Pacemaker Thump After Adjustments

I had to go in to the Device Clinic 3 weeks ago to have some adjustments made to try to extend battery life due to some problems with a lead. The goal is to extend battery life a little longer and then do new pacemaker all at the same time. Since those adjustments were made, I'm feeling a thump from the pacemaker every evening about 8:30. I'm usually sitting on my back porch reading or watching Netflix at this time and since my house is so quiet and I'm being still, I can clearly feel it. It's like a little kick. It doesn't hurt, but I find myself waiting now for it to happen and it's irritating. I'm wondering if this is the diagnostic self-check the pm runs every 24 hours and that perhaps during the adjustments, the diagnostic check time got changed. Any ideas?

5 Comments

Thump

by barnet38 - 2021-07-13 23:57:02

Hi!  I recently experienced a similar issue... one of my leads was malfunctioning, but they were able to keep it working by switching the lead to unipolar mode and turning up the voltage.  I felt big thumps occasionally, and huge thumps during remote transmissions or in-office device checks.  My lead was extracted in December, a new His lead was placed, and I received a new generator.  I no longer feel the big thumps throughout the day or during device checks.  Hopefully your new lead and generator will solve your problem, too!  Until then, your device nurse may be able to turn down the voltage if you explain what is happening to you.  Good luck!

Thunp

by AgentX86 - 2021-07-13 23:59:21

It's hard to say for sure but it sounds like it's calibrating at that time.  If that's what's going on, it's checking your capture thresholds.  It's probably minimizing the capture margins to save power.  That's just my guess, though.

Thanks!

by Nbleisey@gmail.com - 2021-07-14 15:39:20

Thanks for the comments. It's always helpful to hear from others. I called the Heart Center and they are going to schedule me to come back in to be checked. They said it may be calibrating at that time, but they don't know what's going on without checking. The nurse who called me back said sometimes the doctor will decide to just turn that lead off since I'm not using it. That makes me a little nervous, but I'll see what they say when I go back in for a re-check. 

Thump again

by AgentX86 - 2021-07-14 16:46:34

Seeking the help of your device clinic to track this down is exactly the right thing to do.  The reason I thought it was a recalibration is that it happens at the same time every day.  You might want them to change it to another time where you won't notice it so much.  You might want this moved to middle of the night but it may interrupt sleep. 

Lead Adjustment

by Nbleisey@gmail.com - 2021-07-18 12:55:20

The Technician made some adjustments and turned down the voltage, which could possibly help minimize the thumps im feeling at 8:30 each night. I'm still feeling it, but possibly a little fainter. It does cause me to get anxious about that time in the evening so I try to be moving around, which further minimizes the feeling. Last night, I was bending over to pickup the cat's bowl just as it was apparently happening, and I felt the kick in my neck instead of at the pacemaker site. Oy vey! I guess I have to learn to live with it until it's time to get a new device.  Anyone else feel this or anything similar? 

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