NEW Guy

Just got pacer to avoid pauses and avoid passing out ......
passed out once at home and dropped like a ton of poop. Scared the heck out of my family....
Still have arythmia problem, pacer is just to avoid passing out.

Lots of fun so far .... 4 ablations and still comes back..

Tim

4 Comments

Welcome ~ ~

by Carolyn65 - 2010-08-11 09:08:27

Afib was my diagnosis about 3 years ago. I guess I had Afib for years and just did not know what it was. I have never been one to 'run' to the Dr. with aches/pains. My GP found it on a typical physical exam and sent me to visit the cardio/EP.

My cardio/EP prescribed meds, I have had several of the 'shock/paddle treatments of start/stop my heart, etc. and none of that helped.

Thankfully, I never had the symptoms the cardio. always asked, 'fainting, dizzy, weak, tired, SOB, etc?' before the PM. Unthankfully, I have developed over the past few months, a slight lite headed feeling, short of breath and I am more tired than I normally have been in the past.

My cardio. did my ablation/PM implant in 10/09 with a Boston Scientific 2 lead. I no longer felt Afib and was feeling great about that until my 3 mo. PM check up, when I asked the 'tech' if my test showed anything? She just said, 'the usual, you still have Afib'! I was in shock to say the least! I thought my ablation/PM took care of the Afib. What is so great about my Afib and my ablation/PM implant is I never knew I had the Afib anymore.

I only have to see my cardio/EP once per year now and I do an 'in home' telephone check once every 3 months.

Wishing you great progress and good 'vibes',
Carolyn G. in TEXAS ~ May Your Day Be Full of Smiles ~

Hi.

by Pookie - 2010-08-11 12:08:10

Welcome to the club.

What kind of pacemaker did you get? I have a Medtronic Enpulse. I got mine in November of 2004 for Sick Sinus Syndrome. I also have Junctional Rhythm (which is currently under control thanks to cutting back on caffeine and taking 250mgs of Magnesium), and I also have a rare defect in my heart called Left Ventricle Noncompaction, which is an entire new subject. However, I'm lucky and my Ejection Fraction is 63%.

I also have Neurocardiogenic Syncope....so I appreciate how it feels to have that "passing out" feeling. I've only ever passed out once - while driving. No one got hurt. But after that, I didn't drive for about 3 years, and in the last 2 years I've only driven 5 times when I absolutely had to.

I had a rough 5 years but about 6 months ago the PM techs and my EP finally got my settings adjusted to where now I can have some of my life back. I'm not at 100% yet....but I'll get there some day.

So, you have AFib??? Are you on any meds to help?

There are a lot of members here with Afib that will probably chime in to your post.

Again, Welcome, you have discovered an awesome site with so many knowledgeable and supportive members.

Take care and feel free to ask any questions.

Pookie

Welcome to the Club

by qwerty - 2010-08-11 12:08:33

You found some really great people here. Hope you continue to feel better.

New also

by Larnett - 2010-08-12 01:08:07

Hi Tm,

I am new here also. I started this journey in April. I passed out a couple times at home but thought I just got dizzy and fell. I realize I did that while running a few times early in the year as well. Guess I'm good at denial. I didn't tell anyone. Finally April 29 I passed out at home and my husband saw me. I convinced him not to call paramedics (I'm a police officer in the same city). I promised to call my doctor after briefing the next morning.
I passed out in the hallway after briefing and took that ride in the ambulance after all. I have a son with seizures and WPW syndrome so they checked everything. I was released a few days later, not allowed to drive and put on light duty at work.
During a stress test a week later they found an SVT . I passed out again a few days later and went to hospital again.
The EP doctor did an EP study and ablation. He didn't think that was the only issue though so he implanted a loop recorder ( I had already had external recorders).
The loop recorder showed I was skipping beats and that is when I would feel short of breath and dizzy.
Just had a Life Adaptive pacemaker put in last week. I'm still having that thunking in my chest and getting short of breath. The doctor says it just needs to be adjusted.
I'm really hoping this will fix everything and I won't need more studies and ablations. Do you feel anything with your arythmias?

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Try to concentrate on how you’re able to be active again and feel normal, rather than on having a machine stuck in your body.