PACEMAKER CHECK

I had one recently too

by Gemita - 2023-03-11 17:16:16

Hello Athena, so lovely to hear from you.  Did you have any Settings changes by chance, yesterday?  Any Settings changes can certainly cause a few palpitations while our hearts are settling down.

As you know, we arrhythmia sufferers are prone to coming away from our check ups/consultations with a few extra palpitations.  I certainly did recently too.  My heart is so sensitive to the speeding up and then slowing down of my heart during my clinic checks and always responds by throwing a tantrum which can go on for several hours or even intermittently for a few days, although it should be used to this from my AF episodes.  For me it is the dropping of my heart rate that causes the most trouble, that awful sinking feeling that we sense as they drop our rate to find out how well our own heart is performing. 

Did they find anything that is worrying you by chance Athena, or did they report that all was well?  I don’t suppose the stresses at home are helping either, so I hope your palpitations settle quickly.  Don’t forget to drink plenty of water to prevent dehydration and try to get plenty of rest.  Are you on a beta blocker?  That will help calm your disturbances.  Hope everything settles quickly for you xx

Hi Athena

by Persephone - 2023-03-11 18:41:55

It's great to hear from you. Yes, I also get the unsettling fluttering feeling from the clinic tests. Hopefully you'll get to know the techs better and prepare yourself with a "script" to advise them about what you find troublesome so they can better accommodate you. At a minimum ask the overseeing doc to put a note in your chart about this issue.

Hello Gemita and Persephone

by athena123 - 2023-03-11 21:21:28

The cardiologist said that everything was fine. I am on just 25mg of metropopal and so far so good. I will be drinking plenty of fluids and electrolytes. Im working on my anxiety everday and trying to have a positive outlook. Thanks again for your kind advice.

Test Flutters

by Marybird - 2023-03-12 15:23:34

I've also felt the flutters when they have turned up the heart rate on the pacemaker during an in office device check, so I can sympathize with it throwing you off a little, Athena, if you are not expecting it. Though I'm always aware of it happening, I find the flutters so gentle that they don't bother me, and they don't last long because they only run the test for a few seconds.

But apparently the pacemaker itself may go through function checks periodically, involving tests that may drive up your heart rate for a few seconds, and you may feel those as flutters too. I don't know how often this occurs, or the intervals, as I tend to get flutters anyway due to occasional bursts of A-fib or other tachycardia, these occur randomly and feel similar to the test flutters. I didn't know about the this particular test and just assumed the flutter was me. I was informed about it during an in office pacemaker check, when I told the tech about the incident ( had happened in the early AM before this visit), she looked at the pacemaker data, and identified from the time  sequence that the flutters were from a pacemaker test. Though they didn't bother me ( I'm used to flutters), she turned off that setting, said I didn't need it.  One less source of flutters for me, I guess.

good to know

by athena123 - 2023-03-12 17:08:28

Im happy everything went well with you. Today im feeling much better with occasional anxiety but for the most part just happy to be around. best wishes.