dizziness and complications

Well let me begin by saying if I didnt have bad luck I wouldnt have any luck at all!. Summary- I got a PM implanted on 6/11/2009 for atrial tach/SVT. I had an AV node ablation on July 29th leaving me 100% paced and that night I my ventricle lead failed (likely because they hit with a catheter when doing my ablation). August 2nd I was back in the cath lab to have a new lead placed. About 3 days after that I developed this very achey chest pain. It worsened to the point where I had it 24/7 and got very short of breath laying down. I went in to the doctor and they checked an echo to make sure I had no fluid on my heart which I didnt and diagnosed me I as having an inflammed heart from having two procedures in 5 days including manipulation of my leads. It has now been almost 2 weeks and things are improving to the point I dont have chest pain all the time just when I exert myself. So I started doing mild activity and yesterday noticed my heart was becoming very irreglur with fast rates and skipped beats. I called doctor today and ended up spending an hour and half at the doctor with them watching my heart and having me walk the stairs (let me tell you THAT was fun having chest pain with just walking and then them making me do stairs)! Come to find out, since I have atrial tachycardia, my pacemaker was "competing with my own atrial rate" causing me to pace two beats and then skip a beat then two fast beats again. I was DDDR but they said they changed my pacemaker to where it will ignore my atria and just do its own thing. Right now I feel miserable. I feel like I am getting kicked in the heart every time my heart beats. I felt this before but only when I was skipping beats and the next beat was harder than usual since it had my blood to force out. I am horribly dizzy tonight and I dont know if it is from the pacemaker change or because they added Indocin to try and reduce the inflammation. This all sucks. I was only suppose to miss one week of work and now I have missed 3 and he said he doubts he will release me next week because of the inflammation (I am not sure if is considered myocarditis or percarditis). Has anyone been through this "inflammation" after having manipulations? Recovery time? He has warned me this can be long lasting but I cant afford to miss many more weeks of work. Anyone been on Indocin before and had problems? Sorry this is so long. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

5 Comments

I've been there too

by nursesteph - 2009-08-14 02:08:25

After my first pacer implant in 1998, I was in the recovery room when I started having chest pain. I ended up with pericarditis and I only had a single chamber Thera SR PM with atrial lead placed. My pericarditis lasted about 6 weeks and I was in excruitiating pain. I am allergic to aspirin and ibuprofen and the only thing I could take was narcotics for the pain and steroids. The steroids caused the scar tissue to not form correctly and my lead started malfunctioning a year later. my battery was dead 4 years later and I had it replaced in 2002. I have developed an abnormal pericardium over the years due to repeated bouts of pericarditis. I got it when it was replaced in 2002 but as I had an anaphylactic reaction to latex 2 days post-op, I had bigger problems and was on a ventilator when the pain was likely the worst. It does get better and my new lead has had no problems even though I was on steroids for 2 months.
I have had 7 EP studies with 56 ablations and now I have A-Fib and need an upgrade. I originally needed the pacer because of every arrhythmia except for complete heart block and V-Fib. I am actually currently in the hospital with CHF due to the AFib.
They may need to reprogram you a bit more and tweak it some. I have had a device since I was 25 and for the most part, I feel pretty good and am only aware of the pacer when my intrisic heart rhythm competes with the pacer. They usually need to adjust my heart meds or adjust the rate on the device and it fixes it.
I know what you are going through, and it will get better but will likely need some time to recover. There are always people that do not recover as usual but it does get better. Good luck and hang in there.

Sounds familiar

by STennant - 2009-08-14 10:08:53

I've had similiar things happen.. Best wishes to you! I hope you have better luck.

wishing you quick recovery

by nat36 - 2009-08-14 11:08:39

I have not had similar to what happened to you but my reasons for getting the pm are similiar. I also had complications during my ablation that caused nerve damage to my diaphram so I know how you must be feeling. I did not ever think I would feel good again.
The dizzyness may be from the medication or maybe they still need to work on your pm settings more. I know they had to adjust mine and I still feel like it needs adjusting. Everyone says it takes a few times to get it right. Hang in there! It will get better. I am thinking of you and wishing you a quick recovery!

???

by pete - 2009-08-14 12:08:07

Only time will tell. You have been very unlucky. Concentrate on resting and relaxing. I do hope things get better for you. Let us know how you are in a few weeks. Cheers Peter

feedback

by sam78 - 2009-08-15 01:08:29

Thank you for all the feedback. It is has been such a trying time for me. I didnt have near as much dizziness today so I think it might have been due to the medication. They said it is a harsh medication. It definetely feels different in this mode. I feel like i have butterflies and then get kicked everyonce in a while. I hate my atria I wish they could just ablate the dam thing and get it over with. When I was in the doctor I was still being paced 94% of the time in the atria and of course 100% in the ventricle. They still have my heart rate set at 90-130. They said they would take it down to 80 next week. I hope this makes me feel better. I dont get why they have to put your heart rate so high initially after surgery. Oh well, time will tell. This pericarditis is just aweful and I need it to go AWAY!!!!! Thank you again for the feedback

You know you're wired when...

You can take a lickin’ and keep on tickin’.

Member Quotes

A pacemaker suddenly quitting is no more likely to happen than you are to be struck by lightening.