Most Recent Messages

Post Message!

Staph infection in pacemaker pocket

I posted about a month ago. My son's (22 months old) buldge ended up being a staph infection. Which resulted in extraction of the pacemaker and then a week later the wires, which required open chest to get out. He was in the hospital for almost two weeks. And is home now with a PICC line to get iv antibiotics.

Other than that, he is absoulutly fine. He has never had a fevor or any pain from having an infection. Staph was found in the pocket and in his mediastinum (sp?). He'll...

Read More...

New Setting and Good News....

Hey, everyone!

I have been doing some research here on individuals with third degree heart block and I wanted to change the Rate Response setting on my Guidant 1291 from on to off.

I have been having difficulty with uncomfortable heart beats, irregular heart beats, and faster than normal heart beats. These would occur off and on at any time. Bending over would raise my heart rate to much. Walking to the car would send it to around 109 - 110. Although this was not uncomforta...

Read More...

what to expect when i go in for battery change

hi everyone! my name is michelle and i think i'm going to have to have my battery replaced soon in my icd. i'm kinda stressing out about it a lot..i read that it's not really that big of a deal and it seems like a pretty easy surgery but the thing is i was shocked 8 times back in 2005 (they all were "unnecessary" whatever that means) when i first got this thing in me & i still have not gotten over it so i'm kinda freaking out about getting my battery replaced because i fear this is going to happ...

Read More...

ACE INHIBITOR

I take digoxin which in the past befor I got my pacemaker gave me terrible nausea. Since having the pacemaker I fing it very strange that I can tolerate it and do not get nausea. However I also take perindopril an ace inhibitor. When I start taking this I get a painfull pricking sensation, like having needles pushed into the surface of my skin. It starts in the extremities , toes and finger tips, and as time goes by it gets worse with the sensation travelling futher up my limbs until I cant sta...

Read More...

replacement battery

Pacemaker replacement done in February. Since then I have been vocal to the nurse practitioner, cardiologist, surgeon... that something is not right. The pacemaker seems to fall to near my armpit when I sleep on left side. In addition, I feel a thick lead, wire, etc. to the right of the pacemaker and I have constant "sticking pain"I was told by the surgeon that it could be lead, scar tissue,etc. He never gave me an answer nor did he look me in the eyes for a total of 5 min. consultation.
He...

Read More...

Weight Training and Heart Failure

I was first diagnosed with idiopathic cardiomyopathy in March of
2007. At the time I was working on a large condominium project and was frequently doing physically strenuous work. I was hoping that with medication I would have significant improvement with my condition. I didn't seem to get much worse, but I also was not getting any better. In August of 2007 I finally gave in and had an ICD implanted. Since then I have had improvement in my condition
but my ejection fraction is still 16...

Read More...

Worried for first time

My name is Chris. I am 50 years old and was first diagnosed with mitral value prolapsed when I was just 8, so I have been "dealing with" my heart for most of my life. I've had two mitral value repairs, and about a year prior to the last one seven years ago, I developed chronic Afib, which after a year of drug therapy, resulted getting an ablation that, while unsuccessful in curing the afib, did eliminate my AV node altogether, so I have been pacemaker dependent since. Four years ago my ventricle...

Read More...

flying an air plane

my daughter is going on her 1st trip to colorado for a week she is 15 an has her pm for 4 years now an i am a little scarried to let her go away that far from me but she will be with there family an they willhave cell phones but i am so so so worried to let her gobut i did check with drs. an they said that ok she can go an she will be ok but i wont be ok i will worry an i alwy will forever its hard to have you little one with a pmso anyone canhelp me be ok with this something that could be he...

Read More...

go carts

I've had my PM for over a year now and I was wondering if anyone has ridden a go cart with their PM. My family is going on vacation soon and we usually go out for a night of riding go carts. I usually drive as well, but since my PM I am hesitant to do so because the engine is so close to your body I don't know if it has any effect on your PM or not. I get my PM checked this afternoon and I will ask at the dr. but hearing from first hand experience helps a lot too. Any comments are welcome!
...

Read More...

E-stim in physical therapy


Has anyone with a pacemaker ever had e-stim to the knee or foot in physical therapy? Any problems?

Read More...

Hello Everyone

Hello,

I am 21 year old with a ICD. I had mine placed in november of 07. I had my first time being shocked and it wa 8 times and under 10 mintues, one of the worst feelings of my life also haha.

My story goes like this.

My whole life i have been an athlete and loved doign extreme stuff and just having fun. I was able to receive a schoalrship to play college football, over my christmas break i collapsed while playing pick up basketball with my friends, and this is...

Read More...

So, odd feeling while working out...

So, I did my chest workout tonight. Usual workout routine, but I've been gaining weight and strength again (proabably because I'm down to just 80 mg/day of sotalol), but I had the oddest/strangest feeling.

Where the ICD is, after my flat banch press (265 lbs 3 sets/8 reps), I had the oddest sensation. It felt like you were rubbing material like rope against rope. It's hard to describe, but that's what it felt like. Didn't hurt or anything, just felt odd. Now, maybe it was my shoulder...

Read More...

To drive or not to drive

I would like to hear of experiences about driving after a shock. Were you restricted,did you continue to drive,were you driving when you received a shock? I have been doing a lot of reading about this and there are many different opinions.

Read More...

Pacemakers and Musicians

Hello Everyone,

I just received my pacemaker on Friday July 3rd. I had dizzy spells and general spaciness. I had a tilt table done, and my heart stopped for sixteen seconds during the test. I was immediately given the pacemaker at that point.

I am an amateur musician, and I am wondering if there are any limitations on what equipment I can use. I play acoustic and electric guitar and bass. . Right now I don't own an amplifier, but was in the market when this occurred. Any li...

Read More...

Dehydration, infection?

Hi 1st time posting,,, just had my on-demand pacer replaced for the 1st time after 10 years of use.... and my MD told me that he tried to place the unit deeper into my pectoral muscle,. to make it look nicer,, its been almost 3 weeks and the bump over the unit is very puffy.. and swelling hasnt gone down at all... Anyone here had a pacer infection? What should I look for if I think I may have one growing..? Also Im curious if anyone on this list under the age of 35 has had asystole..(no heart b...

Read More...

High elevations?

I'm going on a trip, and will be in elevations up to 7,000 feet (l live at sea level). Will I have any pacemaker problems or heart problems? I'm doing pretty well, but sometimes get what I call a hard heart-beating at night, and it's always associated with high blood pressure. During day, blood pressure is always quite low (100/60 up to 118/78). Just didn't want to worry about going into high elevations . . . any thoughts?

~Jean

Read More...

? on insurance

I noticed on this forum that many of you talk about getting travel insurance because of your pacemaker...is this recommended and what does it cover? We go to Nassau every year and need to get the insurance if needed. Would just like some advice on the issue. Many thanks. I have only had my PM for two weeks. We don't go til first of year so surely can travel by then!

Read More...

Humpback whales help pioneer new heart treatment

Medicine has much to learn from nature. There are literally millions of medical compounds out there that could cure diseases, help improve treatment and even protect us from some types of bacteria.

Scientists have been tapping into nature's resources for inspiration on how to treat humans.

Humpback whales, sea cucumbers and Australian red algae are just a few of the species leading the way in modern medicine.

The humpback whale has unwittingly concealed a design...

Read More...

A Lucky 4th

Hey to all;

I am a newbie! so new that this time last week I was just beginning to have mild chest pains...that got progressively worse until 5:00am last Tuesday morning when I finally got smart and went to my doc as a walk-in. That didn't go real well...he gave me two nitros and called an ambulance and put me in the hospital. The next day I was transferred to another hosp where they did a heart cath (I had had an angioplasty w/2 stents in 2002) All of that was fine...good stents;...

Read More...

Update Re: "thumps" in my chest

Hello-
I've been meaning to post about my checkup but boy have things been crazy!!
The Dr and tech think that the thumps I have been feeling are PVC's due to the ICD/lead. They can't see them on my readout because I only have one lead. I guess 2 leads are required to get a reading on a PVC. Everything else checked out ok and there were no abnormal rhythms on record. The general opinion was that once more scar tissue built up that the PVC's would go away. He wasn't too happy that...

Read More...

You know you're wired when...

Like the Energizer Bunny, you keep going.

Member Quotes

I've never had a problem with my model.