Life after Pacemaker implant

• by patriciadavenport9@gmail.com
• 2018-08-28 21:37:00
• Coping
• 1275 views
• 1 comments

I am a woman, born 1941. In June 2017 I had a Pacemaker Implant. Obviously necessary because my heart rate was going down to 27 and skipping beats for periods up to 3 seconds. Naturally I am grateful this problem was pin pointed and for being able to receive this pacemaker that no doubt has saved my life. The implant sent my heart into AFIB. For the first few weeks I was in AFIB 100% of the time and to say I didn't feel well is definitely an understaetment. Symptoms were: nausea, breathlessness, chest pain (sometimes acute, sometimes just dull pain) etc. Just an all in all feeling of general unwellness. After a couple of months I began to feel better but the next PM check (approx. 3 months after implant) showed I had been in AFIB an average of 70% of the time so in Oct 2017 (4 months after implant) I was seen by an Electrophysiologist. He recommended 80mg Sotalol to be taken 40mg/AM & 40mg/PM. This was in addition to the 4mg Warfarin recommended to thin my blood. Within a  few days of starting the Sotalol I began to feel much better and my next PM check in Feb/2018 showed I was in AFIB only an average of only 1% of the time then my next check this past June/2018 showed I was in AFIB an average of 3% of the time. They were able to give me the days when the episodes were prolonged (30hr & 70hr periods) and I was able to relate those dates to things that were happening in my life and therefore to hopefully avoid those situations in future. I am definitely grateful to the Electrophysiologist for getting my AFIB under control because I realize how dangerous it is to be in AFIB. As I went through this period I sought online support through "HealthUnlocked" which is a forum run out of UK and I found it very helpful. However, I did realize that each situation is different so I have shared my own experience here in hopes that it may help someone else who may be going through similar circumstances. Meanwhile, I am interested in hearing others' experiences with life after PM Implantation. Particularly I want to know if others are like me in feeling even more breathless and fatigued since the implant and if so, how they cope with it. My Electrophysiologist says I should be feeling better and if not I should go back to my doctor and have him pursue other causes for my breathlessness and fatigue. I did go back to my doctor but he seems baffled and before I start to live a life of continual focusing on the pursuit of what ails me I am here to try to see how others feel, and cope.