12 days post insertion

Maybe GERD, maybe not

by AgentX86 - 2020-06-03 21:24:29

Welcome to the group (two within hours - great!).

It's not uncommon to have PACs or PVCs after a pacemaker implant.  It sometimes takes a while for the heart to get used to being paced.  These arrhythmias are caused by the atria (PACs) or ventricles (PVCs) to beat before (premature atrial/ventricle contractions) they're supposed to, so they beat before they're completely full of blood.  What you're feeling as a skipped beat is really an early beat but it's not a full beat so the pressure of the beat doesn't make it to the radial (wrist) artery.  If you feel your pulse in your neck (carotid artery) or groin (femoral artery) you'll likely feel the weak beat.  These are much larger arteries and may have enough of the pressure wave to be felt.  Anyway, the beat isn't felt but it's there.  It still feels like crap - I know it well.

Your cardiologist/EP may not be able to tell you've had these.  They're so common, even in "healthy" people, that a pacemaker can't record all of them.  They'll only record a string of them (mine has a lower limit of five in a row).  If you're having a lot of them, you might be able to record them on the remote box (if you were given one) when it's happening.  This is what I had to do to track the source of the awful feeling down.  A Kardia Mobile can take an EKG, too, and you could email that to your doctors.  These are easily identified on an EKG but, obviusly, you have to be connected to an EKG machine when they're happening.

<https://www.alivecor.com/kardiamobile>  Funny thing, just as I was pasting this link into this reply, an advertisement for it was on the TeeVee.  ;-)

Your GERD may have something to do with this, too.  The esophogus runs right behind the heart, so GERD may irritate the heart, as well.  Your PM may be making this somewhat worse.  Talk to your doctors about this.  There should be something they can do to help.

Another possible cause

by LondonAndy - 2020-06-04 02:42:58

Your profile doesn't say why you got the device, and it is possible that the pacemaker is checking to see if your heart's natural pulse has returned.  I got my pacemaker after surgical complication when I had a mechanical Aortic valve fitted - they accidentally damaged the electrics of my heart, and I became 100% pacemaker dependent.

However, the heart can recover over the next few months after surgery, and my pacemaker was stopping its own triggering of beats to see if this had happened.  In my case it did not, and at the first year anniversary check they turned off the pausing.

Post surgery

by Salsa girl - 2020-06-19 14:45:39

I too am 10 days post surgery & am experiencing skipped beats, it does feel weird, mostly happens at night when I’m trying to get to sleep & worrying about the recovery.  From comments I have read this seems to be normal I will just take time for recovery.  One day I feel full of energy & the next feels like I can’t take a deep breath.

i have brachychardia/tachycardia.  Am taking Ziaralto for blood thinning,Bisoprolol for the Tachy & my normal blood pressure medication,