gettin a pacemaker
I am 50 years old and am getting a pacemaker on the 28th of sept. I have been having episodes of A-fib since 2001. my episodes have increased this past year into chronic a-fib and heart failure has set in. medication isnt doing the job anymore..I am afraid to do something so final, but seems I have no choice. can anyone tell me what i am to expect with this. thanks
vickie
5 Comments
A-fib & Pacemaker
by SMITTY - 2010-09-21 10:09:45
Hi Vickie,
You pacemaker will not stop A-fib. It allows other treatments such as the medication mentioned by Jack, or an ablation to be administered to stop the A-fib. However the pacemaker can perform a standalone job when it comes to treating A-fib. After an episode of A-fib where the atrium is beating very fast, and then stops the heart rate can go in the other direction and become to slow. When this happens a person can pass out or worse, the blood may pool in the atrium and form clots. A pacemaker steps in and stops there heart rate from going below its low set point which will prevent an undesirable event. After which the heart rate may return to its normal rhythm and the pacemaker again starts just monitoring your heart function.
To know which role a pacemaker will play in the treatment of your A-fib you will need to talk to your doctor.
Good luck,
Smitty
a fib
by al - 2010-09-22 09:09:24
Vickie: I had my pm since dec.2009,It took me a while to adjust to it , had breathing problems but with some changes with my medication i eventually feel a lot better, I was diagnosed with a-fib and seemed like every other week was in emergency getting zapped so finally Dr decided a pm would have to be installed. I can say my heart rate is pretty constant at 60 beats /min. Good luck and the procedure is no pain. AL MILLER
A-fib
by Bill T - 2010-09-22 11:09:38
Vickie, my a-fib history it similar to yours. My cardiologist put me on Flecanide and Acebutolol about 5 years ago. this worked for a couple of years then in 2007 I had minimally invasive high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) cardiac ablation surgery. This held the incidents down to a few until we moved to NW Arkansas this spring. Like you symptoms, the meds werent controlling the A-fib and I was having episodes almost daily. My cardiologist said I needed stronger arrhythmic drugs and put me in the hospital to monitor switching to Propafenone (Rythmol). 150 mg 3 times a day wasn't stopping the A-fib so he upped the dosage to 225 mg 3 times a day. This, along with increasing the Acebutolol form 200 mg daily to 800 mg daily, is controlling the A-fib now. Time will tell if this is long range control or not. The higher dosage of Propafenone caused very low heart rate so he implanted a St Jude PM2210 which is set at a base rate of 70 bpm. I'm doing very well with the increased meds and haven't had an episode since the 1st of July. (I got the MP on June 28, 2010. Good luck.
Bill T
a-fib
by ldinkins - 2010-09-23 03:09:13
Vickie...I've had my pm for 2 months now. The soreness is all gone and I can sleep on my left side with no problem. I've taken Coreg for 6 years with very good results....my EF # went from 15 to 38. It seemed that the pm took awhile to atune to my heart's needs, but now I feel better than I've felt in a long time. I go for a checkup in November. After all of the years of being tired, having shortness of breath and anxiety, I must say that it was a good decision for me to get the pm.
I hope that you also have good results. L. Dinkins
You know you're wired when...
You run like the bionic woman.
Member Quotes
It's much better to live with a pacemaker than to risk your life without one.
Chronic a-fib
by Jack - 2010-09-21 06:09:24
I have had a-fib for many years. I received my PM 3.5 yrs ago and take a ton of pills. I started out with an EF of 35 and it is now 55 (which is very good). My Cardio credits Coreg for most of the help. The PM just keeps my HR from falling below 70. It doesn't stop or control my afib. I did push the EP to turn on the rate response as an experiment and it worked wonders.I found I had to really work at it to get the Drs. to go beyond just fixing the immediate problem. Seems they are more interested in numbers of patients than quality of the longterm care.
Good luck and don't let fear of your "little friend" over-ride the good it does for you. Feel free to yell anytime you have a question.
Jack