Pacemaker dilemma!

I've had my pacemaker for over 9 years and I'm coming to the end of it's battery life. My dilemma is this: I have had this device for 9 years and its been on stand by for about 9 years, it's not being used at all and I've had more problems with it in then when I didn't have it. My heart never raced so much when I didn't have it in. My cardiologist is up in the air with it and seem to not pay too much attention to how I feel. I'm very tired and stressed out on what I should do. I could really use your opinion on this pacemaker dilemma, should I get another one for 10 more years to keep it on stand-by or have this one taken out? Please reply when you can, I'm also going to post a picture of why I needed this pacemaker back in 2001; please tell me what you think, thank you so much for your time.
One more question, can a pacemaker being in your body for that many years cause any chemical changes in the blood, or the body?

I love you guys,

Brother James

5 Comments

Check out my pictures on why I need to have a pacemaker!

by Christmmpace - 2011-01-13 09:01:36

Could this had been a bad wire or something, because my pacemaker is not in use and it's been on stand-by for 9 years. Please help me out guys, I could use your help on this one. Thanks

My opinion....

by Pookie - 2011-01-13 10:01:06

is to get another Cardiologist's or EP's opinion.

I looked at your EKG strips, and although I am not a doctor, it looks to me as though your heart paused for 4.9 seconds.

I'd go for a 2nd or even 3rd opinion if you can.

Good luck
Pookie

Needing New PM Soon

by SMITTY - 2011-01-13 11:01:14

Hello James,

Let me take a shot at the question in your last sentence. But first let me say I firmly believe anything is possible with or from a pacemaker. The are wonderful devices but when man tries to mate one of his inventions with our heart there are many unknowns. But as for the pacemaker causing chemical changes in our body or blood I honestly think that is most unlikely.

You say you have a few months left on the battery. If you think the PM is of no value to you why not see if the doctor will turn it off. If you find you do still need it, restarting it would be simple enough. You say it has been on stand by for 9 years. While it may have been on standby for 9 years it has actually been monitoring your heart function all that time and may have been kicking in occasionally. Unless it is providing some pacing occasionally, I would expect the battery to last more than 9 years if it was just a monitor.

Also, you say your heart never raced so much before you got the PM. As you know, as we get older lots of things in our body change. Before I got my PM arrhythmia was a rare thing. Now I live with it daily and sometimes it is pretty severe. To tell the truth I have wondered it my PM had any thing to do with my having that increase, but I know there is no way to tell.

I will offer one thing. I know you have a Medtronic PM and yours is now about the same age as mine was when it had to be replaced. I know for a fact you do not want to keep it until it goes into VVI mode. When that happens the PM shifts into a mode where it paces the lower chamber at a fixed rate (for me that rate was 67 BPM) and pays no attention to the fact that the upper chamber may be trying to beat at a different rate. That causes moderate to severe discomfort.

Come to think of it, it was you (I believe and I thank you very much) that had warned us about what a Medtronic PM would do when hey battery power reached a certain level. Without that knowledge I would have been very concerned rather than just very angry. You see a checkup about a month before that happened I was told I had an estimated remaining battery life of 9 mo.

I wish I had some good suggestions for you, but I'll just have to wish you the best and say good luck.

Smitty

Agree

by golden_snitch - 2011-01-14 05:01:31

Hi!

I agree with Smitty that nine years battery life when the pacer is on standby and monitoring only sounds a bit strange. I would expect a much longer battery life, if your pacer has only been "watching" nine years. But not sure about that. There are so many different pacer models out there, and some have a much shorter battery life than others (I think St. Jude is even having two different models of the same pacer, one with a longer battery life than the other). Could be that you had one which would have lasted six years with pacing a little in the ventricles, and that lasts nine years when it's just monitoring.

I looked at your ECG, too, and it looks like you had a 4.9 seconds pause. Also looks like the sinus node was causing this pause; if it had been the AV-node, you would still have seen p-waves but there are none. What I'm wondering is: 1. did you have any symptoms, 2. was that the only pause, and did it happen at night when you slept?

If your pacer really has been on standby all the time, not pacing at all, not documenting any arrhythmia, then what I would if I were you is the following: get a holter monitor (24 hour ECG) and get a second opinion. and if the holter doesn't show anything, and the other cardio says it's unlikely you'll need the pacer again, have it removed. BUT you should take into consideration that most doctors will refuse to take the leads out. Lead removal is a bit difficult and usually not done, if not really needed (to make room for new leads, for example, when the old ones are failing).

Best wishes
Inga

Thanks to all for your input!

by Christmmpace - 2011-01-17 04:01:46

I'm going to the doctor's office this Tuesday and I'm going to have my doctor turn the pacemaker off for one months. I'm having other problems that's not heart related and I'm not feeling so well, but I'll be okay. Thanks for your input guys. I love how you all gave such great detail and passion on answering my concerns, that means a lot to me. God bless you all.

James

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