Pacemaker Club: What pacemaker, is it still there?

What pacemaker, is it still there?

by BionicBry
2020-09-18 12:42:07
General Posting
764 views
2 comments

I wonder if my comment here might be a hopeful thing for some in their early pm days.
   I reckon it took around two years for my heart to become happy with my twin lead St Jude pm for complete heart block.
   And now, two and a half years on, I'm not even aware I have a pacemaker, or even a heart. I'm almost a normal old man, whatever that is!

2 Comments

Yes it is still there and keeping us safe

by Gemita - 2020-09-18 14:30:13

Hello Bionicbry,

Yes it is wonderful when we can forget all about our pacemaker, when it becomes a part of us. I have a Medtronic dual lead pacemaker.

I am two year + on from my pacemaker implant for Sick Sinus and tachy/brady syndrome. To be honest, my heart was falling asleep most of the time with very slow heart rates prior to implant, only waking up when tachycardia showed up and this probably only happened to keep things moving (!) I felt cold, miserable and just wanted to wrap up and go to sleep.

My husband says the same thing about his pacemaker: he is not aware it is there or that he even has a heart. I keep telling him he most definitely doesn't have the latter at times which he reminds me of frequently when I need his support(!)

It takes time to come to terms with our new device, to get the settings right and to move on with our life. I hope you continue to do well Bionicbry and the newcomers to this site are reassured and encouraged by your kind comments.

From another "almost a normal (dirty) old man"

by AgentX86 - 2020-09-18 18:18:14

I hear ya, Bionibry. It didn't take me two years to come to that realization, rather about two minutes. Immediately after the surgery It felt like I was hyped on amphetamines and I could sleep again! That settled down but other than a few weeks of bigeminal PVCs, I felt realy good. After two years, I feel great. Probably better than I ever have.

I also have a two-lead Medtronic but a little different in that they're both in my ventricles. My atria are completely out of the circuit but I still feel great and distance walk every morning (Sally didn't cooperate yesterday).