Silly question

     Hi all, I am a 55 year old male who is very active and only recently had a pacemaker installed for Mobitz II (2 weeks ago). As an example, in the week prior to the procedure I ran a total of 34 miles, went on a 120 mile bike ride and I keep my core toned with 300 pushups 6 days a week. 
     At the 1 week check up the PA doing my first settings check said everything is ok. I asked about running and she said "Cardio is fine, go for it" so I went for 3 mile run the next day. Of course I planned on taking it easy and I did. However, I found myself holding the site over my pacemaker because it felt like it was jiggling around in there. I messaged my doctor the next day - he gave me a prompt response saying "no" to my kind of running and cycling for six weeks. He said fast walking was ok. 
     I find myself a bit worried the pacemaker will be an irritant while running. I see many others on here who are avid runners and cyclists and wonder if my concerns are transient? 6 weeks is a long time and I can't wait to get back at it :)
     

5 Comments

patience

by Tracey_E - 2020-05-18 10:28:16

I totally understand chomping at the bit to get back at it! But you have a shiny new hunk of metal for your body to get used to. It's going to take some time for the body to build up scar tissue around it, to hold it in place and get numb. One week was fine for the heart to handle the run, but the rest of you needs a little more time to heal before doing anything impact.

When I had my last replacement (I'm on #5 and the last was moved to a new pocket), my doc said no sweating for 4 weeks, more because of infection risk than the pacer itself. So I walked for those weeks then went back to the gym 4 weeks and 1 day later. I felt fine but was still pretty sore after the workouts. It took another good 2 months before I was back to my old weights, didn't have any twinges at all, didn't get overly sore. Not saying it hurt that long, just that I could feel it sometimes. Now I don't even know it's there and I do what I want again. 

Thank you

by Kirschka - 2020-05-18 22:17:48

Thank you for the reply. I really do need to be patient and trust all will be well.

Is tired normal?

by Debdeb - 2020-05-18 22:20:53

I am 63 years old and just had a pacemaker and /defib put in. Before I was short of breath but not feeling the pvcs etc. My question is it normal to feel tired after 12 days of having this i/ Im scared to death to do anything. 

Reply to Debdeb

by Kirschka - 2020-05-18 22:50:41

Hi Debdeb, I'm not sure, but I think you replied to my post. You might get more replies if you re-post in the general section. Good luck & I hope you feel better.

I ran at 2 weeks post.

by PacedNRunning - 2020-05-19 03:46:20

My doctor was like go run! Opposite yours. Lol. I wore a tight bra to keep it from bouncing. You can't huh? Hmmmm. It will definitely take time to get use to but it will be fine. I run 4 days a week. 6 weeks will come fast. 

You know you're wired when...

You forecast electrical storms better than the weather network.

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.