PVCs anyone?

Need some help here. St. Jude pacemaker implanted in March 2010. No problems. Went for checkup and settings were changed to a high level of 150 because of my very active life. Within a couple of hours "jumping" in my chest started. Dr. and St. Jude Rep think it's PVCs - pre-ventricular contractions. Had settings reduced to level of 140 - most of the "jumping" cleared up. So had the level re-adjusted back to 130 which was the original setting but still have random "jumping". Anyone have this kind of experience? I think it's the pacemaker causing it when the level was set high. Any response would be greatly appreciated. Dr. says I have to live with it! Never had a problem before the adjustment. First time poster. Tjhanks for any help.

3 Comments

Wierd!

by donr - 2011-07-22 10:07:02

The Dr. THINKS it might be PVC's??? All it takes to be sure is a PM interrogation & an ECG to find out for sure.

You HAVE to live w/ it? I don't think so.

I HAD a PVC rate of about 33%. A couple powerful drugs & my PM have all but stopped my PVC's. Not nice, but they can be controlled. The PM cannot do it alone.

Just from what you have said, IMHO you need a second opinion.

Born in 1942 - you are 6 yrs younger than I - what kind of active life do you lead that would warrant an upper limit of 150? Do you wrestle alligators hourly at the local Seminole camp? And run marathons between shows?

Actually, the PM doesn't do anything w/ that upper rate - it's just where it stops monitoring and reacting if there is no heart electrical signal it is looking for. My guess - you have had some sort of coincidental event begin that has nothing to do w/ your PM being the cause. Electric Frank or Smitty will probably jump in & give you a better discussion.

Don

Here comes Frank

by ElectricFrank - 2011-07-23 02:07:42

Hey, Don, I was born in 1930 and I have my upper limit set to 150. I don't push it there, but I want to take responsibility for controlling it. This last week while camped in the mountains at 8500' I was hiking up a trail and maintained 130 for a while. The important thing is that there is often an overshoot when I stop. So after a burst at 130 I would sometimes hit a peak of 135-140 for a short time. I just breath deep and it comes right down.

Connie,
As for the jumping in your chest it could well be PVC's.I don't understand their not being able to identify them. Well, maybe I do...the modern ECG machines have computer generated printouts that tell what the rhythms are, but they are necessarily the best at it. Even if a cardiologist knows how to read one anymore, they are too busy to take the time.

So another question. Do you have printouts of the changes they made when the Upper Limit was raised? They may have changed some of the other values like pacing voltage or timing as well. These can induce other arrhythmia events that look like PVC's.

As for taking meds for PVC's I take a very conservative approach. Most of the cardiac meds are rather mean in terms of side effects. I would want to be sure that the problem is well pinned down, and that the symptoms are bad enough to be worth the downside. I went through a time of 2500-3000 PVC's/day. The cardio offered me meds and I just decided that I could live with it. Interestingly, after several months they have almost totally disappeared. If I had been on the meds I would never have known that they had stopped.

So its one of those personal decisions.

By the way have you looked into having a programming session with a St Jude rep? I've found the Medtronic reps very knowledgeable and friendly. As an engineer me and them get along famously.

frank

Wht's Happening?

by donr - 2011-07-25 09:07:18

Connie: I see that only Electric Frank & i responded w/ comments.

Did you get any personal msgs? How are you feeling? PVC's go away?

We collectively are in the dark when folks don't follow up w/ a status report.

Hope al is well for you.
Don

You know you're wired when...

You have rhythm.

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