Most Recent Messages in Coping

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Pacing 100%

I received my pacemaker after having TAVR valve replacement surgery. My whole story is in my profile.  At my one year check up this September I was pacing less than 1%. Come mid December I was feeling something in my chest and they checked my pacemaker and it turns out I am pacing at 100% that I went back into heart block. I was totally shocked and devastated! I'm having a very hard time coming to terms with that after I just had celebrated my one year and was doing so well...

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Recovering from Covid

Hi everyone,

So after 2 years of taking care of myself I finally got Covid last week. I was vaccinated with Moderna and not due for my booster until Feb.

I am on day 9 and my major symptom is occasional fatigue and on and off stuffy nose.

On my second day I had 24 hour fever which I treated with Tylenol, dry cough that lasted for like 2 days.... felt tired mostly. 

What was recovery process of anyone who had or has Covid? Any lingering sym...

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Dizziness, imbalance, weakness

Hello, I have been experiencing Dizziness, imbalance, weakness, so much so the I fell a few days ago, thankfully I don't think there was lasting damage, but am trying to figure out the cause. New medications are Entresto and Lasix, both have these symptoms as side effects. I am in communication with my doctors but have no answers yet. If it was my pacemaker it would show up on my Medtronic automatic transmissions, correct?

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Setting Off Alarms

My dual-chamber pace is blue tooth and it sets off a lot of store alarms.  Home Depot I shop at sets that alarm off going in and going out.

A few weeks ago I walk down through the mall here where I live and set off most of the store alarms if I walked close by them.  The young kids don’t know what to do when I walk in and the alarm goes off.  I have given up trying to explain it is my pacer blue tooth setting.

My pacer with all the scar tissue does set off the...

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Oxygen levels low. Meter show occasional low reading for pulse

My oxygen levels have been low with allergies and when I test with meter  it shows occasional pulse readings in the 50s and 40s. I had a sinking feeling when this happened.

I've had a two wire pacemaker 5 years. This happened  before and was put on a monitor which did not find low readings in hospital over night. Pacemaker Tech said that happens occasionally and not to worry, Pacemaker works more reliable thann tester. I've haad that sinking feeling again. My Card...

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Wishing all a wonderful new year!

Just stopping through to wish everyone a wonderful new year.  As difficult as it can be sometimes to deal with these devices it's nice to know there are others going through it and who understand it.

Thank you all for your continued support and comments whether in agreement with my opion or not!  I know it's all well intentsioned!

I wish you all continued good luck in your journey!

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Accepting My Pacemaker

A couple of days after I was released from the hospital after going into cardiac arrest and dying I started doing days of research trying to find out why this happened to me and how long I would survive.  The internet can be a great tool or it can be terrifying.

I searched what is the life expectancy of a person with a pacemaker?

Depending on how much you need to use your pacemaker, the lifespan can vary from anywhere between five to 15 years, and it all depends on how often...

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Pacemaker

I am 4 weeks out and I can not stop crying. It comes over me constantly! Will this go away? I am on antidepressants.

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Still sleepy

I've been going over some old posts about fatigue & have come to the conclusion that my extreme sleepiness is related to medication. I say this because the other major cause seems to be arrhythmia, and my last remote report showed 0% afib & no unusual incidents at all. When I say extreme sleepiness I mean I can get out of bed at 9 & be ready for a 2-hour nap by 11, then go through the rest of the day craving even more sleep! I found out that metoprolol (I take 50mg x...

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Counseling? Therapy?

Hello all:

Been awhile since I've posted but I need some advice from a group who knows what it is like to experience a cardiac event. I'm in a rut and I can't seem to get out of it. 

In January of 2019, I woke up and felt fine. Made coffee and was working on emails when I passed out. When I came to, I sat there for a few minutes thinking I just wasn't awake. Minutes later, I passed out two more times. Got to the hospital, and while they were running tests, I w...

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Update

Hello all,

I just want to reach out and thank everyone again for the support and help that I have recieved. The people of this community are so intelligent and caring and have made this whole journey that much easier to manage.

Sadly, I am not feeling any better. My vision/motion issues seem to come and go at random (morning, afternoon, evening, sitting, standing, driving, etc). Sometimes they last for a few seconds/minutes, and sometimes they hang around for 3-5 hours.

I...

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Heart anxiety

Hi guys,

I had my pacemaker implant back in October 2018 so I'm now 3 years into life with one. Recently I was admitted to hospital after passing out after 5 minutes of steady cardio. When the paramedics came they said my heart was running fast and took me to rescucitation, they  checked me and placed me in majors. After a few tests they found my pacemaker was fine and that the medication I was on was causing my tachycardia. They checked my electrolytes and saw magnesium was sl...

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New Member

I had no warning of needing a pacemaker other than knowing my pulse wasn't right most of the time for the past few months.  I was a fool for not going to get checked out sooner.  My abnormally slow pulse was discovered when I went to get treated for a blood clot.  I don't know if the clot is related to the cardiac block, but I guess it doesn't matter now.  I'm grateful for this device, and it's working well so far.  What I can't get over is tha...

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Good night of sleep

Continuing the theme of using this exclusive club as my form of support...

The last month has been pretty tough as far as sleep goes. I didn't have sleep issues pre pacemaker install. However, post procedure...I have been waking up (sometimes several times a night) with "thud thud thud" pounding heart rate. Most of the time its when I lay on my poaemkaer side, probably has nothing to do with anything, but that's when I notice the issue. 

Also, I believe...

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New pacemaker

I got a pacemaker a few months ago. Since the beginning I was very sluggish. Went to the dr to have it tweeked. For about 3 weeks I had a ton of energy and felt great. Now I am back to sluggish and nap taking. I am 68 and have always been rather hyper. Is this to be expected or do I need to see the doctor again. I loved the energy level after the tweek. My husband said I needed to go back and have untweeked. lol Any suggestions. I am new at this and have no idea what to expect. Thanks in adva...

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Still some soreness.

I had the pacemaker fitted 6 months ago.  It took some months before it felt comfortable. I started playing golf with no after effects.   During the summer it felt more comfortable wearing light clothing.  For the past 2 weeks I have had some soreness around the site of the pacemaker. Sometimes the soreness feels like clothing is rubbing across the scar, then the site is sore to the touch.  Does anybody recommend a covering or pad over the site, and would it benefit&n...

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Emotionally Struggling with sick sinus syndrome

Hey team, 

As talked about in a prior post, I had a dual chamber pacemaker installed in July, I'm 44 and pretty healthy to say the least. 20 years in the army, runner, weight lifter, 6'5" 205. I started feeling my pauses when I was around 24 yuears old. It took cardiologists (several) years to figure it out...I was diagnosed with being dramatic, too much caffeine, too much alcohol (never drank either more than my peers), anxiety. Finally in 2019, a cardiologist got sma...

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Flip Flops felt during recovery

Hello PMC! 
 

Hope all of you are blessed and doing well. I was wondering if anyone has experienced a flip flop sensation while your heart rate is coming down after exercise. When I get my heart rate to 150 or a little higher I can feel it on the way down back to baseline. It doesn't happen all the time but the past three times it has, I've felt flip flops/ectopics and even presyncope. It's like OMG what is happening in my heart right now??!!&nb...

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One Step Forward, Two Steps Back?

Hey folks,

Up until this past Friday, things have finally started to feel "normal". My vision spells and "foggy/unfocused" vision that were essentially preventing me from driving or being on my feet for more than 10-15 mins were "cured" with the addition of the BP med Amlodipine Besylate. Cardiologist prescribed it as a "guess" only after the extensive blood work, sleep test, heart stress test, brain MRI, brain CT, heart echo,...

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Feeling the correction

Hey team! 

Healthy 44 year old male (considering), 

I was fitted with my pacemaker in June for sinus node pauses of seven seconds plus. The procedure was severely emotionally and physically gassing for me. Post procedure I had PVCs for about a month, I believe it may have been caused by a wound during installation. I was in and out of consciousness and heard "oh, a lead came out, let's try that again". I said "huh?!" And, was inject...

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You know you're wired when...

Titanium is your favorite metal.

Member Quotes

I had a pacemaker when I was 11. I never once thought I wasn't a 'normal kid' nor was I ever treated differently because of it. I could do everything all my friends were doing; I just happened to have a battery attached to my heart to help it work.