Missing beats with pacemaker

Hi my name is Caroline I have had my pacemaker for over 3 years now for Bradycardia I also take 2.5 mg Beatablocker everyday for my proxymol heart palpatations
I feel like I'm missing beats on mostly every 15th second around the clock. Been very busy and felt fine but now resting i'm feeling a pause and then a thud back into rhythm I go abit breathless when this happens!! Is this normal or is my PM faulty?
I'm 26 tomorrow and want to go out and have fun and have a few glasses of wine lol
Should I be to concerned!!

9 Comments

Arrhythmia

by Juan - 2010-03-26 01:03:12

As always, when in doubt see your doctor.

But based my experience there is no need to be concerned so long as you just know you are having them and they are not causing pain or interfering with your normal activities. Abnormal heart rhythms are often made worse by medications such as anti-arrhythmics, beta-blockers, calcium channel blockers and digitalis. My guess it that greater than 75% of us with pacemakers have the same symptoms you are having and suffer no ill effects, just annoyances.

holter

by Sgood - 2010-03-26 01:03:18

see if your doc will put a 24 hr cardiac holter monitor on to see if they can figure out what's up!

Missed beats

by golden_snitch - 2010-03-26 01:03:36

Hi Caroline,

first of all: yay, someone from Robbie Williams hometown!!! :-)

I agree with Juan: as long as you are not symptomatic because of those missed beats, you should not worry. Since you've got the pacer which is supposed to kick in whenever the PQ-interval - the time between the activation of the atriums and that of the ventricles - gets too long (pacer language: AV delay), those missed beats can hardly be heart blocks. My pacer works differently, it allows for some heart blocks and only kicks in when they start to get more frequent. Maybe your pauses are PVCs as those are usually followed by a short pause, I don't know the English term for it.

What you could to is to call the "Arrhythmia Alliance" which is a or better "the" British Heart Rhythm Charity. I think they've something like a helpline if you need advice, the website is:
http://www.heartrhythmcharity.org.uk/index.html

Best wishes
Inga

Not Normal!

by tcrabtree85 - 2010-03-26 01:03:51

The reason I am saying this is not normal is your age. I am 24 and have gone through a lot lately. You my friend are different than a older person. One is the younger you are the more you are intune with your heart. I am only telling you what my Dr's have continued to tell me.
My guess is that your settings are off a little and you need a adjustment. I highly recommend that you get into your EP and get it checked out. A occasional change in beat is normal but every 15 secs is not normal.
I would say enjoy your birthday but please go in and get it checked out. I always hate hearing when people my age sit around and wait because they think it is nothing.
Happy early Birthday!

Tammy

not normal

by DanaT - 2010-03-26 07:03:27

One of the reasons for getting a pm is to regulate a heartbeat not make it irregular. It doesn't sound normal to me no matter whats causing it.

PVC's

by ElectricFrank - 2010-03-27 01:03:12

This is likely what they call PVC's or premature ventricular complexes are benign arrhythmia's that are very common in all of us. They are actually quite common in the younger population and particularly in late teen athletes. I first noticed them myself when I was in my early 20's. (about 60 yrs ago).

One of the types of PVC will have runs where it will seem to skip a beat every so many beats. I have had runs of every third that lasted for several hours. Actually you likely aren't completely skipping the beat. It is just a beat that is weak because it happens early and the ventricles don't have time to fill completely. This is followed by the thud of the next beat which happens late and is an overfilled ventricle.

All this is seems complicated, but the bottom line is that it is no problem. On your next pacer checkup get a printout which will list the number of PVC's since the last check. At one point I was running over 2500/day and the cardiologist wasn't concerned.

And finally, do a Google on PVC and select Heart from the drop down menu. You will find all sorts of information. WARNING: Don't let them start you on meds or do an ablation unless the symptoms are really bad. Most of these treatments produce side effects that are worse than the PVC.

frank

I think that there are different opinions on this.

by tcrabtree85 - 2010-03-27 03:03:49

I am concerned b/c of you saying you get breathless. I have PVC's like Frank has said and that was my first thought that you were having but I also have a junctional rhythm which sounds similar to what you are talking about also and why I would want you to get it checked out to just make sure it is nothing.
That is just my personal opinion. I don't think your pacer would be faulty. Though I trust my friends here on this site. I just know that when I was feeling your way and feeling them more often getting my pacer adjusted helped me a lot to feel better.

Frank, you taught me something today. I have a lot more to learn from you. Questions are coming your way soon.

Blessings to all,
Tammy

Free advice

by ElectricFrank - 2010-03-27 06:03:23

I have plenty of free advice and it is worth every cent you pay for it! LOL

On the breathless issue, you are right that it could be a lot of things. PVC's aren't likely to cause it directly, but anything that we are anxious or fearful about can affect our breathing. All you need is to have a snarling dog jump out at you while walking on a dark night. I don't know where the dog takes the breath, but it sure leaves our body in a hurry. Those darned PVC's can be intense enough to have the same feelings.

frank

Go see your EP or cardio

by janetinak - 2010-03-27 12:03:18

doesn't sound normal to me either.

Cheers,

Janet

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