high school auto shop instructor

Just got my pacemaker Oct.16,2007 feel better but do not know the limit of what i can safety do without hurting myself.Very tired at the in of a days work.Is anyone working in the automotive field an what have they experience.

4 Comments

Running engines

by stillshocked - 2007-12-06 07:12:25

I was told when I was implanted in 03 that I should not be close to a running engine. They have an electrmagnetic field and this can cause problems with the p.m. You may want to discuss this with the Pacemaker manufacturer. I have called St. Jude several times to ask them about situations and they always have a great answer for me.

Best of luck
Stillshocked

Tired

by ElectricFrank - 2007-12-06 09:12:57

While they list a bunch of things to avoid with a pacer, I have yet to find anything that interferes with it. The only thing I would be concerned about around engines would be getting a shock from a defective spark plug lead, but with newer engines this isn't very likely.
The newer pacers are a lot less susceptible to magnetic fields than the older ones.
As for being tired, remember that you have a pacer because of a heart conduction problem of some sort and the pacer doesn't fix it. It just works around it. The other issue could be the adjustment of the pacer. It too me nearly a year to get mine set right and that was because I am an electronic engineer and was able to build an ECG that let me monitor its operation. There is a tendency for the cardiologist to chose settings more from a CYA perspective than from you needs. Two of the most important things for me was getting the pacing voltage set to a reasonable level and to have rate response turned off. High pacing voltages irritate the heart. Rate response doesn't allow our natural sinus pacing to occur. Instead it ties to determine a proper HR by monitoring our movement. Early on if I drove on a rough road with my 4wd it would run my HR way up even though I wasn't doing anything that required it. That can be fatiguing.

good luck,
frank

give it some time.

by bowlrbob - 2007-12-07 02:12:31

Same thing happened to me as frank said it is early in your treatment you may need some adjustments. Be sure and tell your Dr. and tech how you are feeling. If you don't say anything they will think everything is fine. It took a year till they got mine set right then it took another 6 months or so to catch up. That is to have my system heal. This whole thing takes a toll on your body and it happens over a long time. So it takes time to catch back up. I am now at 2 years and 2 months and feel almost as good as i ever have. I believe you will too given time. Bowlrbob

Auto hazards ?????

by bikemad - 2008-01-27 06:01:12

Hi,
Its 18 months since i was implanted. I too work daily on cars and bikes, electronics also. Even MIG welding soon after implant.
Caution was the key word, anytime i thought things could affect my pacemaker i would try it out at a distance ( arms length) and slowly work closer to the hazard.

Medtronic Adapta type ( mine) showed no effect at all, from any auto ignition, even cranked my welder up to 220amps and welded within 12 inches of my PM, and still no effects.
A couple of days later i had a check-up, said nothing to my doctor that i had been trying to upset my PM.
I waited until he had done all the tests and given me the ok, then told him what i had been doing!!!.
He was very surprised saying " usually high magnetic field appliances like welders show up as noise! on screen" sometimes even make it impossible to read the PM info.
But he continued " If you had not told me what you have been doing, i would have never known!".
Medtronics must have screened their PMs pretty well i guess.
As for getting tired, i find myself having days like i'm wearing lead boots!, for no real reason. But hell, i'm still here, and thats gotta be good..

You know you're wired when...

Your pacemaker receives radio frequencies.

Member Quotes

I'm running in the Chicago marathon.