Hey folks, as you can tell from my title, I am new to this forum. Here is a little bio

I am a well conditioned 45 yr old male, with a 25 year history of cardiomyopathy; an EF of arounf 30%. I actually served my last year in the Marines with this issue and didn't know it till I got out. About three years ago I kept feeling terrible, and getting chest congestion. It was finally determined the dilated left ventricle has caused my mitral valave to leak. Now I have a nice mechanical valve as of May 26 2010.

I have recovered very well, and feel pretty good. The only problems I had was a bout with Afib, and was given amioderone. I was hoping for a boost in EF with my new valve, but my echo last week was 15 to 25%. ...

 

I had an ICD implanted on July 30th following "sudden death due to cardiac arrythmia" outside a hospital emergency room. The electrical impulse problem with my heart came as quite a surprise as did waking up in the trauma room surrounded by medical personnel.

I'm feeling fine and returned to work full-time on August 23rd. I'll be interested to read your messages/postings to learn about some of your experiences.

Best wishes

 

I would like to share my story of the scariest day of my life. I had my AICD implanted 12/09. I went to the hospital throwing 20-30 PVCs a min. The heart block and the fact that my EF rate was down to 25-30% was the reason for the AICD. I have felt fine and I have been in for my AICD checks and all was good. I had another echo back in april and my heart had gotten stronger (EF 40-45%).
Hear is the story>>>> on 8-4-10 I was out weed eating as usual
and yes it's hot but I had just cooled off for an hour and had only been cutting for about 10 min. I was cutting a friends yard and as I was weed eating the icd went off and knocked the crap out of me. As I was laying on the ground for around 3-5 min and felt my pulse and everything...

 

Hi all, Well, i have a question. i have been experiencing very slow heart rates as low as 40 bpm up to 52 bpm. I feel no other side-effects. This occurs from time with no specific times to write down. Other times the rate is my NORMAL paced rate of 71 bpm.
These all are at normal resting times. The rate climbs like it has always climbed when exerted.
Please if anyone has any idea let me know. Thank you
Jon
PS if you read my first post it gives my history.

 

Sound off I will start what kind of IDC do you have??

Medtronic Virtuoso VR defibrillator

 

I had an ICD implant on 7/19. VT which caused 3 syncope incidents. I am wondering whether anyone has been Defibrillated by their ICD while standing and whether that shock can be handled without falling down or not? Also any pre-warning of the pending "therapy"? My ICD is a Boston Scientific Teligen. and This is what the EP implant report says: FastVT: Detection Int (ms) 343 Rate(BPM) 175.
Does that mean that if my heart rate goes to 175 or greater that I will be "zapped"?
I'm very grateful that I have the ICD and not overly concerned, just kind of curious as to whether I could remain standing, should I get shocked out in public? I was shocked during the EP lying down and while significant, I think I could handle it s...

 

Just read on a website that when your ICD is fitted they put you into cardiac arrest to see if its working is this true? Has having mine fitted on Tue! Its says if you having ICD they put you under more sadtion because of this.

 

Can someone please give me some help & advice. Im travelling to Florida from the UK in November & my travel insurance is sorted for that but after that if i want to travel i think im going to have problems as i have a cardiac fibroma (a benign heart tumour) This is causing me no real problems apart from affecting my heart rhythm now, thats why im having an ICD fitted next Tue. Problem is Travel insurance wont cover both cheapest quote was with Medici £129 to cover tumour and £99 to cover arrythmia but wont cover me for both! Any ideas folks??? Shall i pick just one to get covered with??

 

i have a weak heart.my first pacemaker was because of sick
sinus syndrome. i had to have a new one in april with a defibrillator.i have been receiving a lot of therapies. i am set up to see another doctor . this is really scary to me because i keep thinking i will get the big shock. they recorded that i had 52 epesoides in two days. my cardiac doctor that is sending me to
this other doctor to see what he thinks and see if there is some
medication that might control this better. is there anyone that has
had this problem and did any medication help them. i feel these
adjustments and they are driveing me crazy.also any ideals how to
get through this till i see the doctor

thanks
paceing

 

My husband had an ICD/Defibrillator put in June of 2009 at the age of 31. This has changed our whole world upside down. He doesn't like the idea of having an ICD/Defibrillator and changes the subject everytime I try to talk to him about it. He is not one to go talk to a councler or even his doctor. Meanwhile on the homefront everything is falling apart. It's been a year 1/2 since he has worked. His sesonal job will not hire him back due to liability issues with his ICD. A lot of patients comment on how good they feel after an ICD is put in. However, in our case it's not that way. The doctor adjusted my husbands ICD once, stating he is young and probably has a lot of energy, but after they released us from the adjusting appointment my husba...

 

miki069a says;
Are there any auto mechanics that have ICD's implanted? Just seeking information as how o go about working on your auto and keeping a safe distance away for your implant.

 

I WAS AT 2.55 FOR 9 MONTHS...NOW 2 MONTHS AT 2.52 BATTERY . I'M WONDERING APPROXIMATELY HOW LONG BEFORE THEY CHANGE IT AT 2.45. THE WAIT IS KILLING ME :)
MIKE

 

Hi Everyone:

I had a 3 lead ICD implanted on the 23 of June this year, can anyone tell me on the time frame required for the leads to permanently attach itself in order to have free mobility of your arm?

I have been given different time frames from the nurse, from the Hospital printout at discharge and from the visiting nurse including from Medtronic's technician.

 

Hi there. I keep hearing that having an ICD keeps you from driving interstate according to Fed motor carrier laws. I cant find that it does. Does anyone have a link to anything official? If I cant drive a truck part time anymore no sense renewing my CDL anymore.

 

Hi All,

Im new to this, im a 29 yr old male and I live in the uk. ive had heart problems on and off since i was 15 but with my heart racing fast when i did sport just thought it was normal and id get the odd bout of palpitations. 6 years ago whilst playing football without warning my heart would beat really fast worst then anything else ive ever had, these would last between 1min and 1 hr and were spreadic maybe 6 or 7 times a year. However last year i got out of bed in the morning and without warning my heart started beating really fast and all out of sync, went to hospital because it didnt go back to normal after 1 hr and they gave me drugs to bring it back to sinus rhythm. Since then i get a lot of palpitations and attacks of...

 

Hi,

It's me again! If anyone can tell me why the pre-set alarm goes off
even after taking 80mg Lasix for almost a month. Previously a few days of Lasix used to take care of the problem.

Usually, the alarm goes off because of fluid accumulation in the lungs. My lungs are clear and am wondering if there could be any other reason. My doc is on vacation and I am reluctant to go consult someone else unless it's absolutely necessary.

Bob

 

Hi - I'm new to this site. Received my ICD 4 weeks ago. Complications were pericarditis - inflammation in the sac surrounding the heart. Treated with anti-inflamatories - Yesterday, at the hairdresser's the ICD went off - Yikes - I jumped right out of the chair. I felt fine right afterwards, but called the DR. just in case. I was concerned about driving home, however, I did. No zaps since then. I'm new to this so my nerves are a little frazzled. Any advice? Thanks..

 

Hi,

My Medtronics Defib-CRT has 2 built in alarms that's to go off if I'm in some sort of trouble. A chime type of alarm for minor problems and a different one for serious ones.

I've had the chime alarm going off a few times in the past. After interrogation, my doc had put me on Lasix 80mg to 20 mg in the past and the problem used to go away as it was due to fluid accumulation. However, the alarm has been sounding every day for the last couple of weeks and up to 80g of Lasix / day has not helped so far. My doc says I needn't worry but cut down fluid intake. I try to cut down my fluid intake to about 2 Litr. I live in a very hot a humid place.

Any help would be appreciated.

Bob

 

I am having an ICD implanted this month due to a symptomatic cardio myopathy and an ef of 25 to 35%. Many of the post in reference the shock factor are very disturbing. Does any one have any thing positive to say about the ICD. I am a very active 56 year old that is hoping to carry on with her active lifestyle.
Thank You for any assistance.

 

I had my ICD implanted Feb 2010 and now that the swelling at the surgical site has gone down I am left with several "bumps" from the implant projecting from under my skin. Shows up as a small box implanted with small bumps. Anyone else's ICD surgery resulted in this post surgical look? Is this normal? I am on the thin side but this small box/bumps are jutting out from under my skin. Thank you for any comments or advice.
Terri