Effect of weight loss
- by Violet West
- 2019-08-09 10:37:14
- General Posting
- 1637 views
- 5 comments
I read somewhere that if one loses too much weight, the PM can fall out of its "pocket." Is this true? I've lost 30 pounds, and am planning to lose more (hoping). I could stand to lose 30-50 more pounds (and I'll still be heavy after that, but I don't want to go too low). I've been making my docs happy, but they didn't mention this potential problem!
Just to elaborate: losing a lot of weight takes hard work, focus, and determination--something I couldn't do when I was sick and only able to focus on surviving.
I got my PM implant October 2018, and have felt soooo much better ever since. It took me a few months after implantation to "remember how not to be sick" since for 4 years prior about all I could do was work and rest, while they tried to cure my AFIB with drugs, cardioversions, and albations. After I got my head out of my, ahem! posterior and realized I wasn't sick any more, I decided to focus on improving my overall health.
And, boy, was the exercise hard! After years of inactivity even 5 minutes of exercise was difficult. I've been at it now for about 4 months, and am so much better now - dancing, aqua jogging, etc. But i don't want my PM to dislodge.
My one-year check up with the EP and the device tech is in October, and I will ask them, but wanted to hear from y'all. VW
El Paso Strong!
5 Comments
Fall out? Not likely
by Gotrhythm - 2019-08-09 16:51:22
The pacemaker is in a pocket that is just under the skin. For sure, excess weight can stretch the skin so much that, you can wind up with excess skin.
But the pacemaker is held in place under the skin by scar tissue. The scar tissue wouldn't go away, just because the amount of fat diminished--in fact, scar tissue never goes away.
So I don't see much chance your pacemaker could "fall out" due to normal weight loss.
However, sometimes in people who are very, very, very thin, abnormally thin, there can be a problem of pocket erosion. When you're so thin that even the normal fat layer under the skin is lost, the skin over the pacemaker can break down, and the pacemaker be exposed. The problem is not that the pacemaker has "come out," but that the skin covering it has gone away.
Skin erosion might be what you were reading about on line. However, even with skin erosion, the pacemaker doestn't "fall out."
Keep up the good work sticking with your weight loss regimen. And don't worry.
There should be a strong stitch anchoring your box to the base of the pocket
by crustyg - 2019-08-10 12:57:52
Everyone should have a good strong, non-absorbable suture holding the box to the base of the pocket. This suture *can* break, but it doesn't happen that often. If the suture is still in place the box can slide around a bit but should stay in roughly the right place.
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My pacemaker has ultimately saved mine and my unborn childs life for which I am thankful.
No worries about your PM falling out.
by AgentX86 - 2019-08-09 12:17:06
Weight loss may make you pacemaker more pronounced on your chest but that's the worst you can expect. Everything else will only get better.