Biotronik Edora 8 DR-T - three weeks in - questions.

I had my Biotronik Edora 8 DR-T wound check last week - everything is looking good.  My next appoinment is 3 months away.  I guess to allow me to get use to the PM and then perhaps let them collect some performance data from the PM (?).  As I mentioned in a previous post this PM has been a real game changer for me!  My cancer treatment meds pushed me into the bradycardia range and CI was running and ruining my life!  So, now I am becoming more critical of the settings (like many of you!) in the early phases here.  An example is, standing up in my home office from a seated position, walking about 20 feet to a staircase and then up 2 flights of stairs.  I am not exhausted when I get to the top but I have some of the same feelings I had pre-PM when my heart was not meeting the demand.  I also get that feeling when I have been kneeling down then I stand up -- a little dizzy at times.  Otherwise, when walking and cycling it is pretty good!   So my question is does my PM need an adjustment to be more responsive?  Feels like the accelerometers are doing their thing but maybe a little late.  And, do you think I really need to wait 3 months for that type of adjustment or should I call in and ask for them to look at it?  Thanks for the help!

2 Comments

Nice to hear from you again

by Gemita - 2023-07-02 14:03:34

XCanuck57, you sound in good shape during walking and cycling, so that is a very good start.  Yes they usually like to wait until 3 months to see how our hearts are performing with the settings they have given us before they change anything.   My heart for example needed up to three months to heal I recall.   It was throwing arrhythmias at me initially and I was getting some very high heart rates.  I didn’t like being paced at all and I can remember asking for advice here about my tachycardia.  

At three months and after studying our downloads and listening to your symptoms, they will be able to see more clearly what might need adjusting.  In other words your heart and your pacemaker will be fully tested by that time.  They usually set our lead settings slightly higher at implant so that capture will be secure until the lead tip is well embedded into our hearts, so at three months this will need lowering in any event.

In view of your cancer treatments, if you are very symptomatic, there is absolutely no harm in letting your team know to see if anything could be done earlier?   I think you deserve all the support you can get to keep your strength up.  However I had the symptoms you describe while my heart was healing and I can remember I was fighting for breath at times going upstairs and coming over dizzy on bending and I wondered why. It was caused by my arrhythmias which were very active during the healing period but by three months my symptoms had settled and very little needed changing during my three monthly clinic appointment.  I hope it will be the same for you too

Thanks for the info!

by xcanuck57 - 2023-07-03 15:13:14

I did reach out to the EP team.  I figure if I can identify a couple of situations where the PM is not responding quickly enough (my interpretation) - why wait 3 months to get it adjusted?   It has all been very good just a few things to make it that much better. Thanks for the insights.

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