Pacemakers & Young People

• by KristenB1226
• 2008-03-12 02:03:37
• General Posting
• 1394 views
• 1 comments

Hi All,

I am new to the site, and somewhat new to the pacemaker world. As some background for you guys, around 3 years ago now, at a general doc check-up, they were concerned after an x-ray that my heart looked enlarged, and that my pulse, laying on the table was nearly 130. I was rushed to the cardiology unit, and had a huge battery of tests done to see if they could figure out the cause for my pulse (my heart was found in an echo to not be enlarged, thankfully!). On beta blockers, they could really only lower my resting pulse to around 90BPM, which was not enough for them. I also had an extremely bad tolerance of the beta blockers - they are bad drugs!

So at this point, my cardiologist recommended me to an EP. I had my first ablation done, trying to get my sinus node to not fire quite so fast, but not enough that I needed a pacemaker. After a 12 hour procedure, my pulse in the recovery room went from around 75 to 90, and within a week it was right back where we started. I agreed to a second, aggressive ablation. My pulse was 55-60 when I was done, and stayed down there!

However, my heart was in such a state of shock, it started pausing. Ironically I went from a pulse of 120ish to a resting pulse of 50ish, with several second pauses.

I had a single lead St. Jude Zephyr put in on July 5, 2007, and was 26.

Unfortunately, I have been having some new feelings. After a holter last week, I found out that my heart is pausing again, I am having extra beats, and my heart is also going into a junctional rhythm that is over powering my pacemaker. My pacemaker is doing its job - my heart is just winning the battle right now. I am pretty bummed, and ready for a break.

I am new in San Francisco as of October, and having to trust a new EP, which is definitely difficult, too!

Thank you guys for listening :) I appreciate the support system a site like this can offer...

Kristen