feeling my PM working

I had a dual lead PM fitted 1 month ago today. About two days after coming home I started getting flutterings around my heart area sometimes it feels like someone is flicking me on my chest. It mainly happens when I am bent over or if I lay on my left side in bed I can feel slight electric shocks through my rib cage as regular as hiccups would be.I dont get breathless or anything like that. I went to A&E four days ago and a nurse put me on a ECG and a pacing monitor and said she had not heard of this but said it was pacing alright. I have my first check on 3rd march and she told me to mention it then to my cardiologist.Has anyone ever known anything like this? It just doesnt feel right. My sister has a pacemaker and she gets nothing like this.

10 Comments

another possibility

by dottodot - 2011-02-26 01:02:41

I know what your're talking about but actually always can tell when my ventricular lead is pacing. It feels like a tap but my pacer works well and they told me it could be where that lead is pacing. By the way, in case someone thinks I don't know what i'm talking about I confirmed it when watching myself on a cardiac monitor in the ER (for another problem). In my previous history I was an ER nurse up until 2 1/2 yrs ago.

i had same problem

by mego13 - 2011-02-26 07:02:06

let your cardilogist know that you feel it and when he/she test it, they can actually feel the "pacing" if they put their hand on your abdomen. they adjusted my pacemaker and i havent felt the pacing since. been pretty good...had my pacemaker almost a year now...

megan

I get this too

by pacergirl - 2011-02-26 09:02:17

I never felt this tap, tap, taping feeling with my old pacemaker, but I sure do with this new one. I have been experiencing this tapping for sometime. My cardiologist says that I am too thin and that's why I feel it. I don't think that is what it is.
The last time I was in the Dr. office they hooked me up to the monitors and sure enough.... tap, tap, tap, tap. We could see it on the monitor. Doesn't hurt at all, but it has taken some getting used to. It happens more when I am over tired and when I don't feel well.
PG

I feel safe when I feel it

by kathykat11 - 2011-02-26 11:02:49

My heart is very sensitive from all ofthe past surgeries and I feel it when I am being paced. The first time happened it startled me, but after that I just put it down to my little mechanical guardian angel taking care of me. I feel so much stronger inside,knowing I am not just going to crap out without warning. I spent 5 years wondering from one moment to the next if I was going to be too dizzy to move and bein scared to cross highways,for fear a dizzy spell would catch me in the middle. I am a bus person and before I got my PM im planted I would often ride the buss to the end of the line and pay extra to ride back and getoff on the correct side of the highway. I am working my way back slowly from 5 years of curtailed activities, the old bod doesn't bounce back like it used to but with time and work, I am sure it will get there. I have given up on looking good, not scaring little children is good enough at 58 but i want to get back to feeling as strong on the outside as I do on the inside now.
Thainks for listening
Kathykat11

Possible cause

by ElectricFrank - 2011-02-26 12:02:44

One possibility is that the pacemaker is in unipolar mode. This causes the pacing current to return to the pacer via body tissue rather than the shield of the lead wire. This current path would change with posture. The current can stimulate the muscles of the rib cage causing the symptoms.

Normally, the pacer isn't programmed for unipolar mode, but if it detects a lead problem it may shift to it as a fail safe measure. This is more likely to happen in the early days of having the pacer such as yours.

The other possibility is that you are just feeling a sensation that you wouldn't have noticed before the pacer. It's common to be more sensitive to such feelings until we get used to it.

frank

Me too

by cfritza - 2011-02-27 07:02:48

I have had those feelings too, they felt a lot like when they do a pacer check..I told the pacemaker nurse and she did some adjusting (it took a couple of times) and I don't feel those feelings except every now and then and they still startle me a little and cause me to take a deep breath afterwards. Hope this is all reassuring that your not alone

Diddo...

by sidgirl74 - 2011-02-28 10:02:14

I had my one week checkup last Wednesday (2.23.11) and while on the table I felt flickering while a nurse was doing an EKG. When I told her she just laughed it off and shook her head as to tell me "no, not so". Needless to say she won't be my nurse anymore going forward... uh sorry, I need to be comfortable with anyone who is involved with my heart. Anyway, yesterday I felt the flickering again as I was in bed and moved a certain way. Nothing has been painful just merely a weird sort of a feeling. I will wait and if it persists than I will call my doc's office.

It's comforting to know, once again, that others have felt this too.

Cid

thanks all

by bustheart - 2011-03-04 04:03:25

I had my 6 wk check yesterday and for 2 days leading up to it these feelings seemed to have settled down. Apart from when I lay on my left side I could still feel it kicking in like I had hiccups in my ribs.A really uncomfortable feeling.

Anyway it all went well thank god! I was worried I was going to have these flutters and bumps for evermore. They said it was probably nerve damage from the op to put in pacemaker and it takes time to all knit back together.Touch wood Im now on 3rd day without any tapping or flutterings which I am buzzin about! As for laying on my side, they have turned the voltage down and surprise surprise last night was the first since op that Ive been able to lay facing my understanding wife.

The check itself went well. I dont have to go back for a year. Which sounds good but actually I have to go back next month to see my consultant about when Im going to need an operation to fix my aortic stenosis which started all this.Valve replacement. Im pacing at 77% which is quite high isnt it?

Thanks to everyone who commented on my question, its good to know Im not on my own. But all in all things are looking up.(I think).

And another

by johnl - 2011-03-04 12:03:07

I had same type of flutter to start with, lasted for a few months but then all settled down to an occasional tickle, I think it,s just letting you no it,s working. Best wishes, John PS where in the uk are you?

And another

by johnl - 2011-03-04 12:03:07

I had same type of flutter to start with, lasted for a few months but then all settled down to an occasional tickle, I think it,s just letting you no it,s working. Best wishes, John PS where in the uk are you?

You know you're wired when...

You know the difference between hardware and software.

Member Quotes

Your heart’s electrical system has a manmade helper. A helper that only knows to do what it is programmed to do and will perform that function day in and day out, without fail. Now, go enjoy your new grip on life.