Anyone In The Same Boat???

I’m a 56 year old male who recently had a pacemaker implant (on 1/13/11). The surgery itself went well and I was feeling ok the first month, but recently I started feeling some kind of rumbling in my chest, especially when I go for a walk, and it seems like my heart beats so hard and this feeling is driving me crazy. I went to see my cardiologist a few days ago and told her how I was feeling so she ordered for me to get an x-ray and the result came out ok. My doctor mentioned that I shouldn’t be having this kind of feeling at all. Now I’m trying to make sense of it.  Am I being very sensitive and imagining this feeling, or would I be able to adjust after a while or would this feeling go away? I would appreciate it very much if someone can share their story....thank you.

5 Comments

Rough Heart beats

by ElectricFrank - 2011-02-20 02:02:20

Is it possible that you are starting to walk more briskly than you have been? There is a feature called Rate Response that senses the movement of your body and uses it to determine your paced HR. If it is unnecessarily turned ON or if it is set too sensitive the result can be an excessive HR for the exercise level.

Rate response is ON by default from the factory on most pacemakers and is sometimes ignored by the doctors.

frank

Frank ROCKS~

by Gellia3 - 2011-02-20 03:02:26

Hi,
I had the same problem. My dr always just shook his head in a nice understanding way but never said anything or questioned any features my pacer surgeon set.

For 20 years I had what felt like arrhythmias and PVC's. Walk up the stairs, and I was short of breath and huffing and puffing, not to mention a heart that pounded so hard I thought it would come out of my chest.

That was before I posed the question here and Frank answered. He has the same condition I do so after some conversation via this board, I went and had my rate response turned off and my bpm upped to 130.

OMG!!
What a difference!! PVC's that I could feel before have been greatly reduced and I no longer get that shortness of breath. I;m going for 140 next time I go!!

I've had a PM for 35 years now and can honestly say Frank did it ---- I love you, Frank. :)

And, I agree with him. You may want to explore whether you need this feature. It's not for everyone. Some people feel great with it and some, like me, don't do so well. I have congenital third degree block.

Just a thought. :)

My very best to you,
Gellia


Thanks, Gellia

by ElectricFrank - 2011-02-20 06:02:37

It's always good to hear the results of my often wild suggestions. Sounds like life is working for you.

By the way, I also welcome hearing what didn't work. It all helps keep me honest.

best,

frank

boom boom

by verger - 2011-02-20 10:02:11

yeah, really sucks
they tweaked my pc for max performance and now i feel it all of the time, it's very unnerving because it makes you think something is wrong and it casuses, in my case, to think that the heart is pounding too fast.
damn thing keeps me up at night depending how i position my body.
asked the cardio about it years ago, that's how long i've been living with it, and his response, of course, was get used to it and live with it

Thanks

by Nematoad - 2011-02-27 01:02:54

I have had one for 2 weeks and had a couple of occasions when the heavy HB showed up at nights. I was told by Cardio doc that after 4 months that I would be given an Echo and they would dial in. My implant was the result of HF so may not apply universally. It is reassuring to know I was not just imagining it. I was told that if I were to notice energy improvement it would be about 6 months. Does that sound right?

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