Too many unanswered questions

Hello everyone, This is my first time on here. I had a pacer put in a week ago tomorrow and I have had nothing but complications. Saturday I had very hard pounding heart rate and had to go to the ER. Of course they said nothing was wrong... Went to the doctors today for a pacer interrogation and they said I was only using the Atrial pacer 2% and the ventrical pacer 0% but while they said that we could clearly see the ventrical pacing!!?? what is up with that? I have a bitronics pacer and am wondering if anyone else has had this problem. The Dr's office did not seem to even be alarmed that this was happening and I am now feeling very dizzy and sick to my stomach.. Please, anything you can tell me would be great

Kris

7 Comments

Hmmmmmmmm.......

by Pookie - 2010-01-04 04:01:06

Hi Kris & Welcome to this site.

First, let me say, that by no means am I a professional, but this is what I'd do if I were you:

1) Call Bitronics and ask to speak to a rep.

2) Demand that your cardiologist give you either a Holter Monitor (usually worn for 24 to 48 hrs) OR an Event Recorder (sometimes called a Loop Recorder) which is usually worn for 30 days. When you have a "weird" heart sensation or "event" you press a button and the machine will record what your heart is doing.

(I had thumping & pounding in my heart for the past 5 yrs until FINALLY I was seen by an EP and wore a Loop Recorder ~ now we know that I'm dealing with: Junctional Rhythm).

3) Ask for a simple chest Xray: that way the doctors can see if your leads are in their correct positions.

4) I'd be demanding an answer about your 0% ventrical pacing, but yet it was pacing????

5) Demand that you be seen by an EP which is a cardiologist who specializes in heart arrhythmias.

Don't let this go. You should NOT be feeling dizzy or sick to your stomach.

I live in Canada and don't know how it works where you live, but I'd get my butt back into the pacemaker clinic and ask for a Bitronic Rep to be present as well. But I still think your best bet would be to be seen by an EP.

Remember: the squeaky wheel gets the grease!!!!!!!!!

Call whoever you can first thing tomorrow. And if you feel worse, don't ever ever ever hesitate on going into the ER...that is what they are there for.

Best of luck.

Pookie

Your doing great reply

by silygirl30 - 2010-01-05 01:01:24

Hello Pacemaker Writer. The book sounds like it could be very full of information and I will look it up. I should probably mention that the reason I understand so many medical terms and can read an EKG is because I am certified as a telemtry tech and work in that field. So I look at EKG strips all day and save them for the doctors with my interpretation of the rhythm. I have also been in nursing school and have had to take a break for the last few years due to my heart rhythm issues. I hope to be able to go back now and finish my degree.

Thanks for all the encouragement

You're doing great!

by pacemaker writer - 2010-01-05 01:01:52

Hi,
Well, it sounds like you're doing everything right. You have an EP, you know quite a bit about your device, you've established good contact with your local rep. So you're really doing great ... much better than many people who have had a pacemaker much longer!

If you can pick out a pacemaker spike (and know what "gain" is) you should consider getting this cool book. It's called Nuts & Bolts of Paced ECG Interpretation. It's really for nurses to help them learn to read pacemaker ECGs. It's by Tom Kenny and it's on Amazon. (This is not a commercial--I don't get any kickback on book sales, LOL). It's pretty pricy but it's a fun book if you really want to get into reading what's up with the pacemaker.

I'm sorry you had problems but you're showing that you really know how to navigate this environment! Hats off!

Wow!

by pacemaker writer - 2010-01-05 05:01:14

No wonder you sounded so knowledgeable about the pacing spike and adjusting the gain!! You're way ahead of the game. The Tom Kenny book may be useful if you really want to dig into the paced ECGs, but you probably know a lot (if not all) of that already! That would be awesome if you went back and got your nursing degree.

updagte

by silygirl30 - 2010-01-05 11:01:38

I also forgot to add that biotronics is the only pacer that considers it 0% ventricle pacing if you use less than 1%. all others will automatically say 1%.. And when we blew up the size of the gain on the machine of my heartbeat we no longer saw a ventricle pacer spike.

Totally Agree...

by ppt - 2010-01-05 11:01:41

with Pookie - and persevere ! The hardest thing is to realize that the Drs implant these things and monitor these things all day long - 5 days a week. So to them all is OK when the PM is implanted. But truthfully that is just the beginning. There are many settings for the PM. Get to an EP as I have found (only my experience) Cardiologists in general concentrate on the heart pumping system while the EP concentrates on the electrical system. They are the 2 systems of the heart. So get to an EP. It was a long time before I was referred to an EP by my Cardiologist and I suspect I could have felt better sooner if I had gotten to the EP sooner. And welcome to the site !!

Already have

by silygirl30 - 2010-01-05 11:01:45

Sorry guys, I didn't give you all the info . I have an EP doctor and he is great, I talk to him regularly and he is the one who put the pacemaker in not my cardiologist.
I did call biotronics and was very happy to actually get some of the questions I had answered. I now know more about my device than I did before.
I still have a few questions and will take any advice on how to manage my pacemaker I can get.

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