Most Recent Messages

Scary Occurrence

My husband is post ICD surgery two years ago and has been doing fine, Friday night right after we had dinner (and it was overly warm in our kitchen) he had just taken his coreg and coumadin and started sweating profusely, got very dizzy and weak, his lips turned totally white and his face was totally gray. He vomited up everything he had just eaten but 5 minutes prior. I put an icepack on his head, turned a fan on him and in about 15 minutes he recovered. What could this have been? I have nev...

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beta blockers (feel sick)?

Hi Allan (41) edinburghj

Just started on bete blockers about 5 days ago and i have had aches and pains and diahoria ever since .I dont know whether to blame the beta blockers or not as my girl friend had a bout of same symptoms last week.

Does anyone else have same experience

Allan

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Pacemaker seems to have moved

Hi everyone,

I am almost in my 8th week since pm plant. I notice that my pacemaker has moved up more. It is very close to my left collarbone. Actually, when I feel it, there is about a "fingertip" between them. Has anyone else experienced this? And if so, is it safe? I sort of feel it, and it seems much closer. I am worried that my leads are in the way and going to get broken. I do go again this coming Friday to the Cardiologist and also to get my PM check. So I am going to me...

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happy birthday dominique

i am posting dominiques birthday november 6 th early as i don't know if valerie is available. first of all the name dominique is of latin origin. it means dominique is of god. it is the french feminine form of dominic. it is for a child born on sunday.the singing nuns performed a song in the 1960's dominique which a few of us will remember. a nickname is dom. there is dominique swain a famous actress. dominique macean and dominique dawes who were famous gymnasts. people who like this name also...

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5 year old HLHS son needs pacemaker

Hi!

I'm writing because my 5 year old son was born with HLHS (Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome). He has Sinus Node Dysfunction and will need pacing in the future. We are anxiously awaiting that time, but right now he is having Holter Monitor tests every 4 weeks. He is symptom free in every way (activity level, energy, etc...) but has a very slow heartrate which even dips into the 40's when he's in a deep sleep. I'm SO EXTREMELY nervous because of the fact that Tate will have to h...

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Photo Gallery.

HELP!!!!!

I have been trying to post a photo of myself with my grand children, and only accomplished to upload an empty frame. A member said that only the photo text showed up. I can't even find that.
What am I doing wrong? Please someone, help!
Thanks,

~ Dominique ~

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Moving the PM

Well, I met with my Cardiovascular & Thoracic surgeon on 11/2 and he too agrees my PM should be repositioned. I have a wire protruding out, not out of the skin, however, the skin there is extremely thin and very uncomfortable. I had my battery changed in 4/07 and haven't been comfortable since.

The surgeon said he would place under my muscle, although I am very small framed...has anybody had their PM put under the muscle? What is the recovery time? It seems like it would be long...

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Photos

Please I need help. I can't seem to load any pictures to the Member Gallery. I have a jpeg rgb photo of Peter's wife Nina and my husband Tim and I have been trying desperately to load it, but it never shows up! I get all the right messages, but it never appears. It really is a lovely picture of the two of them!
Help!
Thank you pacergirl.

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Interesting Website

Came across this forum where patients with rhythm problems get their questions answered by a physician...

http://www.medhelp.org/forums/show/91

Dave

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#####Firerworks######

Hi people,
I wonder how you get on with the noise of fireworks.. nothing against them although I wish they could be restricted to firework night here in the UK.. I find if I am not expecting a "big bang" it makes my heart jump a bit...well a lot.. plus I have 60lbs of german shepherd dog "Poppy jumping on my lap everytime one goes off. she is so frightened. they were going off at long after midnight last night and the dog rattled the door knob and when my wife opened the door she jumped o...

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Muscle spasms?

I have had a dual lead PM for 11 months. Last night I started have small muscle spasms or something similar just below the PM. They didn't hurt, but were aggravating. They happened about every forty seconds or so and lasted for less than 5 seconds. They finally quit after about 12 hours. Any experiences or thoughts on this would be appreciated.

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I have a Question about rate drop response.

I am into 2 years with my pacer a medtronic duel lead. i have had no problems for the last year. Now all of a sudden I am really feeling the rate drop response that it has set on it. I get a funny hard to describe sort of tight feeling in the abdomen and I know my pacer has kicked me up to 100bpm. This has happened probably 1500 times in the last year and I have felt it maybe 3 times. I have felt it 5 times in the last 2 days and once it woke me up at night. I have also felt flushed in the face...

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Will you share your experience to help another patient?

I'm the director of patient advocacy for Emmi Solutions, a company that makes online patient education programs for people who will be having surgery for all types of medical conditions, including patients who will have ICD's and pacemakers. We will also be producing programs in the near future on atrial fibrillation and coagulation management therapy.

We talk with patients directly about their experience, and ask patients to watch our programs and provide feedback because we want to...

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Question

Hello everyone,
I am one week post pm implant, 46 y.o. who for the past 2 years had passed out several times after exercising. I had a Reveal monitor placed in August and it only took a few weeks to capture the events that lead to the pacemaker. Diagnosis: Sick Sinus Syndrome. Fortunately I work with about 60 cardiologists so I have had great care. Just a quick question, I have a single lead in my atrium with a Medtronic device. It sometimes feels as though my heart is out of sync, is this...

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battery end

Hi, I am supposed to pacemaker dependent,but I got this last battery in '99, St jude said I had 85% the other day but i had plenty of time left.
Does anyone know at what percent they change the battery?
You would think I WOULD KNOW THIS IS MY THIRD BATTERY.
Thanks and God bless, Nelson

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swelling and incision

I had the pacemaker/defibulator put in on 7/3/07, since them it has been swollen and very painful, then I had to go back in because my incension busted open, they restitched it put me back on antibiotics, home health care. Now going on my 4th month its still swollen ans now I have a opening about 1inch long in my incision ang a bubble of blood. The doctor says he has never seen this before and does not know what step to take next. This is ugly painful and causes me pain. Does any one out there...

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For Your Information.

To everyone affected by the Medtronic Sprint Fidelis lead recall.
It is very important that you read the following.

~ Dominique ~


Recall Information
HCMA ( Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Association ) responds to the Medtronic Sprint Fidelis lead recall October 2007
The HCMA fully supports the use of ICD’s in those at high risk for sudden cardiac arrest. Years of research and surveillance have proven this therapy to be safe and effective in HCM patients a...

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Careful What You Say

Careful what you write.

I received a telephone call from one of my sons today telling me that he had seen something I wrote about my pacemaker experience on Google while he was looking for some information on pacemakers. Of course I had to check it out and found that some of our postings on the PM Club site do make it to Google for whoever to read. Frankly, that information made me think that I had better be sure of any replies I make. Since I normally run some amount of time behi...

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Dependancy on pacemaker

Hi,

Last one month I am in dilemma. I was excessively sweating
when I was at physical job in my professional field. Reported the matter to Cardiologist. Feed back was fully dependant on PM. Reason was Stress, Anxiety and less exercise. Gone to my Home town. Shown to the programmer of Biotronik Dealer.
He also told the same thing. Doctor told after re chekups that I am suffering from cervical spondilitis. Due to that I am sinking
sometimes. After implantation I got some...

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7 weeks post PM dual chamber

Hi! I just joined today. I've read some of the postings over the last couple weeks. I was under the impression that I'd be uncomfortable for a couple days or so, but have had several different pain problems, some of which have improved.
During the surgery something painful happened (I think it was insertion of PM) that woke me up + stopped my heart for about 20 seconds. Since then I've had sore throat/neck, armpit, breast, pacemacker pocket, and back..all on the left side. The throat/...

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You know you're wired when...

You read consumer reports before upgrading to a new model.

Member Quotes

My pacemaker has ultimately saved mine and my unborn child’s life for which I am thankful.