self check

I know that my new Merlin checks in every night. Does anyone know if the check is generated by the machine or the device? I never noticed anything with my previous devices and last night was the first time I was awake and not near the box, prom night so I was trying to undo my daughter's updo.

One minute I was fishing pins out of her hair, the next minute I could barely stay upright, broke out in to a cold sweat, thought for sure I was going to pass out, barely stumbled to a flat surface to wait it out. Felt fine 5 min later. Thinking back, it was exactly 1am, so this morning I'm wondering if it was the self check. They said it was set for 2am but that was the week before DST and since it was exactly on the hour maybe that's what it was.

11 Comments

yep

by Tracey_E - 2016-04-03 01:04:29

I thought of that too re: time change. Self check is the easiest answer. :) I already sent him an email.

DST

by Grateful Heart - 2016-04-03 01:04:48


Tracey, first let me say I don't have a home monitor (and don't want one) but as far as DST, that would have pushed the self check time forward to 3am. Then again, if your anything like me....things usually work backwards. :)

Time to take your own wise advice and speak to your doctor to be sure.

Grateful Heart

Good to hear

by Grateful Heart - 2016-04-03 01:04:52


Working backwards.....I've been on prednisone for 6 days now. I have been less active due to joint problems, etc. and I lost 5 lbs. without even trying! 5 lbs. in 6 days. I know that is usually the opposite side effect for this drug.

I may have to get a case of this stuff. LOL

Grateful Heart

Tracey - Uh - Let's run that....

by donr - 2016-04-03 08:04:27

....DST exercise by again.

The clock in your PM cannot be reset except by the interrogator in the Cardio's office w/ direct contact w/ it through the magic puck.

So, here we are on the SECOND day of DST. Nothing happened the night time changed because the PM self-check comes at 0200 & time changes at 0200 & suddenly becomes 0300. Oblivious to what the clock on the kitchen wall says, it's already done its thing.

Let's look at night TWO. Your happy as a clam little PM is sitting there at what it thinks is MIDNIGHT & the rest of the world thinks it's 0100. The PM does nothing for another 2 hours & that translates into 0300 clock time when it does its self-check thingy. Therefore, it's an hour LATE.

IF you were looking at the kitchen clock & it said 0100, your PM thinks it's still MIDNIGHT, so it is still drinking its last cup of coffee prior to doing its self check.

GH is correct on that issue.

PS: I don't have a monitor either & don't want one.

Hope it was nothing!

Don

Merlin Monitor

by Artist - 2016-04-04 01:04:58

I have used a Merlin monitor for almost a year. It watches over me at night as long as I am within 10 feet of it. The prescribing physician sets the perameters for the reporting.
It reads your PM but in no way changes any of the settings or interfears with the function of the PM. I recently had some very alarming arrythmias and got a walkin appointment with my cardiologist. I told them the time of the problem and they obtained more details by getting a report from the Merlin. As a result my cardiogist put a 30 day Spectacor monitor on me and on the second day the monitoring agency called the ER, the ER called me and told me to get to the ER ASAP. I was hospitalized 5 days. I have no doubt that records from my Merlin contributed to the decision to begin the Spectacor monitoring that possibly saved my life. The Merlin is like a guardian angel watching over me at night. Once it is set up, it quietly goes about doing its job. I have woken up at night and my phone in use light was flashing and it was my Merlin submitting a report. I don't understand why there is any resistance to using a Merlin. It does't affect PM functioning at all. You have to be withing range for it to even be able to read your PM, so I am sure that it was not responsible for the symptoms you have described. Please continue to use your Merlin and discuss your feelings of nearly passing out with your doctor.

Resistance to Merlin...

by donr - 2016-04-04 03:04:24

...& other practicioners of black magic.

My resistance goes back to an incident in "The Andromeda Strain." Remember the hanging chad that prevented an alert from being detected?

Then there is my experience w/ 24 hr telemetry monitored by hosp techs that failed to detect the arrhythmias that landed me here in this club.

I liken the Merlin to sailing a paper airplane out the window w/a message written on it. You never know if it will get to its destination. There is no loop closing with it. It senses your PM; it sends a msg to who knows where. You have NO idea if it ever gets to its destination. It is NOT a fail-safe system.

The TM failure: I was in the hosp while my cardio was trying to figure out what was wrong w/ me. I must have been there 3 days w/o an answer. At that point Medicare began the push to get me discharged. I'd been connected to 24 hr TM the entire time. They reported NOTHING. My Cardio's head nurse went to the TM room & began pouring over three days of ECG traces. After half the day, she had found literally reams of examples of why I needed a PM. The rest is history.

Now, if the Merlin alerted ME to call someone when it found something astray, I'd have a different attitude about the device.

Don

I agree, some....

by Lurch - 2016-04-04 04:04:18

My situation may be a little different; I have an ICD, not just a PM. My unit reports in nightly, and, if I am within range of the home monitoring system, when my ICD has to take some action to save my bacon.

This was demonstrated in January. I stood up from the kitchen table and started across the kitchen. I suddenly got very dizzy and leaned against the refrigerator for about 20 seconds, then felt fine. About 90 minutes later I got a call from my DeviceTech within my Cardiologist's office asking me how I felt. My device had "phoned home" sending in a report that I have got into V-Tach and it had paced me out of it at 1:17 PM (the time I got dizzy in the kitchen). This activated an automatic notification of my Cardiologist's office (they receive an email and a text message, then check the system to see what triggered the alert).

My frustration with the home monitoring system is that I can not access the data. Not only can I not gain access to the information it is reporting about my condition and the condition of my ICD, I can't even tell if it is in fact making the transmissions!

In this day and age of electronic monitoring, we should be able to access information generated by our devices. I can access the results of my blood tests, ECHO's and other tests conducted, but can't even tell if my ICD is actually sending it reports unless it comes through my doctor's office!

Lurch - there, you...

by donr - 2016-04-04 06:04:34

...GOT IT!!!!! the system cost you 90 minutes of time. Had it sent YOU an alert at the same time, you would have gotten attention that much sooner.

Similar to my failed TM data collection, don't you wonder what the Cardio's office was doing for 90 min?

Precisely my "...report on a paper airplane sailed out the window..."!

Donr

Donr

by Good Dog - 2016-04-04 11:04:45

Don, I completely agree with you! The question I have is: Why do we need to have the PM interrogated daily? The answer: Because they can! Advancements in technology provide for it to be done. I do wonder who is reading all of this data. I also think that if something significant is going on, then I would feel it. I can have my PM checked on-demand from home with my device.
My Medtronic will record incidences that occur as well, but I have never had any need to call and have my PM checked on a daily basis. Put quite simply, it is overkill. Who is paying for it? I guess that the company finds it a good selling point! I suppose if that is the case then we will all have it someday without a choice.
My 2 cents ~ 0.02 euro

David

We Look to You, Tracey!

by NiceNiecey - 2016-04-04 12:04:21

Love Donr. Love Grateful Heart. Love You, too, Tracey! Please let us know what you learn because we look to you for answers. That must have scared your poor daughter, too! I hope her prom was fun!

Don

by Tracey_E - 2016-04-04 12:04:51

Quit messing up my rationalization with facts!! lol If she set it at 1 anticipating DST but it corrected on its own, then it could still be 1. Or I could have misunderstood. Nothing remotely like this has happened since I've been paced so I'd much rather have a techie solution than a new problem. :)

You know you're wired when...

Your device acts like a police scanner.

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