Weird symptom....maybe....or not

Mentioned before

by Lavender - 2024-06-02 22:15:35

You mentioned this sensation before. I described too that I have felt that. Please copy and paste this link to our past discussion on this:

https://www.pacemakerclub.com/message/42035

By the way

by Lavender - 2024-06-02 22:16:36

I still feel this three years now since my pacemaker insertion, but much less often and not nearly as strong a vibration. 

I know the sensation well

by Gemita - 2024-06-03 03:12:57

Skigrl, a few possibilities:

As mentioned by Lavender, Unipolar pacing can be a cause for muscle twitching/pulsations.  Are you pacing bipolar or unipolar or do you perhaps have any adaptive setting on your pacemaker turned on for lead polarity, since switching from bipolar to unipolar mode, or pacing in unipolar mode can be a most definite trigger for the vibration you are experiencing.  

Another possibility is a damaged, perhaps a fractured, failing lead?  This as other members have confirmed, may cause muscle twitching.  A lead can get damaged at any stage in its life.  Muscle twitching may also be a sign of battery problems too.

Injury to nerves, for example Phrenic nerve injury or injury to blood vessels/arteries may trigger vibratory symptoms as you describe.  These usually occur following implant, but can last for long periods intermittently, long after the trauma to nerves, blood vessels, as I well know.

Finally, your vibrations may not be related to your pacemaker at all.  I experienced diaphramatic pulsations before and after my pacemaker implant.  It can have many causes from gastric (stomach, a hiatal hernia), to phrenic nerve/cervical nerve root problems.  I even feel vibrations/pulsations in my stomach/diaphragm area during an arrhythmia like AFib and many other members feel their pulsations in unusual positions too.

You could be getting Hypnic jerks/sleep twitches too sometimes.  Hypnic jerks aren't a serious disorder, they're simply a natural contraction in the body that can happen to anyone.  I certainly continue to get these occasionally, just as I am dropping off to sleep.  

If these symptoms continue, I would firstly make sure that you are pacing Bipolar or have them look at your leads for a possible problem, then think about other potential problems afterwards, but perhaps this will settle without any intervention?  How are you feeling otherwise?  If you have difficult symptoms I would seek medical advice earlier than your planned visit

Strange happenings

by piglet22 - 2024-06-03 06:30:28

Like Gemita, I occasionally experience these jerks/jolts as you transition from awakeness to sleep.

These are single events and could not be described as vibrations.

Yesterday, I stood on a bridge watching a swan drifting along with the current.

I could see it slowly nod off then awake with a start. It kept repeating it. 

I find it strange that you can go from one state to another without noticing then enter the world of dreams.

The scariest is the sleep paralysis phase that thankfully is rare.

Device mode switching can definitely be triggered by battery depletion and lead to muscle twitching, but I wouldn't describe it as a vibration.

It's immediately obvious what it is when your left pectoral and arm muscles twitch at 60 beats a minute.

And don't believe the experts who say it can't happen. When I was admitted with those symptoms, the paramedic said that the current/voltage output of a pacemaker couldn't do it.

The EP technician called in confirmed a mode change and the device was changed a few hours later.

This doesn't answer your question but food for thought?

Hypnagogic jerk

by Selwyn - 2024-06-03 17:11:48

See 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypnic_jerk

for causes and differential diagnosis.

These are normal experiences. I was told that they are due to the brain going to sleep in an out of synch. way. Normally we loose self awareness before muscle relaxation. In hypnagogic jerk we loose muscle relaxation before self awareness - this then awakes us up with a startle reflex.

Weird symptom

by skigrl3 - 2024-06-03 22:36:01

Thank you all for your responses. I am typically very healthy and athletic and not having any other unusual symptoms. This was a vibration feeling that seemed to go on forever (in reality it probably was seconds). I did have a jolt one time a while back but it was a definite instantaneous jolt and not this feeling.

Gemita, to answer your question, I have bipolar pacing. I am not as well versed (yet but trying to learn!) as so many of you are on the electrophysiology of it all.

My battery is around 86% on my recent report and the leads were found intact on the date of the last transmission on 5/26.

I am glad I have a couple of weeks until my cardiology appointment so I can see if it happens again and will also relay what happened so it is on my medical record.

Also indeed, as you all mention, it may be unrelated to my pm. I did serious power walking earlier in the day, around 10 -12 miles and I do have restless leg syndrome, so who knows! 

Weird vibration

by skigrl3 - 2024-06-22 11:39:47

So, I went for my pm checkup and told the NP about this vibration that woke me up. She said it was likely a nightly reset of the pm, and that "Biotronik is famous for their resets". She said most people sleep through it and although it feels like the vibrating feeling was going for a minute or 2, it was in reality a couple of seconds. This was around 3am and she said thats the time frame to expect...this happened about 4 werks ago and have not felt it since, so in lieu of no other findings with my pm checkup with the pm tech I guess thats that!