Most Recent Messages in General Posting

heart disease and quinolones part2

I try to make this as short as possible.
I received my PM August 2007. For several years prior to this I felt real tired and breathless, but did not go to the doctor until June 2006 , as I did not have insurance.I had fainted about 4 times over those years, always in the summer, and I thought it was heat related. -I was told physical exam, EKG and bloodtests were all normal.-Over the following months I felt worse and in the summer of 2007 I developed dizziness and vertigo. Since I had previ...

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Some good news

Pacemakers Change Biology of the Heart
March 21 (HealthDay News) -- In dogs with damaged hearts, implanted pacemakers triggered fast improvements in tissue levels and the activity of a number of proteins crucial to heart health, says a Johns Hopkins study.

The researchers said their findings are believed to be the first detailed chemical analysis of the biological effects a pacemaker has on the heart. This new information could lead to improvements in the use of combined pacemake...

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Bluetooth

Hello Everyone,
Does anyone know if the bluetooth interferes with the pacemaker ? NJ now has a law cell phones must be "hands free". When the doc put on pacemaker in 2002, he said manufacturers were not sure of interfere of the cell phone, so he told me to talk on opposite side of pacemaker. Now with the law, has anyone heard about the bluetooth ?

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heart conditons and quinolone anitbiotics part 1

Hi there,
I was wondering if other members on this forum are aware of the danger of antibiotics and their effect on heart patients. In particular all the antibiotics in the quinolone group.
Here is a website with the pertinent info.
http://fqvictims.org/
gotta grab a bite to eat and since I had a personal experience with this , I will post part 2.
Elke

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What's a pacemaker jacket?

Stilljohn asked where to find them. I don't know what they are.

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Day 2 with the pacer

Hi again,
I guess I'm an official member now. Surgery went well. They thought they were going to have to go back in and make the wire longer because when they took the xray standing up it looked like the wire was dislodging. They did a bunch of diagnostic testing in a bunch of different positions and decided it was fine. It is day 2 with my pacer. This has been the 2nd morning I have woken up with a hert rate of 50 rather than 30. What a relief. I have to admit I am pretty sore. Ho...

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Tanning Beds

Can you use a Tanning Bed if you have a PM?

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Insomnia and Light headed

Hi

Just wanted to know if anyone has experienced insomnia. I go to bed feeling shattered but as soon as the light is out I cannot sleep. No particular reason, PM is behaving.

Any suggestions ?

Also I know my blood pressure goes low but awful light headed today, also any help would be gratefully received.

Jules

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Returning to work.

Hi Just read your message and I also have had an ablation and am l00% dependent on my pm for my lower heart to function. I dont know from your message how long it has been since you have received your pm for I know they tell you to lay low for 6 weeks after it is done. I kept mine in a sling for that long even at night. I have had mine for over a year now and any questions I have about what i can be around I always direct to the 800 number that was given in the book that came with my biotro...

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Need for definitions/acronym list?

Especially as it seems many folks come to this site needing very basic information - I think it would be good to create a place to capture and store such information. Probably under "Information" as a section of "FAQs". Has this been discussed in the past? There is the search function, but I think we need a simple place to look up the meaning of terms many of us use in the posts. Maybe it could be handled ala Wikipedia with any of us free to help provide the words?

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returning to work

i just received my pacemaker(dual chamber) was in for an ablation to correct VT and things didn't go exactly as planned and am now 100% dependant in the lower chambers of the heart. i was so greatfull to stumble upon this site, it has given me so much information. My question is about returning to work, I work as a baker and use industrial size ovens and mixers and was wondering if anyone might know if this would cause interference with the PM and if so what the consequences might be. Any inform...

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Thanks for the post Jessie!

Hi All!
Well the tumor is gone!! Let's celebrate! No cancer so I'm on cloud nine! Thanks for the post Jessie and for all you my PM friends for your thoughts and prayers! A very special thanks to Karen for suggesting the test that lead me to finding the tumor. I'm still in the hospital they are still having some problems getting my electrolytes stable so Im still passing out when I try and move around but the docs are telling me its just temporary till Im stable. At least Im allowed on my...

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FIVE DAY OLD BOY GETS PM

In yesterdays papers in the UK it was reported that a 5 day old baby boy born 6 weeks premature and who was diagnosed with heart block whilst still in the womb has been fitted with a pacemaker.This was fitted at the Bristol Royal hospital for Children. He was not expected to survive . He died 3 times after pacemaker implantation but now is going home after 4 weeks. The pacemaker was inserted in the left stomach area just above the belly button. This will be moved at a later stage to the usual po...

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Electric shock...

Hi,

Today, while moving an adjustable light I received a little electrical shock. First one since the implant of my pacemaker. I don't think it did anything to me.... but it got me thinking. What if I received a big shock?

Anyone experience a shock and problems? I am a "newbie" so I am clueless. My "owners manual" doesn't cover weird things like this!

Thanks in advance.

Swedeheart

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confused

hi its me again firstly thankyou to all who gave me some feedback it was reassuring to know that it takes time to get back to normal. also im wondering if anybody knows what the aai pacemaker actually does ?thats what i have and also have an artieral lead what part of my heart is this in and what is it doing?? (i have my pacemaker because my heart rate drops to 30,s) uneducated about this i know but i dont get my check up till end of the month.. thank xx

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dematologist appointment

I'm finally going to see a dermatologist next week for my hypertrophic (similar to keloid) scar pain. After my pacemaker surgery last October things seemed at first to progress normally but at around six weeks post-op my pain started to increase. At the end of January my IM prescribed Neurontin for nerve pain, which helped tremendously. At this point my pain is limited to the scar itself. So, CathrynB and others, is there anything I need to know to specifially ask or bring up at this appointme...

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Catching My Breath

I am in my 6th year with my current pacemaker. This was my 3rd implant so I am facing my 4th soon. My last check up was over the phone yesterday and I questioned the fact that in the past week I have been having to "catch my breath" as I feel fluttering in my upper chest. Thursday I am going to have my upper lead fully checked as the nurse thought maybe this lead was acting up. I only pace 25% of the time in the upper lead where my lower is 100% pacing.

Anyone else out there have this...

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50 yo doctor sick sinus syndrome

Just to let everyone know I am a doctor and still don't fully understand what I am having done. I had fluttering in my chest and took a holter monitor test that showed numerous pauses of 4 seconds. So today I am having a PM put in. I never had dizziness or fainting and my pulse never goes below 60 that I can feel. So I am rethinking the necessity for this thing. Plus I wonder how much it will affect the symptoms. I hear everyone say they have more symptoms after the PM. I am putting my trust in...

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sapphire

our friend to-day had her surgery for the adrenal tumour. her daughter sent a message and sap will be back to-morrow. thank you for all the prayers for her. you are just wonderful people. jessie

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Clinical Trial of MRI-Friendly Pacemaker

Has anyone had the Medtronic EnRhythm MRI SureScan (MRI friendly pacemaker) implanted? I realize that they recently started the U.S. clinical trial for the device, is anyone here part of the trial?

http://wwwp.medtronic.com/Newsroom/NewsReleaseDetails.do?itemId=1170952028478%E2%8C%A9=en_US

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/95445.php

My doctors would like me to be able to have MRIs because I require them more than once a year for existing conditions. I plan...

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You know you're wired when...

Your signature looks like an EKG.

Member Quotes

My cardiologist is brilliant and after lots of trial and error got me running. I finished this years London Marathon in 3hrs 38 minutes.