What is the pm doing

I have not completely understood what the pm is doing when it is checking or testing itself every day. Mine cheks (makes rather uncomfortable pounding sensations) itself every 8 hours on the dot. In addition to that, it does something similar almost every day, what seems to me at random. It doesn't actually hurt, but it doesn't feel very good either. The doctor just said that if he changed the tests to every 24 hours, there would be risk of fainting. What could the extra 'thumps' be about? If I remember correctly, I was told that then the pm senses that I need an extra boost or something. Any ideas? I tried to look it up using 'search', but did not exactly know what words to search for...

7 Comments

hi pupu

by Hot Heart - 2009-07-13 02:07:24

are you sure its the test going on? i was feeling these strange extra beats and fluttering and it turns out to be afib.

HH

Boy, do I feel a little stupid now!

by pupu - 2009-07-13 11:07:30

Typed in 'self test' and pushed 'search'... Found a lot of useful info. My excuse is that english is a foreing language for me...

Thanks TraceyE!

by pupu - 2009-07-13 11:07:47

I thought that before, but the last check up confused me, because the doc started telling something about possibly fainting if the self tests were done less often. It must be that I have misunderstood what he said (or he misunderstood what I was asking about). I have 3rd degree av block and am paced all the time...

doesn't make sense

by Tracey_E - 2009-07-13 11:07:58

Either they're not explaining it well, or they don't know what they're doing. The check is just a self test, as far as I know it doesn't affect the pm's function at all other than to alert us if it's malfunctioning. The pm monitors your heart all the time and it's programmed to step in and add extra beats when you skip beats or go too slowly. Your programming determines when it steps in. You didn't mention a diagnosis, we're all programmed differently depending on our needs. None of that has anything to do with the self tests

thanks!

by pupu - 2009-07-14 01:07:49

both for the comment and the compliment! What the language thing does is that I do not always know the medical terminology and such... The thing about doctors and second opinions in this country may be a little different from yours. In fact I do not have one doctor who I see every time, it's just who happens to be there, so I have had at least 7 different doctors so far anyway, and often they do tell me completely different things and one doctor immediately changes the settings another has just made and so on... Not very nice, but that is the system here. But I think now, with all the info from here I feel better about what is going on and can relax. Thanks again!

Reply to HH

by pupu - 2009-07-14 03:07:19

For the tests that happen every day exactly at the same time, I am sure, of course, and the doctor confirmed those times for me, but as for the others, I do not know for sure what they are, they just feel the same as the tests... The reason I asked the doctor about the whole thing in the first place was that those extra 'thumps' feel uncomfortable and their number is increasing from once or twice a week to almost every day sometimes several times a day. So that is when the dr mentioned the risk of fainting and the pm sensing the need for increase in voltage or something... and me being a person who is inclined to worry (maybe too much), I was thinking that does it mean that my heart is getting worse? Could I really faint even with the pm pacing all the time? I may be just overreacting.

fainting

by Tracey_E - 2009-07-14 12:07:48

You can still faint when you have a pm. If your fainting is caused by drops in your hr, then the pm will prevent it. If it's caused by other things- lack of oxygen, drop in blood pressure, etc- the pm cannot stop it. It only controls your heart rate, therefore it can only fix symptoms associated with a low or irregular heart rate.

Have you considered a second opinion? Any time you are not feeling good and your dr can't figure out why, it might be good to get a fresh opinion.

The thumps could be svt or pvc. The pm can't stop those but it's possible sometimes to adjust the programming so you don't feel it as much. Or sometimes we just have to live with it! They are annoying but harmless.

I have a third degree block and pace all the time also. This is the simplest thing to fix with a pm, we are very lucky. The sinus node works normally so our atria beats as it should. The signal to the av node in the ventricles is blocked (hence, the name av block). The pm watches the heart all the time. When the atria beats it gives the ventricles a chance to beat. When it does not (nearly all the time with us) it generates an impulse to make the ventricle beat. The pm completes the broken circuit. You should not feel this. You may feel the self test or svt's.

and your English is excellent! I never would have guessed it is your second language.

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