Pacemaker firing

Hi, I had a dual pacemker implanted 2 months ago for sick sinus syndrome. The pacer is on demand and working less than 1% of the time. For the past three days the pacer is firing more often and I am feeling the pacing (very bothersome sensation). Is there anyone outthere with the same problem. My EP has not given me a straight answer. I want to know if this is something I have to live with or not.

3 Comments

Hi Beatingheart

by pacergirl - 2007-10-28 02:10:26

Well, there's the question.... How to get straight answers.... My only advise is to keep asking until your questions are answered.
I have a St. Jude dual Pacemaker and I got it in Feb. 05. At times I can feel it working in the wee hours of the morning when I wake up around 4 am. It is weird. It didn't hurt and I actually freaked out about at first. I will spare you the details. I have learned that I am stronger than I ever thought possible. I have learned to think of the workings of the pacer as the best thing that has ever happened to me. I am alive and relatively well with it. Without the pacer I would not be writing to you. I am now used to the pacer and it now seems normal for me. I have noticed, and my drs as well, that with each checkup I am pacing more and more. Which of course means my heart is growing more dependent on the pacer to tell it to beat. That was a problem for me at first. Now... I'm just glad that I have it. So my advise to you.... is: Keep asking questions, Read everything you can about pacemakers and keep reaching out to your friends here.

Best of luck to you,
Pacergirl

Pacer Firing

by Carol - 2007-10-28 03:10:00

Hi, I've had my dual chamber PM for just about a month, and I too was feeling an uncomfortable and unfamiliar sensation in my heart from time to time and found it very unsettling. I kept wondering if I too was feeling my pacer firing. I had an event monitor and when I used it, the Nurse and Doc really couldn't see anything wrong other than some PAC/PVC's. My EP suggested that I come in and have it checked out. In the pacer clinic the nurse initiated pacing and sure enough, that's EXACTLY what I was feeling. She adjusted some settings, even called the Medtronic rep regarding some things, and I must say it has improved. I need very little "juice" to initiate pacing, that's good, my battery should last a good long tie!
I still think I can feel "something" sometimes,but I'm trying to be more like Pacergirl and be thankful that the pacer is firing...it certainly wouldn't be if my heart wasn't slacking off....and the symptoms I felt before the PM were a lot more uncomfortable. trouble is, I'm still at the stage where I have to consciously keep reminding myself of this. So, the moral of this long story is maybe a "tune-up" is in order and might help things a bit. Good Health to you and all of us Pacers, Carol

Feeling You PM

by SMITTY - 2007-10-28 04:10:05

Hello Beatingheart,

"Is there anyone out there with the same problem?" Not now, but I have been there. "I want to know if this is something I have to live with or not." My answer to that is an unequivocal no! It is my contention that we should never feel our pacemaker doing what it was designed to do. (For you defib wearers, yes you will always feel yours, but that is the nature of that beast.)

I've had a dual lead, or a dual chamber as some call them, for almost eight years. I've had my problems with feeling my pacemaker - like getting the fool shocked out of me - and not being able to get answers from an EP with an ego that wouldn't fit under a No. 3 washtub. Not only would he not give answers he had the five or six nurses that did checkups in this clinic afraid (I'm assuming they actually knew) to answer any questions.

What I'm saying is what you have run into is, unfortunately, not unusual. The good part about our pacemakers is that most problems can be fixed with a little fine tuning of the PM settings.

For example we can feel our PM if:

1 - The power, or voltage, settings are too high.
2 - The delay between PM impulses may be too short or too long.
3 - The lower and upper heart rate limits may not be right for you.
4 - Rate Response, if activated, may need fine tuning.

Please understand I'm not saying any of these are your problem. Only someone with the required equipment can tell you that. But the list could go on and on. My estimation is that there are thousands of different settings we can have on our PM. I arrive at that estimate from looking a PM checkup printout and the number of settings they can change. So finding the correct one for a particular person can be difficult for the best doctors or technicians.

Add an obstinate doctor to the mix and sometimes we do have a problem getting what we need. The only solution I know of to that problem is keep calling and calling and calling that doctor or change doctors. You have had your PM for only two months, so if all else fails you might consider complaining about that EP to the administrator of the hospital where the PM was implanted. Sometime and I emphasize sometime that can move a doctor to do something.

I will add one more thing, be prepared to hear "the problem is not your pacemaker" until you want say something really ugly to the person saying that to you.

I wish you the best.

Smitty

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