have learned more from this site than the Drs or device rep.

I was good for about five days post op but now that someone is stepping on my chest again.  (Darn, not the miracle magic bullet I was hoping for.)Have called Dr office.  Told if I want to chance exposure I could go get chest x-ray.  Because of the Coronavirus the Doctors really don't want you in the office.  My followup will be tomorrow on facetime.  Not sure how that is going to work.

So is this normal to feel pressure?  Does your heart/body take some amount of time to adjust before it feels "normal" again or is this my new normal?  Sorry for the length but this is new to me.

5 Comments

Chest pressure.

by Selwyn - 2020-04-02 07:58:07

This is not normal. There are many different causes for you to experience chest pressure ( anything from anxiety, muscle pain, infection, mediastinitis,pneumothorax,  coronary artery problems etc.). As some of these causes are serious, you need a medical evaluation. 

If the feeling of pressure is worsening, or you are short of breath, seek immediate help Otherwise, I expect you can wait until you talk with your doctor tomorrow. 

Just to muddy the dirty waters: Just because someone finds something that is fixable does not mean that there is cause and effect - although your heart rhythm has been fixed, it may not have, after all, been the cause of your chest pressure originally. It is possible to have more than one pathology at the same time.

.

 

Do they know why

by Jmiller - 2020-04-02 09:44:47

Do they know why you have sinus node dysfunction?   I was fitted for a PM for similar, had a low pulse rate all my life, but saw it was getting lower than normal and realized it wouldn't go higher than 80 with vigous exercise.  Two years later they realized I had cardiac sarcoidosis.  Worth an ask.  Good luck.  About the chest pain, it is probably real but it is amazing how your head can play games with you until you get used to this stuff.   Took a took a long time but I've had a PM for 11 year now and I don't even think about it.  I bike ride, play hockey.   Good luck, you'll be fine ouce you get things worked out.

It's *possible* that one of your leads has dislodged

by crustyg - 2020-04-02 12:53:17

The way you describe 5 days everything being good and then suddenly you're back where you were *suggests* that you're no longer paced correctly, but you haven't mentioned your resting HR now.  Still at a minimum of 50bpm?  Completely regular?  I would say that your lifestyle and activities puts you in the very small group of recently implanted PM patients most likely to dislodge a lead (tennis, pushing weights).

At the very least you need an EKG and ideally a PM interrogation. Do you have a Latitude home monitor?  If so, request a patient initiated upload and get them to call you when they've had a look at it.  Much easier than a CXR.  You *might* have dropped into AFib or AFlut - you're a prime candidate for it.  And unless you're very unlucky it's unlikely that anyone will be able to hang a label on the *cause* of your SA node failing.  Cardiac sarcoidosis is uncommon, but heart enlargement and damage to the SA node in endurance athletes is relatively common by comparison.

Ideally the PM should have been the magic bullet you were hoping for: SA node failure (in an otherwise normal heart) is easy to fix with a PM and you should feel much better immediately and continue like that.  Apart from a few niggles and some mental adjustment it was that easy for me.  Perhaps I was just very lucky.

 

I had that sensation

by PacedNRunning - 2020-04-03 02:18:05

I get that sensation when I hit my lower rate limit which is the rate the pacemaker will not allow you to go under. Whenever I at my lower rate it feels like pressure in my heart like someone pushing on it.  Mine is set at 50 i use to be 45 until I couldn't tolerate 45 any longer.  Maybe yours needs  to be bumped to 55 or 60 or it may take time to get use to it. 

 

thanks

by HIT&RUN - 2020-04-09 00:42:25

Appreciate all the comments.  Am wondering why the Doctor never thought to make me aware of all these things that I may experience in the beginning?  Perhaps because they deemed mine an immediate necessity.  I have just learned from reading the comments on this site that most people get some kind of adjustment in the first few months.

You know you're wired when...

Your kids call you Cyborg.

Member Quotes

I am just grateful to God that I lived long enough to have my ICD put in. So many people are not as lucky as us; even though we sometimes don't feel lucky.