PACEMAKER IMPLANTED 2 WEEKD AGO

woke up and my heart felt like it was racing

by Persephone - 2022-09-26 09:48:26

Hi Aileen - Sounds like everybody including you got through the episode OK, so that's good news. Considering what you've been through, it would be normal to have hyper-awareness of your body and the changes it has to adjust to. Waking up to a racing heart can happen to anybody (releases of hormones from dreams, stress, digestion are some examples) but to me it seems that the most significant thing here is for you to have your wound and PM function checked - were you able to do that yet? 

Glad you're feeling well in general with the PM.

monitors

by Tracey_E - 2022-09-26 12:12:33

How fast is racing? Sometimes when we are newly paced, what feels like racing isn't particularly fast, it just feels fast to us. Sustained rate over 110 should be checked out asap. 

It's always better to call/be seen and it turns out to be nothing, than to ignore it and end up in an emergency situation. 

If you ever feel anything odd, you should be able to initiate a download then call your doctor's office to let them know to look for it. That can save a lot of trips into the office. 

You will need to get established with a cardiologist, sooner is better than later. Medtronic will need to know where to send your reports. If they saw you in the hospital, they should already have you on record.

If the main hospital is so far away, it's possible your doctor will have a satellite office closer so you don't have to travel to far for scheduled appointments. My doctor is an hour and a half away but once a month he's local so I rarely have to drive the longer distance. 

You live in a gorgeous area! 

Monitor

by Lavender - 2022-09-26 21:22:37

Your monitor is set to report on certain parameters set by the cardiologist or EP in charge of you. If you have any concerns call your cardiologist for answers. Hoping the car is soon serviced and you can get your post surgery check up. I only see the cardiologist every six months. My monitor does the inbetween pacemaker check. 

Home blood pressure meter?

by LondonAndy - 2022-09-27 14:45:32

Sorry to hear of the concern, especially so soon after implant when things are new and the pacemaker may need adjusting to suit you. Do you have a home blood pressure meter? They are quite reasonably priced, and you can take readings at the time of a different feeling, giving you facts to report to a doctor and hopefully often providing reassurance too, that things are in the normal range.

Personally I prefer the type that has a cuff for the upper arm, instead of those that fit on the wrist.

PACEMAKER IMPLANTED 2 WEEKD AGO

by aileenbear - 2022-10-01 04:26:53

Thanks to everyone who eplied to my first message. We are still working on getting the funds together to buy the alternator for my car. 

The racing heartbeat that I experienced woke me up from a deep sleep and only lasted a few seconds. I was able to go back to sleep almost immediately.

I do have a blood pressue monitor here and my hearreate has been a pretty consistent 80 to 90. A lot better than the 30 I was experiencing before!

I am going to check with the cardiologist and see if they come to kanab Utah once a month or so. A lot of specialists from St. George do that. 

Thanks for the reassuring advice and the caring suggestions. 

I found this site by accident and I am so glad that I did!. 

Again, thanks everyone!

racing heartbeat that I experienced woke me up from a deep sleep

by Persephone - 2022-10-01 13:38:56

Just to add one more comment - this could be the pacer's self-checks - if you use the search function at the top of the screen here, you'll find many comments on this subject. As the PM went through its self-checks at night, I could feel it intensely at first, then became used to it and don't notice much if at all anymore. They are scheduled, at least in an approximate time range, so you could ask for a different time if the one you are set to doesn't work for you.

call them whenever

by dwelch - 2022-10-14 03:18:59

I have at times lived that far or farther from the doc.  This was long before the take home boxes even the magnet ones.  But I get it...

You can certainly call anytime, I would not expect to necessarily talk to the doc but a nurse instead.  

In theory you can have the box send info whenever, now that may require you or them to do additional calls to someone as these boxes do not go straight to the doc they go to the box company and then to the doc from there (and is that filtered if you push the button every day or month instead of on schedule). 

At the same time if the box is doing daily or other regular monitoring of you it should decide to send a report/issue if it sees something abnormal.  so if this is pacer related they may already have seen it or if they do not have any additional reports that may indicate that it is not pacer related.

But at the end of the day it all starts with you calling them.  I dont feel good, here is how I feel.  Should I drive the 3 hours to come see you (which maybe I cant even do today or tomorrow) or should I push the button on the box.   Do you wait on the line or will you call me back later today when you get the results from the box, etc etc.

While a local ER may not have a pacer cardiologist they should have an EKG machine and other basic equipment (and should have a cardiologist in general or one they can call).  So if it gets bad enough, call 911 and let them deal with where to take you, which would likely be the local place first then they worry about getting you somewhere else, not your job.

Good luck, hope you feel better soon and it settles down.  But you should never hesitate to call the doctors office, they work for you, not the other way around, it is your feelings that matter not theirs, dont be afraid to bother them.