I think I'm having a setback

Hi all,

For the first week after getting my ICD on Xmas Eve, I was feeling pretty good. Planned to go back to work on Jan. 11. Then around New Year's Eve, I started getting some mild nausea in the morning and the extreme fatigue began to return. I managed to get an emergency appt. today with my cardiologist, who listened to my heart and said everything sounded like it should at this stage of my recovery. He ordered me off work for an additional two weeks, however. He said it's possible that I could be coming down with the flu or a cold.
Well, as the day progressed, I started to get a soreness in my chest to where if I took a deep breath, it hurt. It felt like someone had punched me in the chest. This went on for hours until I finally took some Tylenol and the pain is going away somewhat. I'm figuring this is all part and parcel of the ICD implantation, but why would I feel fine for one week and then start feeling like hell all of a sudden? I'm really kind of scared that maybe I have screwed up my leads or something like that, but the cardiologist said that's highly unlikely. He wants me to start pushing myself a little bit each day and see how I feel. Grrr, will I ever start feeling better?

7 Comments

Flu

by ElectricFrank - 2011-01-06 01:01:09

Doc could be right about that one. I went through 2 weeks of a flu-cold virus. It moved down into my chest and I was about to head for urgent care (happened over the xmas holidays). Called urgent care and they had a room full of the same thing. So I waited another day, and like usual started to feel better. Since then I've talked to several folks who have had the same thing.

So stay aware of what is happening. Even if it doesn't relate to your pacer, pneumonia or its likes aren't anything to mess with.

best wishes,

frank

Noy Feeling Well

by SMITTY - 2011-01-06 01:01:22

"He wants me to start pushing myself a little bit each day and see how I feel." May I be brutally frank. I think that doctor doesn't know what in the hell is going on and he is stalling for time, while hoping whatever the problem is will go away. Unfortunately you are not the first person to get a pacemaker to run into such situation with the Dr.

After almost two weeks you should at the most have a little soreness in the implant area and it is not "all part and parcel of the ICD implantation. I know it is easy for me to criticize when I have no idea what is wrong. I will say it is not uncommon for a new pacemaker settings to need adjusting. This happens to many of us and sometimes it takes several visits to get it right.

But if you agree that your problem is the result of the new pacemaker, you will have to lean on that doctor to make things right. If it becomes apparent he can't, I hope you can find another doctor. One thing I will caution you about is that when you complain you may be told the pacemaker is working fine and is not your problem. It shouldn't be this way, but if that happens you will have grab the bull by the horns and say "we ain't going down that path no more."

One other thing and I'll stop my babbling. What I am saying is based on my experience with two pacemaker over the last 11 years and what I have seen others say here during the several years I have been a member.

There is one other thing. Yes you will get to feeling better. How soon depends on how much help and how fast you get it from your doctor.

I wish you the best,

Smitty

Thoughts

by agelbert - 2011-01-06 01:01:53

Hi,
I'm sorry to hear about your discomfort. You sound like you have, in spite of your problems, a good relationship with your doctor and can communicate freely. This is a great advantage as not all of us have this.
You have only had your ICD a brief time. I suggest, as a fellow patient, the following. Mind you, I have a PM, not an ICD.
1) Document the time and describe the experience with details of pain (generalized, specific to a location or both) or any discomfort including arm twitching or hiccups.
2) Keep the log in chronological order and start a new page each day.
3) After a few days, note if there is a certain time period during the day or night that you have a daily experience.
4) Log any medication you are taking on the journal as
you take it.
5) Follow your doctor's orders on limiting arm movements and other physical activity.
This will help you organize your thoughts for the doctor and will probable help him diagnose any potential problems.
Remember that it takes a while for the leads to be surrounded by fibrous tissue. Everyone is different, I suppose, but I understand it normally takes about three months for them to settle in properly to the point that some improper physical movement won't deposition them.
Good Luck and God bless you.

flu

by Tracey_E - 2011-01-06 07:01:35

Yes you will feel better!! It hasn't been that long, give it some more time. I know it's frustrating, we want to bounce back overnight and sometimes our bodies will not cooperate.

My whole family just passed around the flu and it started with a burning in the chest, so that could be it. Hope it's not that, it's a nasty one!

When we start to feel better, we tend to do more, which can make us sore and feel like we're backtracking. It's only been two weeks. I'm no dr so I'm not going to disagree with your dr, but my own experience recovering is when I overdo it and start to feel bad again, if I take it easy for a few days I feel good again.

Not Feeling Better....

by Pookie - 2011-01-06 12:01:50

Hi.

If you continue to feel this way (I'd only go 1 more day at the very most) perhaps you should ask your cardiologist for a chest Xray to see if the leads are still in place and to see if you have any fluid build up around your heart (percarditis) ...anything is possible - it happened to me!!!

Another way to find out if the leads are working properly is to have your ICD "interrogated"...if the impedence (I think that is the correct word, but Electric Frank would know, hope he reads your post!!) is very different from when you first got your ICD then that could be your problem.

Again, I'm only guessing based on past experience with pain in my chest.

If, when you take a deep breath, it continues to hurt, get yourself to the ER as soon as possible...please don't fool around when it comes to your heart. At least at the ER they will probably do a chest Xray right away.

Take care and never hesitate to seek medical help.

Always err on the side of caution:)

Pookie

clot

by Tracey_E - 2011-01-10 06:01:56

How frustrating! I'm sorry you're having so many new things pop up. I'm no dr but just because you don't see any redness doesn't mean you can't have a clot. I'd get checked just to be on the safe side.

Well, the chest discomfort is gone, but...

by Fljournalist - 2011-01-10 12:01:00

this morning when I got out of bed, my right leg tried to collapse on me. My thigh feels as though it's wrapped tightly with Saran Wrap. It's mildly uncomfortable when I'm laying or sitting down. When I try to walk I have to lock my knee and force my leg to carry my weight. Of course my first thought was that I had a blood clot, but there's no swelling, discoloration or anything like that. I'm going to take some arthritis strength Tylenol before bed tonight. I just don't understand how I'm developing all these new ailments as I'm trying my hardest to get better and back to work. Sigh.

You know you're wired when...

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A pacemaker suddenly quitting is no more likely to happen than you are to be struck by lightening.