Cold weather

Cold weather won't affect your pacemaker but it could affect you!

by Gemita - 2024-03-02 09:12:03

Bernardino, I hope you are not having difficult symptoms?

While cold weather should not affect your pacemaker, it can affect the patient, the patient's heart condition, heart rate, heart rhythm and then sometimes your requirements for more (or less) medication.  Changes in medication could then affect your pacing requirements or cause pacing disturbances.

Any extremes in temperature can adversely affect our health.  Being cold affects our body's ability to fight off infection.  When we get cold our blood also gets thicker which can cause clotting, which is why we see more strokes and heart attacks during cold weather.

Keep moving, stay warm and well hydrated, and if you happen to live in the UK, please try to stay dry!

Seasons

by Lavender - 2024-03-02 09:41:54

I see that you live in Jerusalem where winter is almost past. Warm weather will be headed your way. Your pacemaker will function as it is programmed. Some here have said they have to cover up more or they feel cold where their device is.  I have never noticed that.
 

Our country is headed to spring in a couple of weeks. Honestly, hot weather bothers me much more. 

Very cold

by piglet22 - 2024-03-03 05:54:56

I wouldn't entirely dismiss the effects of extreme cold on any electronic device powered by batteries.

Battery voltage is temperature dependent, decreasing as temperature drops.

If you were in  hypothetical situation, say caught out in something like minus 20 Celsius, your body temperature might drop enough to take the PM voltage down to an unstable level, especially if it was already low at end of life 

Highly unlikely to happen.given where the PM is.

Cold

by UkeGirl - 2024-03-04 16:03:03

I have a Biotronik Edora 8 DR-T pacemaker and in the first few months after it was implanted,  the area around it would ache if I got cold either outside or in a very cold room.  When I warmed up again, the aching would stop. So while the pacemaker seemed to be working as expected, I tried to avoid getting too cold. I've had my pacemaker for eight month and the aching has subsided.