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Post Implant Exercise

4 days to PM day! It suddenly occurred to me that I did not ask my EP exactly what his prescription for post PM activities will be. I think I remember him saying that after 2 months I could do 'pretty much anything'. I am not a body builder by any means but I hope the usual weight machines in the gym are not going to be off limits after, say, 2 months.

I have one question: I have read all the advice in here about taking it easy post PM to avoid fracturing leads. Does this refer just...

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Chest Pain

I am a 23 year old female and I have had my pacemaker for 6 weeks. My pacer was implanted because my heart-rate was dropping below 35 bmp, which was causing me to faint several times a week.
Since the surgery, I have had no other symptoms or complications...until now. Last night as I was getting into bed, I had this severe chest pain in my left side, just under my breast. It felt as though someone had tied my heart in a knot and was pulling it tighter, I felt the sensation 3 times, and the...

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Recovering after Lead Extraction

I got home Thursday after having my surgery on Wednesday. They wanted to remove all the leads in the vessel where the fractured lead was, only they weren't successful. The two hours scheduled procedure took over 5 hours. The fractured lead was easy to remove, but the other two had tissue grown around them and were attached to the thinnest portion of my aorta. They gently tried, but were not successful with extracting them. Then they put in a third lead because my ejection fraction (the % of...

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///////Happy Birthday Susan////////

Since our Birthday wish girl Valerie is stil not up to speed yet... (get well young lady)
I guess it is for me to put the birthday wishes on this page for Susan (queen_beez) my lovely daughter......
Happy Bithday Susan .Have a truly beautiful day......stay well
and may all you wish for lay ahead.....Love "dad".........Peter N,

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never could i have guessed!

Wow the big day is almost here!! To tell you the truth I tryed to stay away from this site until after I got home. Kinda to forget about the pm I think but it hasnt helped @ all! hehe I think it has actually made it harder, so here I am! lol I think it finally hit me last nite that its actually going to happen in 14 hours! I didnt think I would be this afraid! I mean you guys have all given me the help I have needed why cant I just stop thinking about it and do it! I realize I will be much bette...

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Muscle twitches - eye and heart

I still get muscle spasms/twitches (soft, and non-painful) in my heart, ever since PM implantation. They are intermittent, usually one at a time, and occasionally 6 or 7 in a row, about the rate of heart rate, but do not coincide when I immediately check my pulse rate on my wrist. 20 to 40 total a day average. Also have left eyelid twitching that I thought was not related, but naive as I am, could that be related to some of the electrical impulses from the PM and its leads?

~Jean

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any experience with staples

Hi Friends,

I was wondering if any of you had any experience with your incision being closed by staples.

I had my 3rd pm implant on 12/27. The same incision was used.
I have 8 staples. These staples are due to be removed this Tuesday.

This morning I noticed some very red areas around the staples.
My incision looks good minus the irritated red areas around the staples.

I 'm thinking that these areas are irritated due to clothing touching the...

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Its been a while but....

I got some questions. I have read a little of all the recent ones but not all of them.
I have been having some problems lately if I lay the wrong way I loose my breathe and get sharp pain. I have had this for a long time and just assume it comes from having the pm in my body. Well I got kicked by my friends kid the other day right in my chest. I feel like it is swollen and it hurts... though I do believe that I hate pain so something little can be painful. I also know that I should have...

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Up for a chat

Going to the chat room. Come on in. Bob

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Chronic Afib

I'm in my mid fifties, and have had chronic afib for the last 7 years. I've now had 6 ablations for afib/flutter, and am not much better off - I'm still in afib/atypical flutter 6 days out of 7. I'm just so sick of it, it has completely changed my life. But the "carrot on a stick" of a cure (ablation, maze) has kept me from getting an AV node ablation and a pacemaker. I also worry that after going through all that, I may have complications or may still feel the afib.

I'm wondering wha...

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Cardiologpist...

I had my Cardiologist appointment yesterday, and I stressed myself out over nothing! I found myself wondering a few days prior to the appointment if I was going to have to have a heart catherization (for those who have had one, I am sure you will agree that they hurt). At anyrate, my bp was good, my heart ultrasound was good, and my ecg went great. He had no concerns until....until I started talking to him about the pains in that chest area that I get when I do anything too physically stressful...

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similar conditions?

greetings all pacers!
i received my first Pm in 12/7 and it seems to be working well. it is set to pace primarily in the right atria since i have sick sinus syndrome. i also seem to have another situation which compounds the issue. my pulse has always been very low and so has my blood pressure. resting pulse is set at 60 BPM due to the PM but my BP is still too low and variable. now runs 105/65 when sitting. when i stand, it drops to 90/70 roughly and can produce lightheadedness etc. i am t...

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Could something be wrong?

Hi fellow pacers,

I had my first pacemaker implanted 26th Nov 07 for congential complete heart block causing low heart rate 40 bpm and have my 6 week check up on Weds (9th).

Although I'm definitely feeling a lot better and the pre-PM symptoms of fatigue, migraines, neck pressure pain, heart thumping, left-sided numbness and lightheadedness have more or less gone, I've noticed a reduction in the benefits over the past two weeks.

Basically, I don't feel as 'well'...

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Pacemaker Dependency Questions

Is there anyone out there that can explain what it means to be "pacemaker dependent"? I am interested in the difference between someone with a non functioning av node and someone with a non functioning sinus node. What is the definition of pacemaker dependency and does it matter which node is non functioning? I see a lot of people here who are primarily paced in the ventricle vs those that are primarily paced in the atrium. What kinds of conditions define the difference? I guess I'm looking for...

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Palpitations 2

Following up: I saw my cardiologist yesterday and he noticed that my pacemaker was loosing capture. It looks as if my heart needed more juice, because I have a high thresh hold. He increased the voltage to I believe its measured as 3.5mV and NO MORE PALPUTATIONS AND I FEEL GREAT!!!! Last night, I slept like a baby. Thanks to all that replied to my original posting (Christmmpace James, Meadowlark, Pinkypie). It really helps to know that your not the only one in this boat.

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3 canadians

lol 3 of us canadians on at one time. don't know where the fisherman is from. he does not say. well everyone have a lovely day jessie

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And the beat goes on and on and on

Hello fellow pacers. I have a question or maybe a situation. I don't know which really. Here is what is going on....

When I am resting at night, after I have been asleep for awhile I wake up and like to listen to my heart beat. It is so even and sure. Not like before when it would stop up to 10 sec. Here is the concern....

My heart beats okay for a bit then it adds up to 8-10 extra beats! like this.. *-*-*-********-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-******** I hope you can unders...

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Lead Recall

With the recent medtronic lead recall, it's a real nightmare. I wonder how many of you out there feel this way; firstly if you're pacemaker dependent(which I am) and at the same time need the ICD due to recurrent VT it's quite harrowing. You wonder when the recalled lead will fracture and fail you. It's so worrying. Secondly having had a lead replacement just last year due to the lead (ventricular) perforating the heart resulting in pericarditis, I'm even more paranoid. This newly replaced lead...

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Silly I know

I know this is silly but would anyone mind sending me a pic of their scar? My e-mail is lil_sassy_angel11@verizon.net. If not it isnt a big deal im just stressin.

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Anxiety


I had my appointment to get the results from my 14 day monitor today. It did show some of my symptoms were during episodes of atrial pacing but they say that shouldn't cause breathing issues. During the few episodes of ventrical pacing I registered no symptoms. That is when they would expect to see any symptoms. Am I just odd or does anyone else have symptoms during atrial pacing?

I was told that I was still in the early stages with my PM and it is normal to have some anxi...

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You know you're wired when...

You fondly named your implanted buddy.

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I am a competitive cyclist with a pacemaker!