pectoral muscle twitching

Not common

by Angelie - 2010-06-24 04:06:15

I agree with Janet. You're not supposed to "feel" your pacer working no matter where it is placed.

I have had my pacer placed above the pectoral muscle AND now it's placed under the muscle. Both places I did not feel it working, and you should not feel you pectoral muscle twitching. You are well past the recovery time and the pacer should be well established in it's pocket, I would imagine.

I'm wondering if you're feeling palpitations, which can feel quite forceful at times as your heart reestablishes it's rhythm.

Angelie

Have you called your doc?

by janetinak - 2010-06-24 04:06:50

I don't think you are supposed to feel your PM working no matter where it is placed. Mine is in the front of my shoulder in a pocket. I am on my 2nd & never had the twitching you describe. I sure would call my doc & ask.

Good luck,

Janet

Muscle twitches/dancing pec

by Alamb2 - 2010-06-24 05:06:05

I don't just FEEL the pacer going off, I could actually SEE the left pec moving in rythmn with the pulses-- one crazy boob! Quite the freak show! Again, it does not hurt. It is a very strong thumping -- like a finger flicking the pec from behind the muscle.. Even though I joke about it, it is embarrassing and I am not amused. it doesn't happen constantly - thank goodness. But several times a day and not necessarily when I am moving about. My regular cardiologist is out of town and the doc on call has not responded to my msj yet. I called my surgeon's office. He will see me on Monday. The office said it could be a number of things -- displaced wire. PM polarized too high.... I guess I will find out next week.

Very uncommon

by thorn_man911 - 2010-06-24 08:06:21

I'm on my third. It's in the pocket above my left pec. I've never had this problem. It sounds like you may have a wire exposed, which I've been told can happen through repetitive movement of the left arm moving the collar bone and essentially putting ware on the leads. I'd definitely get it looked as soon.

Muscle twitches/dancing pec

by Alamb2 - 2010-06-24 08:06:37

Thank you for your imput!! The cardiologist's on call had me come in to see a St. Jude rep. After running a few tests he found low impedence on one of the wires which appeared to be due to an exposed wire or a defect in the wire itself. They turned off the faulty wire for now -- apparently I didn't need it. Hopefully that solved the problem for me.

Sub Pec vs Under Skin

by bobjohnson - 2020-06-28 12:48:00

Angelie, Which do you rpefer now that you've had noth unde rthe muscle and unde rthe skin. Mine is under the skin (installed March 29th, 2020) and is about to be moved on July 2nd to under the msucle.  I'm a fit 52 and need to carry 100 pound packs and was also concerned about the bulge as I'm an actor.  Easier to cover the scar than deal with the hockey puck. Plys it was rubbing on my collar bone. Now I'm nervous after reading a few posts where people point out negatives of under the msucle, but I don't know if they have personal experience or not.

Sub pec vs under skin

by Alamb2 - 2020-06-28 14:36:12

I had a pm replacement under the pec 5 yrs after my initial placement due eroded wires.  5 years after that, in 2019, it started to show static on the interrogation again.  So, Likely the wires are eroding again but not so much that anything needs to be done right now.  I always try to be careful how I lift to protect the PM area/wires.  

I like having it under the pec because of the fact that I am active and don't want it to get it bumped.  However, if it was determined that the wires were eroding quickly due to muscle rubbing caused by my activity level, I would consider under the skin replacement because future replacements I will be older and would want less invasive.