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Query

Is an ICD the same as a pacemaker? Sorry to be so ignorant but only had mine since January, a pacemaker that is.

By the way, don't want to speak too soon but since they altered all my settings I have been feeling better. Still tired but I think at last I am on the way up.

Thanks for all help given when I have been whining on the site - all your responses were helpful and I still log on daily just to have a read.

Take care everyone

Love Jules

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Patient restrictions

I am a retired 70 year old active male (I play tennis year round)
who on February 21, 2008 passed-out while walking from my car to a restaurant. This is the first time this has happened.
On the second day of my hospitalization a defibrillator was implanted into my chest after the completion of a number of tests. It has been 3 weeks and recovery is going well except for some swelling which the cardiologist is not concerned about.
I would like to hear from other implant patients wha...

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Time for a Update!

Hi my friends!
I am still in Chicago for a couple more days before returning home. I have enjoyed my trip besides the hospital stay from hell.
My heart is still a little out of sync though on the 19th I will figure out what is going on exactly.My doctors gave me help and advice over the phone to prevent myself from not landing myself back in the hospital here.
I have had some problems lately and I believe some of you have heard me talk about this before. As the weeks hav...

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Thanks

Thanks for all of your input, to set things straight it's not a joke nor am I in need of a pshrink,and I don't have a death wish. I do have issues with implanting foreign objects the human body be it mine or yours..it's not right. now we went back and forth about this and in the end it came down to being tired and beaten so I gave in. A fact that I am not proud of but there you have it. As for considering the consequences I have weighed everything time and time again and my answer is always the...

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Chat

Going to the chat room to see if anyone will join me.

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Pacemaker irritability

I had a dual-chamber pacemaker inserted in 2006 after a serious MVA with spinal cord injury. Since then, I've experienced an increase in irritability of the pacemaker with any movement of the left arm, activity, motion, driving on a bumpy road, mowing the lawn (riding mower), etc. Has anyone else experienced this problem? If so, how did your doctor help you resolve it?

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I want my icd removed

I am the recent recipient of and icd that I fought tooth and nail against. My Doctors overrode my objections with their sanctimonious arguments about how they know what is best for me and implanted the damn thing anyway. Should I have one? Most definately my EF is less than 35%. This is not, however,about treating my "condition",this about respecting the wishes of the patient. What can I do, who can I see or talk to? I completely understand the risk of sudden death due to ventricular tachycardia...

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support needed

can anyone tell me if lying on the side of your pm can cause damage / i cant lie on my right side as my pm(implanted on the left) flips over but by lying on my right i always wake up inpain i think im squashing the pm.also ive developed a feeling of pressure in both sides of my neck tight chest heaviness and fast heart beat especially on standin/minimal exercise and after eating ive tried beta blockers that ease symptoms slightly but make me feel ill with asthma like symptoms so ive stopped the...

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The New Me

  • by HB
  • 2008-03-13 06:03:54
  • Coping
  • 1666 views
  • 1 comments

Hi, I'm Heather, a 58 yr old with a brand new ICD (St. Jude's Atlus II). I have a history of dilated cardiomyopathy, but was stable and healthy for 13 years until this past December when I had my first V-Tach. In the next two months I had several more, never actually fainted, but came close to it, in and out of emergency several times. A week and a half ago I went into the hospital for what I thought was to be an EP study, followed by a cardio-ablation. I had more or less prepared myself for tha...

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Alternator

Well I bough a new car on Friday and on Tuesday my alternator went out. I have heard that the Alternator would interfere with my pacemaker so I had the guy at discount auto parts bring the part out to my car and I had it put as far away from me as possible. Now my father in law swears that it does not have any magnets in it and that it does not put of a magnetic field so I was hoping maybe someone here would know if it was true or not.

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Heart defibrillator implants can be hacked-experts

By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor

WASHINGTON, March 12 (Reuters) - Implanted heart
defibrillators, which automatically shock a fluttering heart
back into a normal rhythm, can be hacked from the outside, U.S.
researchers reported on Wednesday.

There is no immediate danger to patients, the team of computer experts, electrical engineers and cardiologists
said.

But they made one Medtronic Inc device give up
patient informat...

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EP Study

Hello Everyone!

I am sure that you are all tired of hearing from me by now, but I wanted to finally post some good news! Well, good because my doctor now has an idea of what is going on with my rapid heart rate, but not so good because I will be going back to the hospital for another EP study.
I have been wearing an event monitor for the last three and a half weeks, and finally, two days before I am scheduled to send the darn thing back, I have a really bad episode. I was walkin...

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antidepressets

This is a great site i love the fact that we can relate to each other having been there ourselves,and can sometimes answer questions sometimes Dr. can only guess at. My question is if anyone has had irregular or elevated heartrate from antidepressents (zoloft in particular) I have icd and am having high rate for me -90-100 with my meds it is usually between 50 and60 Ive been on 100 mg zoloft for a year and see elvated heartrate can be a side effect. Can anyone relate to this ? Than...

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Three weeks after implant

Hello everyone. Nice to be alive!!! I'm 49 and had a PM implanted little over three weeks ago. I'm still coping with quit a bit of pain. II went into work yesterday and worked all day long. There seemed to be no problem. Other than being uncomfortable. I sit in front of a computer screen all day long. This morning I woke up and could hardly deal with the pain. I took a pain pill and laid back down, I woke up 8 hours later still in pain. Have I gone back to work too soon? Has anyone els...

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Pacemakers & Young People

Hi All,

I am new to the site, and somewhat new to the pacemaker world. As some background for you guys, around 3 years ago now, at a general doc check-up, they were concerned after an x-ray that my heart looked enlarged, and that my pulse, laying on the table was nearly 130. I was rushed to the cardiology unit, and had a huge battery of tests done to see if they could figure out the cause for my pulse (my heart was found in an echo to not be enlarged, thankfully!). On beta blockers...

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Birthdays!

I may be behind on some and don't have my list with me on vaccation but I did want to make sure to all the people celebrating a birthday this month I pray that it is an amazing month for you.

To all the people celebrating there pacer b-day enjoy your day and celebrating the very special day that God blessed you with a different look on life.


Enjoy celebrating your birthdays!

Tammy

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defib leads

I have a medtronic ICD inplanted that replaced a st judes model that failed when I coded. One claim is that the lead failed, another that the battery fialed but anyway they put another set of leads in that are now on recall be medtronic. Does anyone know how many sets of leads you can have inside you at one time. I would like to have the medtronic leds replaced but my doctor says it is not necessary??? What to do
Kirby Knight

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Livestock Electric Fence Chargers

Ok, I've read through all kinds of the EMI stuff and can't find an answer, and my EP said " Hmmm, thats one I've never been asked before...I'm not sure. You can call Medtronic."
I have horses, goats, etc. and also have a one strand electric fence running around the bottom of a large fenced in dog area ( to keep mine from digging out, and neighbors Pitbulls from digging in).
I have two of these fence chargers ( just regular ones like you see at Lowes or feed and seed stores.) one w...

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pacing from yawning? and Raynauds

Hi everyone!
Just a question, actually 2 questions before I see my doc:
Is pacing (for those of us who know when we do) common after stretching/yawning? Is it triggered by the motion, or breathing pattern associated with it?
Also, since my Raynauds syndrome has reappeared out of the blue ( 4 new episodes) after a decade or 2 without it, I will be seeing my family doc. I think this is not a problem related to the syncope/PM, but thought I'd check with "the Club." Might just mean...

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THANK YOU !!!

Many members responded to my original posting regarding SOB. Your responses and concern were very touching, and very helpful. I am curently in Gainesville Fl where I have had a winter home for the last 23 years. I contacted my internist here who is affiliated with the UF Shands Medical Center. She examined me, ordered bloodwork and an Echo and set me up with an EP Cardiologist. Upon meeting with the Ep Card. I was informed that my ejection fraction had dropped from 55 to 25. She ordered a Cardia...

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You know you're wired when...

You can feel your fingers and toes again.

Member Quotes

I have had my pacer since 2005. At first it ruled my life. It took some time to calm down and make the mental adjustment. I had trouble sleeping and I worried a lot about pulling wires. Now I just live my life as I wish.