Just post op

Hi everyone,
I am just one week of having a pacemaker inplanted and was wondering what I should expect. Yesterday my heart rate was all over the place. I would get 3 to 4 beats very quickly then get my normal 1 per second, then get another 3 to 4 beats very quickly agian. This kept up for about 6 hours. Is this normal?
LeoF

3 Comments

leo

by jessie - 2009-10-19 06:10:26

welcome,i am jessie and i live in ontario canada. it did not happen to me but to others maybe. i had a slow heardbeat and was in 3rd degree heartblockso leo it is best to call the dr. who implanted it or your cardio dr. even e.r. you and i were born in the same year. i have had mine amedtronic dual lead for 3 years. good luck and welcome agian

Irregular Heart Beat

by SMITTY - 2009-10-19 07:10:05

Hello LeoF,

Welcome to the Pacemaker Club.

From my experience the answer to you question is yes and no. Let me take the no part first. I don't think irregular heart beats are ever normal. Mother Nature designed our heart to beat with a steady rhythm day after day, but as with all things, the heart does not always do as designed.

Now for the yes part, as Jessie said, it does happen to a lot of us, but not just with pacemakers. My first experience from a really irregular heart rhythm came after bypass surgery some 27 years ago. Things finally settled down after several months, but over the years I have had reoccurrence of the problem. Then when I got my pacemaker 9 years ago (which will be replaced Thursday, I might add) what you describe appeared shortly after it was implanted. There have been off and own problems with an irregular heart beat ever since but seldom any that were ever more than just attention getters, or maybe the worst episodes were troublesome, but very seldom have they caused a real problem.

They did become a real problem for me a couple of years ago, and some more adjustments to my PM caused my heart to go into a very steady rhythm a couple of months ago. My pacemaker will record mine and one 2 month period this year, before the adjustment I mentioned, I had them at a rate of about .75 million/month or averaging about 12 minute. Now that is enough to become a real nuisance.

So rather than wait and see if they will get better on their on, I would suggest that you talk to your doctor as there are a number of things that can cause this and our doctors usually have a bag full of tricks to solve such problems. These can be medicines or sometimes adjustments to our pacemaker. And in fact he may say it is nothing to worry about and just give it time to go away.

Good luck

Smitty

Carolyn65

by Carolyn65 - 2009-10-19 09:10:15

LeoF, so glad to see you post a "comment" on the board. Questions submitted and the good "comments" returned help all of us with any/all situations the rest of us might be having, but we just do not stop & ask/post.
I am almost clueless to PM implants. I have had my Boston Scientific Altrua dual for 2 wks. now. I stay "worried" because I do not have any feelings, one way or another, pings/pongs/skipped beats, etc. Other than touching the PM, I do not even know it is there. After reading the PM Club "comments", I feel like I am one of the very lucky ones. I do know I do not have my A-Fib, post PM anymore. Without my BP meds, which I have taken for years, I feel my BP might become a lil' high ~ now about 135/85 & 82 pulse, according to my home BP monitor. The only thing I would suggest to anyone having a PM implant, use the prescription they give you for a week of antibiotics AND ask, if not given, a few/couple of days of pain meds. I did not have any meds. for pain my first nite home, and oh boy, it did not take me long to call the Dr. & get some going for a couple of days! Like I said, I have had my PM for 2 wks. and do not feel any "problems" (yet). I was told by the PM tech not to lift anything heavy nor raise my arms over my head for about 8 weeks. Otherwise, I do just about what I want to do. Take care ~ ~ Carolyn G. in TEXAS

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Member Quotes

I had a pacemaker when I was 11. I never once thought I wasn't a 'normal kid' nor was I ever treated differently because of it. I could do everything all my friends were doing; I just happened to have a battery attached to my heart to help it work.