Feeling pacemaker working

I had a  St Jude dual lead pacemaker put in on March 5th for 3rd degree heart block. I had no symptoms until the day it was installed. My anxiety level has been crazy ever sense. I was put on zoloft for the anxiety and that made my very sick. I am finally off all drugs. I know I am still having some anxiety and I thank this site for helping me feel more normal.

All along I have had some feeling of dizziness or swaying. For the last couple of weeks I am feeling what I think are feeling of the PM working. A feeling of a harder or stronger heart beat. When this happens I sometimes get a feeling of a wave passing over me. Not sure how else to explain it. Maybe a little lightheadedness. I don’t know if this feeling  is anxiety or normal. Is it normal to feel when the PM kicks in?

Everything checks out fine with the doctors. They tell me I only have the electrical problem with my heart and the PM is there when needed. As of about 3 weeks ago it was activating about 13% of the time.

I go next week to see the PM tech. What are some of the questions I should ask so I am more informed about my PM?


4 Comments

Feeling the pacemaker pace?

by Gotrhythm - 2017-05-25 17:30:21

Some RARE people DO feel their pacemaker "kick in." More commonly that feeling of a sudden strong beat is caused by a PVC (pre-ventridular contraction.) Occasional PVCs are normal. Everybody has them, but only some people feel them. Since you feel it, it would be good to know what it is.

If you have the feeling when the device is being interrogated be sure to ask if it was seen and if so what it was.

Don't let people dismiss your concerns with "Everything is fine." Here's something you need to understand. Your heart can be perfectly healthy with no sign of heart disease. And the pacemaker can be "working fine." But your heart and pacemaker might not be working well together.  It's all about how well your heart is responding to the settings. It can take several tries to adjust the PM to settings that are optimal for you, but it's really worth the effort to do so.

The more you understand about how pacemakers work, what your settings are and why those settings have been chosen, the better you will communicate with techs and doctors.

Online you can find lots of youtube videos about hearts, heart rhythm, and pacemakers. Many come from trustworthy sources. I like the animated explanations best. A living heart is always in action. Understanding the heart means understanding how it moves. If I can see it, I grasp the explanation much better. Studying the videos has vastly increased my knowlege and my confidence about talking to professionals.

Good luck. Remember to ask for a printout of your settings. Someone here can help you interpret them.

Knowledge, understanding what is going on,  is the best anitdote to anxiety I've ever found.

feeling

by bridgermichael - 2017-05-26 02:50:53

great comment above by gotrhythm- I also "feel" mine sometimes and think I know when it may have kicked in , but it may also be a sixth sense. however, either way when your pm was set it had parameters that have been applied and because generally your condition and reason for needing one may be for one particular area the settings may be wide and therefore at the moment it may be monitoring more than it needs to. Did you not have a one month check where they put leads over it and download the info ? that is when they can tweak the settings - you can have a printout and you can also ask for that to be viewed by your cardiologist etc

it may flag up regular activity but it's the irregular that they look for too. If you are seeing someone shortly ask them what your one month check flagged up and whether the settings need altering- if you haven't had a download then you can ask for one - my next one isn't until February next year now but you can always phone and book another if you feeling lots of activity and they will book you in for one - in the uk that is free (not sure where you are ) but if I did have to pay it only takes 20 minutes so it would be worth it. The graph shows the top line setting and the bottom line setting  and your activity is plotted as a line going up and down across the days so they can even pinpoint the actual dates - one day mine was running me for 15 hours in one hit and they could work out that day but most times it only kicks in and stabilises for an hour or so.

hope this helps

Mike b 

 

me too!

by Chantellerose - 2017-05-26 11:36:29

Hi There,

I feel every pace too but only in the lower chamber.  I dont suffer from anxiety, so i think what you are feeling is probably the pacing.  I just put up with mine as the NHS arent very helpful and accomodating.

good luck anyway

thanks

by Kays - 2017-05-26 11:58:25


I did have it checked about a month ago. At that time there where no irregular flaggs. In fact it never paced while she was checking it. It paced 13% in the upper chamber and 9.5% in the lower chamber.
 Gotrhythm, I am also one who needs to know how it works and why. I am trying to learn as much as I can. This site has helped alot with that. I am hopeful as I learn more I can get my anxiety under control.

Thank you for the support, I am aready getting a better understanding of my back-up generator. :-)

You know you're wired when...

You have a T-shirt that reads “Wired4Sound”.

Member Quotes

Sometimes a device must be tuned a few times before it is right. My cardiologist said it is like fine tuning a car.