Leads gone bad?

• by ladysmom
• 2008-05-12 07:05:41
• Batteries & Leads
• 2113 views
• 5 comments

I am a 59 yr old woman, born with a hole in my heart and a leaky pulmonary valve. I had surgery when I was 9 which seemed to correct my problems. However, in 1991 I started experiencing different sypmtoms. I had always had a very slow heart rate but it slowed even more to the point of my nearly fainting. I also have AF which I am in most of the time and because of it I have had many tias. All my valves are somewhat leaky but on the bright side, my cholesterol is very good and my arteries are wonderfully clear, according to a cardio.

I received my first pm in 1995 - a dual chamber Medtronic, can't remember the model. When the surgeon was putting the leads in, he asked me to take a deep breath. He didn't let me finish taking my deep breath and I think he cut the leads too short. Now a few days after it was put in, I raised my left arm over my head in my sleep. I guess the little 'hooks' moved and the pain was something else and it lasted for months. That was my only problem with the pm. Then in 2000 I had a sinus node ablation done and that went very well except that my pm wouldn't come back on. A new one was installed and from the get go, it has not been as good as the old one or so I thought. When I would walk quickly, I would experience back pain which radiated from the center chest area. I have complained to my cardio and gp over the years but other than a couple of minor adjustments to the pm, there has been no cause suggested. I have had an angiogram and a couple of MUGA scans, one just a few days ago and my EF is down to 49%, which is not that much below normal. I live in a small northern Canadian town and my cardio is in the big city, 500 miles south so it's not easy to see him all the time. He doesn't like to fiddle with the pm in case it makes me feel worse.

Anyway, in the past few years I have also noticed that driving on gravel roads, going over rough bridges on a bus, or driving the riding lawn mower in 3rd. gear, will bring on the back pain. I thought it must have something to do with the rate response on my pm. As well, whenever I do any heavy lifting, I can feel down the center of my chest, where the pm leads are into my chest, and it doesn't feel good. I saw my gp today, who is a really good doctor, but doesn't have a lot of experience with pm's. I told him all about my problems and he is thinking that they may be with the leads themselves. I will be seeing the cardio in a few weeks when he makes his semi-annual trip to my town.

I should also add that while I have been experiencing this problem for some time, it seems to have become much worse since I started on Carvedilol about 16 months ago. I was on Metoprolol for about 6 months previous and then the dose was doubled (apparently 'they' want you to take as high a dose as you can tolerate) and I nearly doubled over with chest/back pain trying to walk, just couldn't walk. I take the beta blocker for my congestive heart failure, supposed to help me live longer, but who wants to if they experience the pain and the general blahs taking it.

Anyway, I was wondering if anyone else has had similar problems. I think I did rather ramble on but.......I await your input and thanks in advance.
ladysmom