Three Lead Device Questions

I have had a three lead CRT-D device by Boston Scientific for less than a week. My left ventricle lead is turned off due to irritating the phrenetic nerve and my diaphragm. It is implanted inside an artery.

My tech says it is unlikely it will settle in, if it hasn't by now. My doctor is asking me to wait four more weeks and try again.

I also have had an awful time mentally and emotionally acclimating to this invasion of my chest and my life. I keep sensing it humming through my system and that keeps me up like tonight.

Can any three lead Vets give me counsel and advice?

2 Comments

3 lead

by Red1958 - 2009-08-26 05:08:12

I have 3 lead st- jude crt-d.The first month that i had it i had an awful thumping under my left ribcage when i exhaled.After first adjustment it eased off but if i hold my breath i can feel little thumps still

Questions

by SMITTY - 2009-08-26 05:08:44

I don't have a three lead pacemaker so I can't advise you.

I do have a two lead pacemaker that they told me was stimulating my phrenic nerve and it caused me to have hiccups that were spontaneous and unbelievably loud. They could come in singles, twos or threes and may happen several a day or I could go several days without one. In addition to the hiccups, the most troublesome problem was at times I would have what felt like an electrical shock, without the muscle contraction I associate with electrical shocks on the right side of my chest.. It hurt like the devil, that I know.

After it was determined what was happening I was given the option of having the lead to the ventricle removed and relocated to a different point in the ventricle, or I could have a spinal injection to try to deaden the affected nerve. I chose the injection and it worked like a charm, except it (I'm guessing this as no one will confirm it) deadened nerve lead and caused me to have a paralyzed diaphragm on the right side. That paralyzed diaphragm has caused me some problems, of which the most noticeable is I get very short of breath when I bend over. It seems that one of the jobs of the diaphragm is to keep internal abdominal organs from moving up and pressing on the bottom of the lungs. A paralyzed diaphragm may cause a person more physically active than I am more problems than I have.

The one thing I have learned in the 9 years I've had my pacemaker is that is it is like we have all heard, for every action there is a reaction. Well that goes double for pacemakers. So far as I'm concerned, the hell of it is our doctors are still in the learning stages on pacemakers and they cannot come close to even guessing what the reaction may be for some of their actions.

Smitty

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