Need a Pep Talk

I had an Echo last Friday to see if my EF had improved after having my PM implanted in Nov.'09. I received the results on Tueday and was disappointed to learn that it had not improved. I am still at 35-40 after six months. I have been feeling quite down. Am I expecting too much too soon?

I appreciate everyone on this site and look forward to your responses. Could you cheer my up?

Sunny Days From Ohio,
westj

5 Comments

frustrating

by Tracey_E - 2010-05-27 03:05:11

I'm sorry to hear you didn't have any improvement! Why did you get the pm, did they tell you it would help your EF? Sometimes it can make it better, sometimes it's put in to keep things from getting worse. How do you feel? I go by that more than the numbers.

Do you have a 2 or 3 lead pm? Have they adjusted your settings at all?

NBlood Flow

by SMITTY - 2010-05-27 03:05:59


Hello Sunny Days From Ohio,

I'll try to offer something and will readily admit it may be worthless. But let's start with what ejection fraction is really telling us.

Ejection fraction is nothing but a numerical means of estimating of how much blood our heart is pumping each beat. A normal heart will contain about 200cc of blood ready to be sent out into the far reaches of our body. A normal EF is between 50% and 70%. For this discussion we will split the difference and say for you normal would be 60%. That means if your EF was 60% you would be pumping about 120cc (120 X 60%) of blood each heart beat. However, since your EF is 35% you are pumping 70cc (200 X 35%) of blood each heart beat.

Now if you got a pacemaker because your heart rate was low - we will use the number of 50 BPM. If the low setting on your PM is 70 that means your heart rate is now at least 70 BPM.

At 35% EF and a heart rate of 50 BPM you were pumping 3,500cc blood each minute. With a heart rate of 70 and that same 35% EF you are pumping 4,900cc blood a minute. That is an increase in blood flow, of about 40%, although your EF is the same old 35%.

I do not know why you got a pacemaker so the above may be of no value. On the other hand if my numbers are close to correct it is a case of where the entire picture must be taken into account.

Last but not least the important thing is do you feel the same, worse or better? If it is the same or worse, then I suggest a discussion with your doctor may be in order.

Good luck,

Smitty.

EF

by Jack - 2010-05-27 06:05:33

Hi,
I, too had a 35% EF even after the PM. I am now at 55% and when I asked my Dr. about the improvement, he said he feels it was the Coreg they put me on.
I hope you get the same improvement soon and remember to always keep your chin up. Sometimes it takes these guys awhile to figure things out since there are so many things to go wrong. Just see how many different heart maladies you read about on this site alone.
Jack

Thanks

by westj814 - 2010-05-27 08:05:39

to TracyE Smitty and Jack. I have quite a bit going on with my heart. Had an artificial valve implanted 18 years ago. Valvular disease was either from rheumatic fever at the age of six or genetic. In Oct.'09 I had gall bladder surgery at which time I had heart block 3. My PR usually ran 45-55 before this. Was put on Coreg and Prinivil after the heart block to keep it from happening again, however I continued to have it for 21/2 weeks at home. I went back to the hospital and the PM was placed. I feel about back to normal. I did have a pretty rough time at first, but I believe it was because of the two surgeries being so close together. Echo showed EF of 35 before gall bladder surgery. Two days after this surgery, I had a necular stress test at the hospital and was told that test showed an EF of 40. I was told that the Coreg and Prinivil would bring my EF up over time. Perhaps it is too soon to see any improvement. My PM settings are at 60 and 120.

Thanks again for the input.

Sunny Days From Ohio,
westj

No wonder to me

by pacergirl - 2010-05-27 10:05:44

Hi, Welcome :-)

First let me say it is no wonder to me why you are feeling a bit down. Sometimes it can just seem like so much to deal with. I have had a pretty rough year so far and I did find that I was feeling quite low at times. I am usually a pretty upbeat person, but even I had some problems with feeling sad. :-(

The thing to do is try to reach out as much as you can/ You have done the right thing by finding this group. We are here for you and we don't know all the answers but we will be supportive!

You are not alone, we're here for you. I only discovered in 2005 that I have a rheumatic heart. I'm over 50! My parents never even knew that I was sick as a child. They just recall that there were a few years that I became very quiet.

Please continue to reach out to your new friends....
take care,
PG

You know you're wired when...

You fondly named your implanted buddy.

Member Quotes

I, too, am feeling tons better since my implant.