Electrical Twinges

First off I Know it isn't shocking me, but I keep having these little eletrical twinges coming from the top of my ICD. I had these pains several months ago and never really got any answers. My EP did say in September that the wires/leads have came out of place,not from the heart but he said the curl them someway and it has uncurled or something and that is what is causing the pain. The only way he could fix it would be redo the leads which means more surgery. I had a bad reaction to the meds they used when putting it in and ended up feeling alot of pain even though they gave me enough meds to put 8 grown men out. Or so the say. Any ideas or similar stories. Thanks

1 Comments

PM Shocks

by SMITTY - 2011-11-15 08:11:01

Hello,

Your pacemaker is actually shocking you, but I guess it could be said it is not in the true sense of the word. When mine was giving me such misery it was exactly like an electrical shock, except there was no muscle contraction. What was happening to me is part of an electrical impulse going from the PM to my heart was taking a detour and impinging on a nerve. That nerve (the phrenic nerve for me) apparently is more sensitive than my skin. So yes it is an electric shock and if you ain't been there it is sometimes hard to make people believe exactly what you are feeling.

I spent 2+ years trying to convince the electrophysiologist that implanted mine that I was being shocked and he all ways would say "it is not your PM that is causing the problem." Finally I insisted that he turn the thing off and to my pleasure the shocking stopped. Finally I got another EP to listen and the solution for me was to deaden the affected nerve. I have heard others say they got good result by getting changes to the PM settings.

I don't know about the uncurling or curling of the leads, but I don known that leads can sometimes be relocated in the heart and achieve the desired results.

Good luck,

Smitty

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I had a pacemaker when I was 11. I never once thought I wasn't a 'normal kid' nor was I ever treated differently because of it. I could do everything all my friends were doing; I just happened to have a battery attached to my heart to help it work.