Medtronic Pacemaker < 1 month

My 12 year old Medtronic PM has been draining three months of power every month. My last remote report said that I had less than one month of battery life. I realize there is a built in safety and that you have to wait for "ERI". How do you know when the generator is at ERI? Does it say that on your report when you do the remote check at home?  Instead of "3 months, or  4 years for example, it would say "ERI"?  I happen to be leaving for Europe in one month and this is concerning to me. Thank you . 

4 Comments

ERL

by Good Dog - 2023-08-23 16:52:38

Since you have not included your PM model/type in your bio, it makes it difficult to give you an accurate answer to your question. However, most Medtronic PM's change to a consistent 65 bpm when you reach elective replacement. They also will only pace the ventricle when you reach ERI. So your heart will be out-of-sync. You will likely feel it when that happens. I got shortness of breath, but it is not the same for everyone. Simply take your pulse on your carotid in you neck and when you find it to be a consistent 65 bpm, then you will know for sure. However, perhaps you should call your Doctors office and ask if they can schedule you in for a gene4rator change a little early since you have less than a month and you are leaving the U.S. They should be able to work with you under the circumstances.

BTW: I am also from the Akron area (Kent)

I wish you the best!

Sincerely,

Dave

Ouch!

by AgentX86 - 2023-08-23 17:58:14

I seems that you're caught between a rock and a hard place.  If you wait, you're risking going into ERI, possibly ruining your trip. If you do it now, you'l' me healing during your trip. Bad planning. 😃

IMO, you should be calling your cardiologist, like yesterday, to see what he can do. He might be able to push things so that it can be done ASAP so you have the maximum time to heal before you go. Or... He can assure you that you'll be fine because you have extended time on your PM before shutting down.  He's the one to make this call.  He can push insurance companies, if need be.

The report

by PacedNRunning - 2023-08-23 21:07:35

The report will say "Reached ERI on xXXXXX date". Maybe share your plans with your doctor. I had planned vacations and they worked around it to change out my device before ERI.

 

 

call your doctor

by Tracey_E - 2023-08-24 09:56:05

You need to have a chat with your doctor asap. I'd probably opt to try to get it done asap rather than stress over it. Theoretically ERI is 3 months, but you don't want to risk going into EOS, which is limiting if you pace a lot, while on vacation. 

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