METRONIC PACEMAKER

IT'S BEEN QUITE AWHILE SINCE I HAD A PROBLEM.  I HAD MY PACEMAKER INSERTED 12/2018. IT TOOK ABOUT A YEAR TO 5/2019 WHEN MY SURGEON. CORRECTED MY MEDICATION AND TWEEKED MY PACEMAKER TO A LOWER PULSE.  I THINK I'M SET AT 80.

I WENT TO CA. FOR A YEAR AND GOT A CARDIOLOGIST OUT THERE AND IN DEC. OF 2019 I HAD AN EKG AND ECHOGROM ALL OKAY.  I RETURNED BACK TO NH IN JUNE. WHEN I GOT ON THE SCALE I'M UP ABOUT 12LBS,SWELLING OF STOMACH HAS BEEN MY CONCERN (GROTESQUE)  BLOOD PRESSURE OKAY, PULSE WENT ONCE IN CA. TO 103 BUT CAME DOWN AND DIDN'T WORRY.  SINCE AUGUST 12TH PULSE WENT TO 105 SHOULD HAVE GONE TO HOSP. BUT WAITED IT OUT (STUPID, I KNOW)  I HAD SET UP AN APPOINTMENT FOR 9/9 WITH THE SURGEON WHO HAS TREATED ME SINCE HE PUT IN PACEMAKER.  I LOOKED UP HEART FAILURE AND HAVE ALL THE SYMPTOMS,  MY QUESTION IS, HAVE ANY OF YOU HAD THIS HAPPEN.  I THOUGHT THE PACEMAKER TOOK CARE OF EVERYTHING.  WONDERING IF I MAY HAVE A BLOCKED VALVE.

I'LL GET BACK AFTER MY VISIT AND LET YOU KNOW WHAT MY SURGEON SAYS AND THEN I SEE MY NEW CARDIOLOGIST ON 9/15 AND HE IS TO SET UP AN ECHO AND EKG. FOR ME.

CONCERNED, THANK YOU, BOOTS.

 

1 Comments

I see you have had a failed AV Node ablation ?

by Gemita - 2020-08-31 17:38:04

Hello Boots,

I can understand your concern but please try not to imagine the worst has happened.  Do you know if you have a single lead Medtronic pacemaker ?  Was another AV Node ablation ever attempted ?

The best you can do is try to stay calm.  You will be seeing your surgeon and cardiologist soon and getting some investigations done and then we will all have a better idea of what you might be facing. I am sure it won't be as bad as you fear.  If you are still getting arrhythmias or high heart rates, they can cause problems and the meds you are on may add to your difficulties.  Some meds actually cause fluid retention and weight gain.  I recall my husband had fluid retention on calcium channel blocker Amlodipine, for instance, so please don't assume you are in heart failure like we foolishly did !

With regard to your pacemaker, while it will prevent your heart rate from dropping below a set minimum, it cannot treat an arrhythmia or prevent high heart rates from occurring.  You need to discuss further treatment with your doctors, since I am uncertain whether your AV Node was actually ablated or whether this procedure needs to be repeated?  Very unusual to hear of a failed AV Node ablation but it does happen. And by the way Boots, although your pacemaker can prevent your heart rate from falling, the pacemaker has absolutely no control over falls in blood pressure, which can cause many difficult symptoms, so there are a few matters you will need to discuss with your doctors.

I wish you well very soon. 

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I am 100% pacemaker dependant and have been all my life. I try not to think about how a little metal box keeps me alive - it would drive me crazy. So I lead a very active life.