Hi Everyone,
It is late Sunday here and I have had the worst weekend so far. I told you about my G.P appointment on Thrusday and she was going to look into follow up for the results of my event recorder. She sent me an email this weekend asking me how willing I am to undergo another pacemaker surgery. I'm very scared. The first one I had got very infected with staph and I ended up in the hospital for almost 2 weeks and had to have it out and on very strong antibiotics. She also told me that I'm having a-fib and SVT again so now I have both fast and slow rhythms and the a-fib is new. I am so scared. I don't know what any of this means. I am going to see her on Wednesday for follow up to our appointment on Thrusday, but still haven't seen or heard from my cardiologist and my EP refuses to see me and I'm not sure why.
This is new to me and yet not new. I have never had to deal with both fast and slow rhythms, only slow and that was easily fixed. There is now a whole new demension to this that I am not prepared for. She also told me that I am going into sustained rhythms of bigeminy and trigeminy which explains the irregular rhythms Ihave been feeling, but there is also a-fib. I feel like running away.
Taryn

 

 

I am sorry to hear about your complications. I hope you get to the bottom of this. Sometimes its just one complication after another but you will get your answers. Please keep us posted and I will remember you in my prayers.

 

This is exactly how I feel. We fix one problem and then there is another one or this just never ends. I hate this!

 

Hi Taryn,

So sorry to hear about all your complications. Hugs. :)

I had bigemy once...about one month after having my initial pacemaker (which involved 4 surgeries within 10 days). It was awful...however, I was told it was not life threatening and with time it would resolve itself...and, it did !! It lasted for about 2 weeks at the most.

You need to find out why your EP refuses to see you, perhaps your family doctor can find out. Or can your family doctor refer you to a new EP????

I know you are going thru the mill right now and probably are very overwhelmed, which is more than understandable. Try, just try, I know it's hard, to take it easy as when we get stressed our hearts sometimes will beat irregularly as well. Are you taking any medications for stress? Is there anyone you can talk to? Do you have a friend that could come over and just be with you for awhile? You need a support system.

I know Wednesday feels like forever away, but take this opportunity to write down all the questions you have and don't leave until you feel he/she has answered them all in a way that you can understand as you have a lot on your plate right now.

I'm sorry I can't help you with the Afib as I don't have it and really don't understand it all that well, but there are lots of members here who will probably post to help you with the Afib questions.

I wish you all the best.

Be strong.

Pookie

 

Hey Pookie,
Thanks for your support. I do actually have a really good friend who came and stayed last night but had to go home this morning because of work. As for the bigeminy I'm now going on about 6 months of this and it is not going awayand now that it is documented it is even more scary along with the a-fib. Anyone out there have experience with this and can tell me what it feels like and what to expect. I know I'm a nurse and I should know, but at the same time we can also be our worst enemy.
I'm so frustrated that at times i feel like going to the ER to see if maybe the EP doctor will see me that wya, but it won't solve the problem, it might actually make it worse.
Taryn

 

Taryn, you really need to get your electrolytes checked asap. You don't need an appointment with the EP, it can be done in the emergency room. I bet your Mag level's low, and probably the K too since they go hand in hand. What beta blocker are you on? Maybe they need to adjust it and consider adding a Class I antiarrhythmic. I would definitely NOT supplement on my own though without first knowing the levels because supplementing magnesium and potassium no matter what people post here can be dangerous without medical supervision. Dangerous as in causing conduction delays, platelet clumping, Vtach, and even death. Sometimes afib, SVT and more frequent PVC's are a natural progression of known heart disease and need closer attention. I hope you get it all sorted out soon. Lenora

 

I had my lytes checked last week and everything was fine. I'm not on any beta blocker because my heartrate has always been too low for that and the new rhythms have only been within the last 6 months and only in the last 2-3 months have they been documented, but nobody has done anything about them. This does explain the fainting though and now I'm even more scared. I agree that I need closer attention, but if I can't get in touch with my cardiologist since he doesn't return my calls and the only way I can do anything is through my G.P who is no cardiologist than i think I need to figure out a way to step things up. I'm seeing my G.P on Wednesday and I'm hoping I will have some answers or we can discuss things more. I know the risks and I hate them, but I have known this for a while and yet nobody will listen to me.
My PVC's are more frequent which are scaring me along with the new rhythms I feel all the time. It's now documented, but what can be done and I'm still waiting for that answer. i have tried all I can. It's now up to my doctors.
I'm very angry with my cardiologist and my EP. I need to find someone else who actually cares and will help me figure this out besides my G.P whi has really gone to bat for me.

 

Hi! Sorry to hear you're having such a hard time. I got my PM 5 yrs. ago because of low HR. It was documented at 28 BPM.The PM made a difference and I felt good but after 8 mos. I had an episode of very fast and then very slow HR which lasted about 4 hrs. I was hooked up to the ECG machine which is why I know the time. I had to be put on a beta blocker to block down my own heart rate which helped some. They talked about bloccking me down 100% but I was nervous about being 100% reliant on the pacer. They ended putting me on a new Beta blocker and slowly increased the dose till my rhythms settled down. I also was having episodes of A-Fib before the blocker and since I was put on the meds 2 yrs. ago I've only had 2 A-fib episodes lasting less than 12 seconds. The first thing I would recommend is finding a new EP. My PCP made me change EP's because my original one was too busy to see me when I had the 4hrs. of going from 32BPM to 178BPM. He called his friend who is one of the tops on the East coast and got me in with him. Any Dr. that can't be bothered to return your calls has no right to be called Dr. This is your heart - not a hangnail!

 

I'm so scared right now. I'm very grateful that I have an excellent G.P who is working on helping me figure this out, but I know at some point very soon I am going to need to be in the hospital. I have had a whole weekend of not only strange rhythms, but also every time I went from lying down to sitting or standing I got very dizzy. It didn't last long, but i did once or twice feel like I was going to pass out.
Taryn