Any immediate advice helpful...stomach muscle spasms when in lean forward?

For me its Ribcage pressure/Spasms

by seenu302 - 2021-05-23 23:39:20

I had my PM upgraded to ICD due to VTAC 2 months back.Sometimes when I get into a bending positions my ribcage gets spasmed.I was told these things are positional and moving to a different position usually clears it away. It was little scary though.

Nerve/muscle stimulation

by Gemita - 2021-05-24 04:08:43

Phrenic nerve and/or muscle stimulation is always a possibility and I wonder whether adjusting the electrics would help?   Please seek help/advice on this before discharge ASully.  Phrenic nerve/muscle stimulation can be posture-dependent, hence bending forward could trigger it.

I wonder whether your team can correct/help by electrical reprogrammimg of the ICD?  In the meantime, positional changes as seenu302 says is the quick solution.

I still get periods of diaghragmatic twitching/spasms in certain positions since pacemaker implant in 2018.  It can be unpleasant and feel like a heart beat in the diaphragm/stomach/epigastric area.  Quite weird

Muscle stimulation

by Julros - 2021-05-24 12:29:30

Your team should be able to make some adjustments to decrease the phrenic nerve/diaphragm stimulation that it sounds like you have. From what I have read, some newer leads are quadripolar, giving more options for settings. That being said, the output settings are higher initially due to normal tissue swelling, so you may have to tolerate some twitching for a few weeks. 

It is definitely the pacer pacing the muscles.

by asully - 2021-05-25 20:07:01

They let me have a shower today, first one in a week!  But all the extra movement triggered it even more to the point where just sitting in a chair my stomach and back were pulsing and I could barely talk, similar to having the hiccups the nurses claim someone from ep tomorrow will come by to turn the settings down, I hope that's enough to fix it!