Most Recent Messages in Batteries & Leads

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Moved leads

I have 25 year old abandended leads on my left side and my current pacer on the right with two more leads. I have been having symptoms for years now and finally this year I decided to pay double for better health insurance for two reasons:

1. I am due for a new generator in a few months

2. try to figure out what's causing my symptoms (when bending or exerting myself I get: facial flushing, feeling of fullness/pressure in my head and neck, distention of my left jugular vein, sh...

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Longevity of leads

Hi, 

I'm on my 3rd pacemaker.  My leads are approx.  23+ years old.  I can't seem to find much data as how long they can actually last or how worried I should be about it.  For information, I am 47 - so hopefully, I won't need to get them changed many times.   Any one have any ideas where I should search? 

Many thanks - Heather 

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Battery life measures same 2.5 yrs for the last 2 years? Why?

How has it not lower battery life?

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St. Jude/Abbott alarm setting

Hi, all,

For the last several months, I've been told my pacemaker  has less than a year left in battery.

Yesterday I heard the alarm from my PM beep from my chest and it took me a bit off-guard. I happened to have my already scheduled appt. with my EP a few hours later and they said it was at 2.66 voltage and was less than 1% to ERI. They scheduled a follow-up for 3 months and said they'd continue the monthly Merlin transmissions but to call asap if I felt like someth...

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Extraction or Addition of leads

I was informed that my RV lead has a problem....oversensing noise...which they temporarily adjusted. And it has to be replaced. I was also told my RA lead is drawing more volts: from 2 three years ago to 2.9 now. But the RA lead is working fine now. The RV lead is 8 yrs old, and the other two i have are three years old. 

I was offered two choices: add another RV, or extract and put in all new. The Surgeon recommended extraction because of the RA. He said it would decrease the longe...

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Leads, Pulse

Hi everybody, I'm a new member of just about an hour ago. Name is Roger.

So Nov. 21, I had my 3rd pacemaker installed. The battery was low enough for the insurance to cut in just prior to that. The reason I had the first unit put in 22 years ago is that from taking verapamil (my personal opinion) for high BP and an irregular heart beat, the med had lowered my pulse to about 40, from about 65. I was convinced that the pacemaker would correct the low pulse, although not corr...

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7 mos to ERI

I can't believe almost 5 years ago I came here looking for a way to "cure" my heart block! I'm here to say. Not likely to happen! I have 7 months of battery left before replacement. It seems to be going fast-slow fast. December I had 11 mos. Jan 10 mos and Feb 7 mos. In October I had one year! I have monthly transmissions so I'm able to keep up with time left. They keep saying they will replace it before ERI. So my question is how close to ERI will it get replaced? 3 mos...

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Changing placement of pacer

Hi there - My doctor (who is my cardiologist, ep, and surgeon) recently called me to tell me that I have a broken lead, which is an issue b/c I'm 100% paced (I have an underlying rhythm of ~33 bpm). He said I may need surgery to put in a new lead. I also will likely need my battery replaced in 1-2 years, and so we'll likely be changing settings to muddle through with the broken lead for a year, and then surgery to replace everything all at once. My question:

...

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How quickly do faulty leads need to be replaced?

Hi all,

My cardiologist recently told me that one of  my leads is playing up and I need a new pacemaker (battery is running out) an a new lead. Basically, a holtier ECG revealed that my heartbeat went down to 40 bpm for very short periods on two or three occassions throughout the 24 hour period, due to the faulty lead. He thinks that the lead is working fine 99% of the time, but is concerned about the issue, and thinks that I need the lead to be replaced soon. I had a pacemaker imp...

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wireless/leadless pacemakers

How many of you have leadless (wireless) pacemakers implanted?
 

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Ventricular Lead Placement

How many of you have one of the more recently developed areas of placement of the ventricular lead such as at the LBB (left bundle branch), HIS bundle or ventricular septum? How are you doing with your leads? Any problems or all going well? Please comment on any complications.Thank you!

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Generator change

I got my new generator this weekend via the ER. I'm feeling SO MUCH better than I was when my Adapta pm was in ERI (battery save) mode. The cardiologist explained that when it goes into the ERI the pm is not in sync with my natural pacing so if I pace at the same moment as my natural beat they block the blood flow. That forces the blood up into the carotid so that's why I was feeling it so strongly in my throat sometimes. Pacemaker syndrome symptoms are pretty uncomfortable and I was...

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Bad lead

Just when I thought all was going along great, I had a pacer checkup and they found one of my leads has an "increase in RV threshold and RV lead impedance." So they want to replace it. I had 1.5 years left on this device so they said they would replace that too. They also claimed that I had progressed from Mobitz 2 to CHB. It wasn't fun when the tech tested that! 

Anyway, my questions are: Is it a big surgery to remove the bad lead? I'm guessing it will be an over...

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Fear of pulling a lead out.

Hello.

As some of you know I got my pacemaker very recently. I am in constabt fear that a lead might dislodge. From day 2 after the surgery I went back to my normal activities except driving and excercising, I have also been very careful not to put my arm up or lift anything heavy. I go on long walks wirh a moderate pace and ride on cars as a pasanger. 

The pacemaker is doing its job very well because from day 1 I felt the change, so I am much more energetic now.

B...

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Ventricular Lead Placement (3) Original Threads from 8/19 and 8/13/22

Hello Everyone I'm back,

Just had visit with EP to plan PM insertion in Jan '23. He will do a basal septum LBB placement of a dual chamber device using the Medtronic 3830 lead and PM. This should give "physiologic pacing" and greatly reduce the risk of pacemaker induced cardiomyopathy down the line. I hope there are no insertional complications! Anybody already have LBB area pacing? How is it working?

Thanks, FG

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Medtronic carelink battery

Hi everyone I have the medtronics carelink monitor. The battery in the unit you put to your chest is not able to hold a charge long enough to download the information from my ICD.I tried to get a new unit but they are day 4 to 6 weeks.I took the unit apart and  it has no numbers on the battery. I know it's a no no to replace the battery according to medtronic. Does anyone have a voltage or part number for the battery? Thanks in advance. 

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Battery life

Hi. I have a Medtronic Adapta. Placed in 2010. (This is my second pm, but I'm finding the battery info a bit different this time around.) My battery life seems to be depleting quickly at this point. Last month it said 6 months. This month, it says 3. I was wondering if anyone else had a similar situation and if they could explain the schedule to me. From what I understand, this particular model will not beep or vibrate once it reaches the end of life, and as a single mom and a small busin...

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First Replacement

My son, 32, is scheduled for his first battery replacement today.  He has a dual chamber St. Jude, placed in February of 2015. In 2014 he became catastrophically ill with a misdiagnosed case of endocarditis resulting in two valve replacements (aortic and mitral) and as collateral damage a right below the knee amputation, He has made a remarkable recovery, finished three degrees, runs, and is an accomplished equestrian.  Understandably deer in the headlights today, Thanks for the sup...

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Battery duration

I had a check back in April when my cardio said I have minimum 6 months and max 18 months in my battery. This is a medtronics PM 100% paced.

In October he said I had min 6 months and max 11 months which did not make sense to me so I checked with a different hospital and cardiologist. The second cardio told me min 12 months and max 18 months. He also said the PM would buzz when battery getting low. I am trying to figure out the 'true' story and will visit my cardio again on...

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Battery Low

I have three leads on my PM and after only 4 years, I was told my battery is low and need a new PM. I have Medtronic and I am just sadden that my battery didn't last very long. Now they keep bringing me in to check when they need to do the surgery and the readings keep saying, it's not ready. I am truly perplexed about the whole situation. I guess I just have to keep getting it checked. If anyone else is having the same problem, please let me know how you handled the situation. Thank...

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