Just had 1st PM implanted on 6/7/10

Hello, I am new to this website and have found lots of answers and information already within just 10 days of having a pacemaker implanted. I have been off of work for 2 weeks and am able to go back with restrictions starting monday. I sleep with a mobilizer to keep me from putting my arm near my head while sleeping. I am nervous about the restrictions I will have the rest of my life, since some of those restrictions will be a problem with the jobs I perform but my main question is this....

On average, for those of you physically fit, what was the time frame that you were able to go back to working out, running, jogging, weight lifting, etc. I am just wondering how this will effect my weight loss since I was exercising about 5 times a week for 2 hours a day.

7 Comments

Let your body tell you...

by COBradyBunch - 2010-06-17 03:06:03

While I started out about 4 days after surgery it might have been too soon for me because I had something going on with my insertion site (although there was no visible signs of infection pain ended up radiating out to my shoulder and down my arm and also up my neck and antibiotics knocked the pain down so figure there was some sort of infection going on). Of course there were also other issues like I only did elliptical or stationary bike for the first 4 weeks (treadmills and I never get along, bad knees). At 5 weeks my doc lifted all restrictions and I have been working out 5-6 days a week since (right now mostly biking, both road and mountain).

Anyway, like I said, listen to your body and take your time. One other thing I warn newcomers about is that you are likely to go through some stuff with your head as well. Don't blame yourself if you are feeling down and actually understand that you could (I know I do) go through a grieving process, especially if you are a active and relatively young person.

exercise

by Tracey_E - 2010-06-17 03:06:14

What type of work do you do? Most of us find that once we heal, having a pm does not affect our day to day lives.

I started light cardio the first week after each of my surgeries (just had my 4th earlier this year). Make sure it's ok with your dr, but you should be able to exercise now if you feel up to it, just don't lift weights or raise your arm over your head. I walked and used the elliptical very quickly. By 6-8 weeks, I was back to my full work out routine.

exercise

by heather1723 - 2010-06-17 04:06:37

I work for a non profit company filing and answering phones, getting the mail, mostly a receptionist position. But I also work part time at Six Flags Great America setting up for concerts, lifting and moving speakers, etc. But we have a fitness center membership and am wondering if this is something I need to cancel due to pacemaker restrictions. I was weight lifting (bench press, situps, pushups, crunches, arm curls, bicep and tricep curls, etc), just wondering how long it will take for me to get back on track.

I have my first followup (10 days) appt tomorrow morning so I will be sure to ask the doctor tomorrow. Thanks so much for your replies.

recovery

by Tracey_E - 2010-06-17 05:06:17

You should be back to your weights by 8 weeks at the most. Check with your dr, they all vary on how long they want us to baby the arm but the average is 6-8 weeks. You should be able to do legs now if you feel up to it. The reason for the caution is too much stress on the arm can pull the leads out of position, so it's ok to move the arm but lifting weight and raising above shoulder level can dislodge the leads. By 4 weeks, the scar tissue has had a chance to build up and anchor them good, that's why they say anywhere from 4-8 weeks. After that you will not dislodge them so we can do what we want.

No reason to cancel the fitness center membership! I do everything you listed. Once we heal, the only restrictions are usually avoiding large magnets (junkyards, arc welding), mri's, and direct contact sports like karate and tackle football. Anything else goes.

The speakers could potentially be a problem. Magnets, if they're strong enough, can put the pm in backup mode. It won't do any damage and as soon as you get away from it, you'll feel fine and it will be fully functional again, but you may feel weird when carrying the speakers. How much do you pace? If you don't use it much you may not notice a difference. It's still working when this happens, it's just not fully functional. It's the same mode they put it in to test it. Your hr won't fall dangerously low but all the bells and whistles are turned off. Newer pm's are pretty well shielded so you may not feel it at all. I wouldn't worry about it much, just be aware the first time you get near them that the potential is there.

I agree with all of the above

by ElectricFrank - 2010-06-18 02:06:23

Just work back into activities gradually and be sure to avoid the arm over the head thing for a few weeks.

Just try to avoid the Jock Syndrome of pushing it. Be sensitive to what your body tells you.

The main risk with magnetic things like the speakers is that the sudden shift in HR could cause you to be light headed. While this isn't a threat to your heart it wouldn't be a good thing to have happen while carrying a heavy speaker down some stairs.

By the way, welcome to the forum.

frank

It's not very long

by Pelelives - 2010-06-23 03:06:04

I was (and am) very active and very fit. I went back to walking and hiking within a week of having the PM. I waited about six weeks before doing anything that required me to move my arms over my head such as ballet. I waited eight weeks to resume yoga. I am still careful in yoga - pulling leads out is probably a stupid thing to be afraid of, but some of the positions really stretch the area where the lead lines are and it freaks me out to think of them pulling loose. Overall, I am pretty much totally back to what I did before the PM and I rarely think about it. I am grateful for that. I haven't been paddleboarding yet, but perhaps this summer. I've had the PM since Nov 09. Good luck to your recovery.

Welcome

by DybHen - 2010-06-23 05:06:12

I'm responding to your post on my post about PLSVC. You are the first person I have talked to with it! Kind of excited :-)

The exercise thing varies for everyone I imagine. I was very active, jogging, elliptical, weights, etc. It's been nearly 6 weeks and I have done none of these things other than a semi-fast paced walk. I have, however, had a lot of complications. Pacer maker wasn't capturing, getting jolted if they set the voltage too high, etc. Now I have a blood clot, near my pacemaker, so that has slowed me up again.

Anyhow, from what I've read and heard 6 weeks is about the average if you're feeling good.

You know you're wired when...

You have an excuse for being a couch potato.

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