wireless/leadless pacemakers

Leadless pacemakers

by Gemita - 2023-01-22 09:07:53

Gail, would you care to tell us why you are asking, whether you have a leadless pacemaker, or will be having a leadless pacemaker implanted soon?

I know of several members of the Pacemaker Club with leadless pacemakers but the majority of us here have conventional pacemakers with leads.  I have a dual chamber Medtronic pacemaker with leads (since 2018).  

Look forward to hearing from you

Leadless pacemakers

by Selwyn - 2023-01-22 18:21:23

Can  I suggest rather than ask, "How many?", you ask the seach facility in the upper right corner, and ask, " Leadless". 

In this way you can have a quality look at what ever people have previously contributed.

Clearly, leadless pacemaker recipients are a minority group. Any figures you obtain from such a question of "How many?" is meaningless given the worlds total numbers. 

Leadless pacemakers

by Gail123 - 2023-01-22 21:21:31

The reason I asked is because I had a leadless Medtronic model MC1VRO1US implanted on June 14, 2022, and I want to talk to others like me to discuss our experiences.  I am very disappointed because I don't feel any different!  In fact, I am tired all the time.  Everyone I talked to who have the conventonal kind with one or two leads say that they immediately felt better and full of energy!  

It brought my heart rate up from the usual 40 BPM to 60 BPM, so I guess it is working.  It hasn't been tuned up yet.  Will that make a difference?  I sure hope so.

The reason I went leadless is because I am a retired professional SCUBA diver, and I would like to occasionally be able to dive for sport.

P.S.  I would like to correspond with other divers.  Especially ones that dive with pacemakers.  Especially, especially ones that dive with pacemakers like mine.

Gail123

Hopefully it will get better

by Gemita - 2023-01-23 01:28:28

https://www.pacemakerclub.com/message/31922/scuba-diving-with-micra-tps-medtronics

https://www.pacemakerclub.com/message/36377/scuba-diving

https://pacemakerclub.com/message/34922/micra-placement

Gail, thank you for the information.  That really helps.  I found the above links (to open, please copy and paste into your main browser) by searching the general web although there should be several posts on scuba diving with a pacemaker by searching with our Club's general "Q" search facility also.  

I believe it is important to contact your pacemaker manufacturer to obtain the safe diving "depth" for your particular pacemaker.  Many members are still diving, although it will depend on our heart condition and on the reason why we needed a pacemaker, particularly if we have an ICD.  Clearly no one would want to risk having an event like a fast arrhythmia while diving and finding themselves in trouble, so we should really speak to our doctors for advice too.

I hope you have found some Micra members to private message by searching leadless pacemaker under "Q", top right, as Selwyn suggested.  It will take time for the leadless pacemaker to be optimised for you and it would be the same for us too, but certainly let your doctors know that you are not yet feeling better.  Being tired all the time is very common even in those without pacemakers, so a few general checks at this stage would be helpful

Welcome

by Penguin - 2023-01-23 06:10:07

Hi Gail and Welcome! 

What a valuable new member you will be with a leadless device!  As Gemita says, you are probably in the minority, but it's great to hear from someone with experience of this new type of device as this seems to be technology that manufacturers are investing in and I, for one, will value your contribution.

I assume you made this post because you need to know if any members have relevant experience to share?  It must be pretty difficult to find peer support at the moment with the technology being reasonably new and that;s a great reason to join a forum with an international reach and membership.Let's hope that we can learn from each other. I for one would very much like to hear about your experiences with leadless devices. 

In terms of joining this forum, it's helpful to fill in your bio - although not compulsory and it's your call as to how much info you choose to disclose.   A lot of people who regularly answer posts use the bio for reference and based on the information you choose to supply,  they spend time researching and then posting helpful information for you.  

Having said that, posting on forums is a double edged sword - how much personal info do you want to provide vs how much directly relevant information you want to receive?  I understand that dilemma completely! 

Re: Yr Q's - I'd certainly want to know why you still have symptoms of low energy if the device was implanted in June 2022.  Surely you must have seen somebody about settings and to review how you feel by now?  

Let us know more - if you want to - and hopefully we can make suggestions as to Qs to ask your doctors. It can be really daunting to start with and most of us expect the device to 'perform'.  In truth they're complex bits of kit, but not as intuitive as humans. They need to be programmed and told what you need from them. Feedback from you to your tech team is vital. Never be afraid to speak up . 

SCUBA and pacemakers.

by Selwyn - 2023-01-26 11:07:47

Thank you Gail123 for the information. What a great idea for SCUBA divers. Personally, I had to give up SCUBA diving once my PM was inserted. I think at the time there were no leadless PMs available. Also, I was having paroxymal atrial tachycardias and didn't fancy this underwater. I do miss SCUBA.

The manufacturers of PM all seem to have different bottom limits for their hardware. I also took this into account and  decided not to risk it with a PM box, at all. We frequently dived below 20m. I still snorkel though have found diving ( whilst holding one's breath) really difficult - I think it decreases cardiac output by restricting venous return due to the chest pressure. 

There seems to be a tendency to treat all PM recipients as being 'couch potatoes'. I would certainly want my techs. to understand the lifestyle demands that are needed. Hopefully, your fine tuning will help your tiredness.  If not, if may be worth consulting a medic. as tiredness can be multifactorial. 

It would be wonderful to  continue to dive. I hope your dive insurance/holiday  will cover this.

Settings

by Finn - 2023-01-29 23:49:27

My Pm is set at 70bpm.

leadless has nothing to do with the settings. Maybe 60 is too low for you if you are an active person.

leadless pacemakers

by Gail123 - 2023-02-01 01:45:58

I am not an active person the way I am now.  But I used to be, and I am praying that when I get my first tune up from my electrocardiologist on March 1st I will have the energy and desire to exercise.  I will take Finn's suggestion and ask him to set it at 70 bpm.

In some respects my Medtronic leadless pacemaker is safer than the standard underneath the skin box type.  But what good is that if it doesn't do the job that all pacemakers are designed to do?

I am worried that I may run out of battery way too soon, because my implant is working 90% of the time.  It is less than a year old (June 2022) and it only has 8 years of battery life left! It is suppose to last 12-15 years.  

In other respects my Medtronic leadless pacemaker is less safe than the regular one or two lead type.  When mine runs out of battery, they will leave it in and put in another leadless pacemaker because it's too dangerous to try to remove it, as it is embedded in the right ventricle with hooks.  I would think that, although it is tiny, that would restrict the volume of blood flow in the ventricle part of the heart?

After my visit to the electrocardiologist I will update everybody.