lack of energy

Hi all,
I had a complete AV node ablation and now pace at 100% of the time with 2 leads. Before the surgery I was on 3 different heart pills and now do not take any. I had the first pacemaker in august this year, developed pacemaker syndrome so had to have a whole new system with 2 leads put in instead of one. Since this has been done I am so tired and have very little energy. Is it normal to feel like this after having AV mode ablated as I feel worse at times now than before?
Many thanks
Karen

5 Comments

Comment

by mike thurston - 2010-12-01 02:12:02

Hey Karen,
I have been totally ablated and 100% Pm dependent for 3.5 years now. I also have a third of my heart dead from an MI and am in permanent a-fib. I take several meds that slow me down. Fatigue is a real problem but I don't know if it has much to do with the PM setup. If your setup was recent that could certainly be a reason. Also if you suffer from SAD this time of year as I do could cause severe fatigue. I get to the point where I just want to eat, sleep and contemplate jumping off a building. My family knows it is coming when the cold , dark days settle in. Oddly enough the solution for me is to push past it and get off myb rear and exercise. Mountain bike, road ride, rock climb, walk, hike whatever. It is the only thing that helps. Hard to make myself do it but it truly gets me going. I can fel like death warmed over but if I can just get moving I improve rapidly and feel pretty good. Kind of a momentum thing. I know it is extremely difficult to do when you feel tierd but it seems to work.
Mike

Hi Karen

by SaraTB - 2010-12-01 09:12:34

I had an ablation which unfortunately damaged my AV node, and got the pacemaker the next day. I too am 100% paced.

I'm assuming the second implant was relatively recent? Have you had the settings checked yet - when first implanted, they generally use factory default settings and then fine-tune afterwards.

For example, it took repeated visits over 6 months to get mine to where I needed it to be. Initially I found even gentle walking to be exhausting - and I was a previously healthy 42 yr old, so I knew something was wrong. I'm now on my second, and still getting them to tweak it from time to time.

I would strongly recommend seeing your doctor, letting them know that you feel worse than before, and asking them to review the settings. And check back in here at the Forum and let us know how you get on.
Sara

I agree

by ElectricFrank - 2010-12-02 01:12:56

Unless you have some other serious cardiac problem the solution is getting the pacemaker programmed properly. A common problem is having the upper limit set too low which limits exercise tolerance. For some people the resting HR may be on the low side which can make it hard to "get going". Mine tends to be that way, but I overcome it by just getting up and moving around. It's also possible to set the lower pacing limit up a bit to keep the HR from dropping so low, but that can affect sleep.

frank

Adding to Frank's post

by Heidiglassmeyer - 2010-12-03 12:12:09

Higher lower limit effecting sleep....I had that issue and they set my "sleep mode" to 50. Not sure if all PM's have that function but it worked for me. Just sharing :)

Heidi

what about a third lead?

by mereiriz - 2010-12-05 09:12:27

I'm having an AV node ablation in 2 weeks. Right now I have a 2 leads pacemaker, implanted for a complete SA node ablation, which by the way lasted for about a year. The doctor told me that after the AV node ablation the heart could experience what's called asynchrony, and that later on that could cause heart failure. That's because your pacemaker is only stimulating the right side of your heart, while the left side is behaving in a different way. That's why I'm having my PM replaced for another with three leads. The new lead will be in my left ventricle, taking care of the synchrony. I don't know if your symptoms are because of this, but it could be! I guess you could ask your doctor.

Best wishes,
Meredith

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