Feeling a bit strange..

I had my Medtronic PM implanted on 1-18-2010. Diagnosis was 3rd degree Heart Block. Overall things have been going pretty well although 1 week after surgery I had to make a mad dash to the clinic because my heart rate jumped to 130-140 and I was short of breath. That was resolved with a little adjustment of my PM and an addition of a beta blocker. For the past two days I have been experiencing an irregular heartbeat, that when I can feel it, causes me to cough. I have placed a call to the Dr. yesterday but have not heard back yet. I am not having any chest pai, but am feeling some weakness. I have noticed when I get up and walk around my heart rate goes up to 90-110 bpm. I have a strange sensation, maybe like heart fluttering. I can describe it as feeling like you do when you are listening to music that has way too much bass and you feel it - literrally! Wondering if I may need an adjustment. Also I have seen things posted about the Rapid Response (or something like that!) maybe causing problems) if it is turned on. I must mention that I have felt in the past that part of this was anxirty, but now I wonder....any comments would be appreciated. Blessings Jeane/Texas

4 Comments

Hi

by Gellia2 - 2010-03-04 01:03:23

I second what TraceyE says!

I have third degree block and just recently had the RR turned off! What a difference that made! NO more erratic heartbeats, hard thumpings and shortness of breath. Why it had been on all these years I'll never know. If it hadn't been for this site and the comments I have read and learned, I'd STILL be having shortness of breath just going up stairs.

I really hope it may work for you!

Best to you,
Gellia

Re: Feeling a bit strange...../jm

by jm - 2010-03-04 09:03:05

OK. I went to the clinic today to see what all this thumping was about. They checked me out and said that I am one of those "sensitive" folks who can feel any change relating to my pacemaker. I have been having PVC's like crazy over the past 3 days...no pain, just bothersome. Was told this is not life threatening...which really was not a concern of mine, but that I just need to get used to these feelings and that I am doing great - I asked for a printout and noticed that 30 days ago I was pacing about 3% with about 22 PVC's, now I am pacing 14% with 323 PVC's. I did mention the Rate Response, and was told in my case it would not make a difference turning it off. I had a bad cold last week and my primary physician told me to take Sudafed and Mucinex DM. I took both for 3 days ending last Friday. I was asked if I had taken any over the counter medicine and when I said what I had taken was told to NEVER do THAT again....no decongestants.I know one thing...I really need to get educated because even though I was told how great I am doing...I think I should feel better than thumper! Most bothersome is the fact that I am a singer and am having trouble with shortness of breath not to mention a nagging cough when my heart starts "pre-beating". Ok, enough whining....this too shall pass..I go back to the clinic the end of April and hopefully this will have resolved...I am going off caffeine just in case that is the culprit. Love y'all! Jeane/Texas

call them back

by Tracey_E - 2010-03-04 09:03:58

I wouldn't wait until end of April. Can you skip the tech and get to the dr? Some techs are more knowledgeable than others, some just parrot back the manual. Tell them if rr won't make a difference, then you want it OFF! :o) Their manual may say it won't make a difference, but lots of experience among members here says otherwise, and if you don't need it there's no reason to have it on. Also, extra bells and whistles you don't need will shorten your battery life so it's always a good idea to turn off the ones we don't use.

Yeah, sudafed isn't a good idea for us. It's not prohibited and it's not like it'll hurt us, but I feel awful on it. Go Afrin! As a rule, any time I take a new drug- even if another dr told me to take it- I ask the pharmacist. I don't ask if I can have it with a pm (because the answer is always yes), I ask if it'll affect my hr. If it does, I won't take it.

Cutting out caffeine may also help with the pvc's and fast rates. I got a lot more sensitive after I got the pm. Before I was paced my heart could go crazy fast and I never felt it due to the av block. You may be experiencing the same thing.

And you just learned a lesson- primary docs don't know more than the bare minimum about pm's! It's up to us to educate ourselves and question them when something doesn't sound right.

question for your doctor

by Tracey_E - 2010-03-04 12:03:19

Before they load you up on beta blockers, ask them if rate response is turned on. Sometimes they turn it on whether we need it or not. It can most definitely be causing what you're feeling and if all you have is an av block, you don't need rr on. RR is for people who can't get their hr up with exercise. The pm senses movement and raises the hr. With an av block, our sinus node (nature's pacemaker) works just fine, we have a broken circuit and need the pm to tell the ventricles when the atria beat. We don't need any help getting our atria to beat faster and rr can compete with our natural hr and cause problems.

Avoid the beta blockers if you can, they have a lot of side effects. They can work really well, and if you need them you need them, but I'd exhaust all options with the settings before trying them.

You know you're wired when...

You run like the bionic woman.

Member Quotes

Sometimes a device must be tuned a few times before it is right. My cardiologist said it is like fine tuning a car.