Most Recent Messages in Conditions, Meds & Tests

feeling like **** and extremely frustrated

Ok so you all say its not the pacemaker its the programming. If it feels wrong then it needs to be changed. Well I have been to the cardiologist almost every week since the first of this month with them making changes. So now what... they have talked to the reps, multiple techs have interrogated, and EP doctor has made his recommendations. So now what? I feel like complete crap. I had what they thought was pericarditis.. have been in the ER the past two nights... one being with chest pain...

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Back from the hospitol

Well, I just spent three days in the hospital so that I could be put on Sotalol. Got out of the hospital on Wednesday and went into a-fib for 2 hours on Friday. Guess we will see what happens next.

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Pain killers

Hi there!
I am scheduled for hip surgery soon. I had a PM put in 2 months ago and all is fine, except the hip. I also have rheumatoid arthritis and am currently off meds because of surgery coming up, but in some pretty good pain. One of my Drs. prescribed 7.5 hydrocodone/Acetaminophen for pain 3 times a day. Upon getting home and reading the label noticed some of the side effects are arrhythmia and slow heart rate, not to mention difficulty breathing. Is this safe to take or should I...

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SHOCKING STATE OF AFFAIRS

Yesterday in the papers and on the News at ten on television it was reported that the UK is desparately short of drugs and 50 different drugs are becoming very difficult to source. Apparently because of the collapse of the value of the pound it is more profitable to sell drugs which are made here to other countries, leaving uk patients to suffer. Patients are having to go without their medication. They include cancer drugs ,pain killers , epilepsy drugs, blood pressure drugs, antidepressants etc...

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Meds and Placebo's

Saw a recent article about problems with placebo's in clinical trials. Seems that placebos' for some strange reason are becoming more effective.Same old sugar/starch pill. In the last 5 years they have become twice as effective. This is giving the drug companies fits. They get to the stage III trials and their new multimillion dollar drug isn't any more effective than the control. It isn't that that the drug lacks effectiveness. It's that the placebo is too darned effective.

So maybe...

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Heartbeat in my ear

I notice that once in awhile I can hear and / or feel my heartbeat in my left ear. Has anyone else had this happen to them? Only other noticeable symptom is slightly hacking cough when I talk, which was something that happened a year ago just before I had the PM implant.
Thanks for any comments, thoughts?
Have a good day all

Peggy

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Svt to Heart Failure( go figure)

Well hello my pacemaker family. I am so sorry I have been MIA; I come on everyday but usually don’t sign in... Well Now I have to because I have a problem.
Got my Adapta Pacemaker installed In June of 08 and Was feeling Great until Feb of 09 Had bout of A fib and everything went down hill from there, I had and Echo before the pacemaker and after the I got it installed to maker sure it all looked good. Then In May I started to get SOB and then real fatigue Went in HR average was 120bpm. DOcs...

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Home INR Monitoring

I was wondering for all of us on Warfarin (Coumadin) for atrial fib if anyone is doing home INR monitoring? I know the requirements and have done a lot of research on it and am thinking about it. The people who run the our local INR clinic may be RNs but they really only know to follow the guidelines set up by the physicians and the person I'm dealing with wants my INR between 2.5 and 3 even though my providers and I have agreed that 2-2.5 is better for me. I've had a relative who died of a brai...

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Flouronef

Does anyone have experience with taking this drug to help increase salt retention to help with dizziness and light-headedness?

I have been taking it now for about two weeks and I'm also one week post PM (metronic) .

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Hair Loss

Has anyone had problems with hair loss since being on heart meds like Coreg? I have noticed an increase in hair loss when I shampoo. The nurse practitioner says it isn't connected with my meds. They did some blood work to check the thyroid and it was normal.

I never had hair loss BEFORE I began the Coreg.

Thanks,
Shelia

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EKG Interpretation...


Since the inception of my heart condition and subsequent device implant I’ve tried to educate myself as to the ins and outs of my condition.

So with that in mind, have you ever had an EKG and wonder just what it all means? Well I have and I don’t think I’m alone.

I know there are several folks here that can interpret an EKG better than the physician they’re paying to do it. Most of us however are not that fortunate and need a little help.

I found a th...

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Off balance and loopy!

Hi everyone,
I had my pacemaker implanted in May, and was just starting to get back to my active lifestyle( I work full time , have three kids and work out at the gym 4-5 days a week). On my last visit with my primary care Dr. my blood pressure was elevated again( I was on cozaar and it had been stable for months finally, but now it was through the roof just like it was right before I got sick and had to have the pacemaker put in). The Dr. switched me to Lisinopril, and I have felt tired, c...

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Hi fellow sufferers

Hello again
Thank you so much to all of you who replied so promptly and my apology for my not so prompt reply.
To Dottodot, - i am living in Melbourne/Australia and grew up in Germany, France, Austria and Holland. My family lives all over Europe and the entire mixed bunch has heart conditions of sorts, even though our environment and diets in which we were raised were all very different and none of them has the dilated cardiomyopathy kind. I was 42 when I emigrated to this continent...

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GENERIC DRUGS

Generic drugs as we know or have been told are supposed to be identical to the original. However I personally have noticed that they vary in their effectiveness. I have now discovered that the same prescription is allowed to vary its active ingredients between 80% and 125% in a generic equivalent of the original. I am astonished by this. From 2010 in the UK pharmacists will be expected to change the drug prescribed on the prescription given by doctors to the cheapest generic drug available to s...

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cardiac syncope

hi all
As u might remember i posted messages on here couple of days ago regarding my son with the above condition. He unfortunately was rushed again in hospital yesterday with this condition and yet again no beds available on coronary care ward until tomorrow, but at least he is better then he was yesterday.thank God
As he is only 38 years old, doctors in hospital said that he should not be suffering like this and about time he was sorted out, but lack on funds here in the u.k. is sto...

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Cardiac syncope

Hello friends
I have not been on here for a while due to my computer falling sick on me and had to be doctored he he, but my son has now been diagnosed with Cardiac syncope. He has to have a Reveal Monitor inserted in 3 weeks time, but after 5 years of feeling poorly and a leaking heart valve, he is just about ready to give up, at the young age of 38 years. He has been told he will eventually have valve replacement but are they waiting for one foot in the grave before anything is done...

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Imitrex & Pacemakers

My headaches still continue after my operation 7/8/09 when I am sitting up or just up and walking around (vertical). I see my primary care doctor in a little over a week for a post hospital checkup visit. Tylenol does not seem to be helping, and I cannot take NSAIDs (ibuprofen, ect). Has anyone with a pacemaker taken imitrex? I was thinking I could ask my doctor if it would be ok to take for the bad headaches. I just find it weird that I get these headaches now after the surgery. I never h...

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cardiomyopathy and pace maker

Hello o you all!
I am 64, female and lived all my (very active) life in five different countries. Diagnosed with idiopathic Dilated Cardiomyopathy 12 years ago, life quality was okay, albeit somewhat breathless and decreased exercise capacity. In recent years episodes of AF started and required added amiodarone and ever more frequent DCR's which returned sinus rhythm each time. When in AF I was almost incapacitated regarding walking inclines or with slight excertion. Lowering HR did not mak...

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Coenzyme Q10

I just bought Coenzyme q10 today. After taking a 100mg soft gel, I got a headache and my mouth was a bit dry. I read the side effects of coenzyme q10 and headache is a side effect. Has anyone else had this reaction. If this would be ongoing I won't continue with it. thanks

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Sudden increase in Blood Pressure...

Hi.....I was wondering if any of you have had a sudden increase in blood pressure when having a bi-vent PM. I had the bi-vent PM implanted about 2 yrs ago for chronic a-fib. I have been feeling fine since that time and my blood pressure ranged from low (90/50) to normal (120/80)....it seems like in the past 1-2 weeks, it has risen considerably. Now it ranges from 125/85 to 155/102. I had been on a trip about that time and didn't rest well, so I attributed it to just being exhausted. I asked...

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Member Quotes

I'm 43 and have had my pacemaker four weeks today. I'm looking forward to living another 50 years and this marvelous device inside me will help me do that.