Pacemaker

Every day I experience my heart beating really hard for a minute.  I know exactly the time it will happen as it is always 23 hours and 59 minutes after last one. I find it quite uncomfortable and need to cough during episode.  This has been going on for at least 3 months but could be longer as gets earlier by a minute each night.  It is currently at 22.10.  I don't want to feel a nuisance ringing the hospital. Should I be concerned?


6 Comments

No you aren't a nuisance

by doublehorn48 - 2023-01-22 10:10:48

If it were me I would ask my cardiologist or the hospital what was causing this problem. You have a legitimate question. Someone may post and give you an answer, but if not, make the call.

heart beating

by new to pace.... - 2023-01-22 10:29:08

if you have the nightly remote transmission could be that.  although i do not feel when my pacemaker is transmitting.

new to pace

Auto-check

by Daedalus - 2023-01-22 11:14:18


Same thing for me.  My pulse goes from 60 to mid 70's for about 30-40 seconds, then right back to 60.  Was suggested (thanks to Agentx86) that it's the pacemaker auto-check which, I believe, can be disabled if you wish.  At my next appointment I'll ask if it is needed and if not, might have it turned off.  Or not.   

Self test

by Janey1* - 2023-01-22 14:12:58

No audible sound. Your heart just beats really hard not quick for a minute. Feels very uncomfortable.

Janey

by Persephone - 2023-01-22 15:56:46

There is little doubt that this is a PM self-check. It could be related to some other factor such as when / what food you ate, but the periodicity of it is pretty definitive. I don't know that there is any protocol that device manufacturers follow in establishing the time - mine is around midnight except during daylight savings time changes when it will switch one hour earlier or later. There is also some variance in the exact time, which to me seems not unreasonable since there is no need for exactness.

It sounds like you may be dreading the feeling as you anticipate it, so do consider speaking with your medical team about having the timing adjusted. Back in my early days post-implant, I had a worry of "what now" but I stopped noticing the self check much as time went on, if at all.

Self check for sure

by Diamond Jules - 2023-03-07 06:37:15

Hi, I too was experiencing this when I had my new battery implanted (I did have a Medtronic and now Biotronik), it was getting very slightly earlier each day. If I was asleep it didn't wake me up. Then clocks changed and it was late evening so I was always awake 🥴. But for me it is a self test of my pacemaker. But then strangely it stopped 🧐 so after a while I phoned up my clinic and they said that around the same time I stopped being aware of it they also stopped receiving my nightly report from my bedside monitor?? No one including Biotronik could explain this. I tried several more monitors and eventually found one that worked and on that same night I started feeling the checks again 😄 all a bit of a mystery though. Also oddly I was told the initial report had still received daily info but then on closer inspection it contradicted itself!! So question everything for sure...

You know you're wired when...

You always have something close to your heart.

Member Quotes

As for my pacemaker (almost 7 years old) I like to think of it in the terms of the old Timex commercial - takes a licking and keeps on ticking.