Most Recent Messages in ICDs
placement
Hi<
I am brand new to this site! I have to have my ICD repositioned soon..... it is under my pectoral muscle and continually moves and puts pressure on the wires! And, it is painful. :( My doctor who is very well experienced wants to reloctate it under my breast with a possible breast impant over it beacause I am so tiny. I am 38 and am not having more children. Apparently it will be much more secure there. Has anyone ever heard of this??????? I would LOVE feedbacck!!!!!
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Pain around inplant area
- by Jim From Pa
- 2009-06-15 11:06:02
- ICDs
- 2044 views
- 1 comments
I had an ICD implanted in October of 2008, had very little problems or pain, but now some 8 months the implanted area seems to be constant pain if lay on right side, its implanted on left side, and basicly a nagging pain most of the time, there is no swelling that i can tell, has anyone had this same problem, and if so any reasons for it, Thanks
Biventricular Pacing
So this past year I have been going to the cardiologist about every 6 months. He thinks I should have a biventricular pacemaker. I have been paced 100% of the time since I was two weeks old. I have heart block not complete though because I have an underlying beat of 42 bpm. But over the past 6 months my ejection fraction (EF) has been going down. A normal one should be between 55-70% and mine is currently at 44% and going down about 4% every 5-6 months. The reasoning for this is that because I...
Infection
Hi All.
Have a Medtronic icd implanted since Nov 07. Developed what I thought was -and still is- a bad cold or flu for past two weeks. Sunday 5/17 I awoke with pain and swelling around icd and thought it was from excessive coughing.Mon 5/18 awoke with redness around icd site and more swelling. Went to hospital and was told icd and leads were most likely infected and complete removal is generally the only treatement This am redness is reduced but still have swelling. I am hoping...
Subclavian Steal
I have been told by 2 Vascular Surgeons that I have an 80% Stynosis of the Left Internal Carotid Artery with Subclavian Steal Syndrome . Is there anyone else out there who has experienced this ? This condition could not be found by/through a CT scan and was picked up with an Ultrasound search . Seems it is behind my device ICD that is , and the lead may be making this situation worse due to it's location . What a conundrum !
Thanx for your input .
Love to all ,
Question
One of the members asked some questions about the shock of an ICD while holding a baby or driving, etc. I am going to ask again because I would like to know too. Can some of them be so powerful that the baby could be dropped or you could wreck the car or cause an accident? It IS something to think about, huh? Thanks for the input.
Pacie
What do they feel like
- by smith.peter2
- 2009-04-02 07:04:49
- ICDs
- 2240 views
- 7 comments
hi i just got my icd half month ago, can any one telll me what they feel like when they go off i mean what will happen to me and how will i feel
From newy pete
ICD INSTALLED SSAME PROBLEMS
Had icd installed beginning of february 09. First 2 weeks felt fine. Good appetite etc. Am on Diovan .cardeviol,lasix and potassium. still experiencing shortness of breath at times, and fatigue.increasing and lowering lasix and potassium has not relieved the problem.no appetite so cant recover excessive loss. Any help?
Wonder If My Heart Doctor Reads These Post
- by Jim From Pa
- 2009-03-19 07:03:11
- ICDs
- 1760 views
- 0 comments
I had sought help in getting information to ask my doctor at my scheduled appointment of March 18, 2008, I have an ICD since October 2008, on that date as I always do I called to make sure my appointment was still active to learn that the doctor that morning, a few min before I called changed my appointment to March 25, and ordered a ecco gram prior to seeing him that day...of course some members gave me questions to ask him, now apparently he him self wants more information, I did find out that...
wii fit
Hello all,
I have just joined the club on behalf of my wife who has a defibrillator fitted. Is she safe to use the Wii fit.
I mean will the electrical part of the wii fit interfere with the workings of the defibrillator
My wife has also suffered some brain damage so I have joined on her behalf.
Shocks
Hello all. I'm new to this club and here's a bit about my experience in this subject-
I have been unlucky enough to have had 38 shocks from my ICD in four separate episodes of VT over the past 8 years. Recently I had six shocks in Jan 2009 whilst on my way to the hospital to have an procedure called an Ablation because some recent irregular heart activity.
I am glad that I have the device and I will say that I consider myself lucky to still be alive today because of the treatment I hav...
ICD Experience
I had a Medtronic ICD implanted on December 15, 2008 after a V-Tach attach. I have had three Trerapy Shock since then. Jan 4. Feb 5 and Feb 27. I just started Sotalol medication last week at 80mg. I don't know what to espect at this point. I can't drive and work from home. My doctor says it's wait and see.
Any comments?
More Info
I thought some of you may enjoy the following as it discusses the devices and heart problems we discuss here daily. Part of it came from Medtronic (for some reason I'm on their mailing list - I;m kidding I asked to be put on the list) and the last two paragraphs are from another article on the subject of
CRT (cardiac resynchronization therapy)
Heart Devices
Did you know that there are different heart devices that treat different heart conditions? When people think o...
Have you ever felt your ICD move?!
- by rrentschler
- 2009-03-04 02:03:24
- ICDs
- 3385 views
- 3 comments
I was wondering if anyone has felt their ICD move. I was sleeping the other night on the couch, I have my left arm (my ICD is located on my left side) under my head and went up the side of the couch. I was suddenly awakened when I felt as if my ICD moved up. After inspecting it, it looks and feels like it did move. It hurt really bad at the time but now is only sore. I am wondering if it is still making its spot within all the muscles as I only had it implanted in June of 2008. Does anyone...
ICD removals
- by MyIrishHeart
- 2009-03-02 08:03:47
- ICDs
- 2045 views
- 5 comments
Hi everyone!
I was just wondering if anyone could give me an insight on successful VT ablations and ICD removals. I have a dual chamber ICD due to an uncontrolled(so they said) VT. They tried to ablate but said it was imposible because my VT "floated" They stated it was polymorphic(they counted up to 6 different VTs). So the best thing was to use the combination of anti-arrythmic meds and an ICD... which all proved to not work. I later found a wonderful EP who looked at my records and fel...
shock
- by franko1966
- 2009-02-27 04:02:13
- ICDs
- 2029 views
- 3 comments
just,had my first shock,since,getting the difib,in on feb 01,2007,doc,did not want to see me untill reg check up in april. Now i know what a shock feels like dont mind 1 every 2 years,also was behind car wiping off snow that night,toching lights alsoo in the back while car vwas running,did not know if that was the cause,they,did not think so,but other,cardio nures said maybe
Finally somewhat of an answer to when amiodarone fails
Hi and I am sorry it has taken me this long to let those of you who asked about my husband know what is going on. Just to refresh everyone he is on amiodarone and it was failing to keep his arrythmia's in check. After my last post he became very sick, couldn't eat and couldn't get out of bed..I was expecting the worse. After many doctor's visits and even firing one of his doctors, it was discovered that amiodarone and some of his other meds were effecting his liver, his enzymes were over 300. So...
Increased ventriculator sensing
- by lindalouwho54
- 2009-02-11 08:02:46
- ICDs
- 2122 views
- 1 comments
Hi! At my pacemaker (CRT-D) check today, my doctor mentioned something about "increased ventricular sensing." He said it was in the 100's and not the 1000's, so he wasn't worried about it. I should have had him explain what he was talking about, but I didn't. Can anyone explain what he was saying? Is this something I need to be concerned about?
some info for you ICDers
i will be having surgery shortly and thought this might interest the people who are implanted with the dual pacemaker/defibrillator.
normally they turn off the defib. for surgery with the magic magnet and i was curious if this also affected the pacemaker.
i called up St. Jude, my implant, and they informed me that it will not affect the pacemaker. just one less thing to worry about that i thought i'd share.
just one last note: i must say it certainly woke me up readin...
Using ATP option in ICD
This board had an article dated in 2004: "Pacing can replace shock to restore heart rhythm." There were 10 comments, but I can't figure out how to access them.
Basically though, there is an optional setting (on my Guidant ICD anyway) called ATP for AntiTacycardiaPacing. If the ICD detects a bad rhythm, it will FIRST try to speed up the heart to get back into a normal rhythm BEFORE deciding to issue a shock. In a number of cases, a shock is avoided.
My ATP function is set to...
You know you're wired when...
You have the perfect reason to show off your chest.
Member Quotes
I'm 35 and got my pacemaker a little over a year ago. It definitely is not a burden to me. In fact, I have more energy (which my husband enjoys), can do more things with my kids and have weight because of having the energy.