Does anybody else....

have any other heart problems since their pacemaker?
I had my first pacer at 10 and since then I seem to have a new problem evertime I go to my doctor. I was intially diagnosed with complete heart block, now I have atrial tach and possibly fibrillations. I just recently found out I have a PFO also.
It makes me anxious everytime I go to see my doc because I worry what he will find next.
Has anyone been "cured" since they got their pacemaker or do you still have ongoing issues?

2 Comments

Issues

by scadnama - 2008-05-29 09:05:24

I know how you feel, it seems that everytime I go to the doctor, there is always a new "problem".
I was initially implanted for bradycardia caused by Neurocardiogenic Syncope, but since then I have been diagnosed with SSS, SVT, IST, and a murmur.

Going to the doctor can be very stressful when you never know what to expect, but you just have to have an open and honest relatioship with your doctor and stay educated about your "conditions".

Hang in there...there is light at the end of the tunnel! I have not found it yet, but that is what I am striving for!

Amanda

Issues

by SMITTY - 2008-05-29 11:05:39

Hello Lexi3,

For your questions, "Has anyone been "cured" since they got their pacemaker or do you still have ongoing issues?" my answer would be no and yes.

So for as I know a pacemaker/ICD is not intended to cure anything. It will replace or help our heart's function in some areas, such a low heart rate. Or, in the case of very fast or an erratic heat rate an ICD may administer an electrical shock to literally shock the heart back into normal rhythm.

As for ongoing issues, if by speeding up the heart rate the person feels better or has a better quality of life then the issues (for example passing out, or extreme tiredness) brought on by the low heart rate will not continue to be an issue. In the case of the ICD that provides the shock to stop a very fast or erratic heart beat, that issue may continue, but should not become a life threatening problems because the ICD can intercede and bring the heart rate back to normal.

I'm sitting here thinking that unlike an antibiotic which may cure an infection, the pacemaker/ICD will "cure" nothing, but it can just as surely keep us alive as the most effective antibiotic we will ever take.

As for your A-Tach, this and PVC, PAC, and skip beats can come and go all on their own. Unless they are very severe, I want any of these that I have to be left alone to see if they will realize they are like uninvited guests and just leave of their own accord. During the last 25+ years I have had all of these at one time or another, and while I have been medicated to stop them, so far as I'm concerned Mother Nature and time has been my best treatment. I want to point out that while waiting has worked for me, I am not saying this it the path everyone should follow.

Good luck,

Smitty

You know you're wired when...

You can finally prove that you have a heart.

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