Some discomfort

Discomfort

by AgentX86 - 2023-06-13 16:25:32

It can take a while for the last vestigases of the surgery to dissipate competely.  Nerves have been cut and it takes a while for them to reconnect to the brain.  Mine was sensitive to the touch for seven months.  The reason I say seven is that one day I  thought "Hmm, I don't feel that anymore".  I didn't remember when it stopped because I didn't think about my pacemaker anymore.

You may "feel" it forever because it is a lump in your chest but any pain or itching (a sure sign of nerves stitching together) should be gone soon.

Hi💕🌸

by Lavender - 2023-06-13 19:00:30

Like Agent said, my experience was at seven months post surgery-I suddenly realized I felt pretty much ok! I had some left arm soreness and massage helped that. It's fine now. I'm two years in and I am too busy living life to dwell on the pacemaker much. The only time I notice it is when lying down to sleep. I finally can lie on either side, but I always put a small pillow over the pacemaker and lean into it because I don't like the sensation of the pacemaker kinda tipping forward on one end.  No pain. Just don't want to bump it. 
 

You are doing well. It will improve and like I often say-how you feel today isn't how you're going to feel in the future. 

Took a while.

by PacedNRunning - 2023-06-14 04:29:06

Took a while for me also. 6 mos to fully heal. But a good year to have less soreness. I'm pretty active and sleeping hard on my PM side wokld leave me sore sometimes. Give it a year at least. 

Post op implant pain is common. More realistic advice and better pain management needs to be given

by Gemita - 2023-06-14 05:03:22

Hello Shop Girl, since we are all unique with very different health conditions and since we will all have a different implant experience depending on the expertise of the surgeon, we can expect healing times to vary quite a lot.  We did a survey on post op device pain and managed to get this published, and I attach a link in case it is of interest.  You will need to copy and paste the link into your main browser to open.

The take home message that a pacemaker implant is a simple procedure can be misleading and not always the case for some of us, since some patients are not fine after a day or always back at work after a week and more realistic information and better pain control might be needed.

My personal experience was that I needed neuropathic pain medication for several months following my implant since I experienced intermittent electric shock like sensations in the chest, going into my upper back which were uncomfortable.  I also experienced vein trauma where the leads were placed, which caused pain across my collarbone.  Actually trauma/obstruction of a vein following pacemaker lead placement is not all that rare nowadays and is a known complication and this may cause a lot of discomfort.  Many of us are fortunate enough to develop good collateral vein circulation around any trauma/partial obstruction to help bypass the area.  I did and have a network of large purple veins around my device which is nature's way of helping. I am now free from pain.

There is a lot that could go wrong with any surgery/procedure, but of course the majority of us thankfully have straightforward implant procedures.  I was relatively pain free at around 8 months, although at 5 years, I am still reminded occasionally that I have a pacemaker.

I hope your forthcoming check up will go well and that you will soon be discomfort free.

https://bjcardio.co.uk/2022/07/pain-after-pacemaker-icd-implants/

Thank You!

by Shop Girl - 2023-06-14 10:02:36

Thank you everyone! I posted a response yesterday but it looks like it went into cyber space! :) I appreciate all the feedback. It's been a bit unnerving because I usually heal so quickly without discomfort. Glad to hear this is all normal. I also agree there is not much literature for expectations or consistency out there. Even at pre and post op while at the hospital, I was getting different answers from different people about what to expect... the drs, nurses, Medtronic tech.  I was given written post op insructions that seemed too carefree. When I questioned it at my post op appt, I was told, I still needed to be careful for a few more weeks so as not to pull the leads out. It was a very reputable hospital. I tend to fly solo and this is a great reminder for me to not sit in silence - rather reach out because this is a great community with so many resources. Many thanks!! 

November 2022 Post Dual Chamber implant

by JrScorpio - 2023-06-25 06:39:33

I thought I was the only one who had discomfort from the pacemaker.  I was trying to avoid getting one but didn't make it thru to finish the preop for another procedure.  I had no cardiac history until suddenly August this year will be 3yrs.  I went into complete heart block and CHF with no known cause of why to date.  I continued having multiple issues from then on to the point of collapsing last November on my death bed.  They placed a dual chamber Medtronic and wow that was an experience I wouldn't want to do again.  I got very sick afterwards and they thought I may be rejecting the foreign object but I went on antibiotics for some time and the issues resolved.  My scar has healed fine but it still does have what I would say the mad itch and when I lie on my side at night I have to be careful or it will push up on my collarbone or is I move my are the wrong way it will do it.  When I talk about the itch everyone just looks at me with the deer in the headlights like I don't know what I'm talking about.  I worked in a hospital for 25 years so I'm not dumb to medical stuff.  I've even mentioned it to my wife who is a cardiac icu nurse and she has no idea.  So I feel much better knowing I'm not the only one.