New member

Another "newbie" here....

by Andiek11 - 2024-06-25 10:12:53

I'm about 8 weeks out from having mine placed, and as part of healing process feeling occasional twings and "pulls" of tissue aren't uncommon - assuming you aren't overdoing it physically.  (I'll assume they've give you the long list of arm restrictions that everyone gets after initial placement.)  Others with much more experience than I will chime in, I'm sure, but neither your nerves nor your physical sensations are straange or uncommon.  Hang in there!!  

Eight weeks

by piglet22 - 2024-06-25 11:01:37

Still early days.

If you ever get the chance to see an implantation in the flesh as it were, you'll be surprised just how far that small incision can stretch.

It's going to take a while for things to settle down, but you are now part of an elite band.

Just a nudge, but it does help if you fill out your biography a bit more and possibly your diagnosed condition. Manufacturer, model and set up (DDDR) etc., all helps

Brady tachy? Bradycardia maybe. Whatever you have,you won't be alone.

Home monitor? If you see them face to face, usual questions might be battery life in years, percentage pacing, any other recorded events like AF or PVCs.

Pulling, Twinges & Nervousness

by Penguin - 2024-06-25 18:51:13

Feelings of pulling and twinges are very common. Usually, it's the skin knitting together where your scar is forming.  

A sudden unexpected collapse and being 'blue lighted' to hospital as an emergency must have been a shock.  Most people here who got their pacemakers due to a collapse like yours feel disconcerted and a bit nervous after that experience.  It may take a while for you to realise that you're safe now and not in danger of further collapse. 

Pacemakers deal really well with bradycardia and speed your heart up to normal speeds. They're not always as efficient with the tachy (fast heart beat) element so you may still feel a racing heart at times. Supplemental drugs are often used to deal with tachycardia although pacemakers do have some features that can help. 

See how things go in the weeks leading up to your first assessment / appointment and ask about how the tachycardia will be managed if it feels troublesome when you see the pacing clinic. 

In the meantime be reassured that the feelings you have are entirely normal. 

Welcome to the Pacemaker Club! 

Edit: It would be helpful to know a little about your device - make / model and basic settings, alongside your diagnosis.  Members check your bio details before they reply to your posts because pacemakers vary in terms of what they can do for you, and we all have experience of different conditions / diagnoses.

It’s the Newbie Response Team

by PaceCahr - 2024-07-08 23:07:19

Freshly joined this literal club, joined the larger club mid-May. 

I, too, went from "Normal Friday Night" to "Hi - You need a Device implanted to go home from the hospital." 

I got yanked from the jaws of a VTACH episode (that I did not know was happening, I just felt like there was something going on that was bad, and call for an EMT) into the emergency department, then Defibbed out of it, and left the hospital 12 days later with an AICD. 

For my 6-weeks of "cannot use the arm" - I really kept it tied at the elbow so I couldn't raise it to shoulder height, and was very careful about weight.  At no time - did the incision ever make itself known. I had to touch it to have any kind of "hey - something happened here" during at least 4 weeks. then the steristrips started to try to come off, and every now and then they'd pull a little and I could tell they were still attached to something on the skin. It was mostly skin-level irritation at this point.  At Dr. appts, I did have several place the stethescope right on the edge of the incision, and that hurt. 

Once I was okay'd to use the arm and start returning to normal, THEN I started getting muscle twinges and skin surface grumbles from the incision. The incision skin healing, nerve regrowth was slow to start, probably because of the Prednisone they put me on to leave the hospital. I can honestly say - the incision itself has only ever shown up as a level1 pain for me.  The muscle cramps and spasms are a little more. I will get spasms in my left deltoid, and trapezius (heading up toward my head) when I have compressed the chest muscles on the left.  I expected MUCH worse, but my expectations were set from an operation I had in the 1980s which entailed very large incisions, drains, that seriously went through large abdominal muscles, and required a lot of healing and nerve regrowth. Compared to that - my AICD is like a small splinter. You know it's there, but barely feel anything unless something pushes on it. 

The twinges are there to help remind you to go easy while your body is re-knitting itself together. If there is no sign of infection or internal bleeding - it's fine. At my 6-week checkout, I asked how to tell, and the Dr. was "Oh YOU WILL  SEE IT!" there would be swelling and it would angry/puffy over the area.  

Good luck with the rehab, and take it easy on the arm. It might not be a large thing, but there is trauma there. Nerves have a tendency to jangle when they regrowing too. It might get weirdly more sensitive before it get less.