weird sensations

Hello everyone:
I had my PM implanted in 2004. For the last 3 months, or so,
I 've been feeling when the heart is stimulated and I feel the shock going up to my throat and short of breath for a couple of seconds. I don't feel dizzy or fainting. Has anyone experience these sensations ?
Thanks,


4 Comments

similar feeling

by paula07 - 2007-05-29 09:05:09

i've only had my PM for a month, but when they check it at the dr i feel almost a tingling sensation in my chest and throat and can kind of feel it racing my heart. the past couple days i feel like i've had the same sensations. my PM is set at 60 bpm but my heartrate hardly gets that low, so i'm wondering if my heartrate has been dropping lately and i am feeling my PM kicking in. it almost seems like the shock is going into my throat like you said. i don't know if that has really been any help, but i'll check back to see what others have said, bc i really don't want to feel every time my PM kicks in...

paula

Have you had your first follow up?

by swilson10 - 2007-05-30 02:05:20

I would recommend having your leads checked and if you have a rate responsive feature turned on you may want to see if this is a good option for you. I have had similar symptoms and it has been both lead displacements or the rate responsive feature that was just not a good setting for my body. One of the reps told me that younger patients (I am 29) don't often need this function and can feel the stronger pulsing/ discomfort in the upper chest/ neck area b/c of how the PM competes against the natural rhythm of the heart at times during this function. Just some ideas to explore. Good luck!!

Something Weird

by SMITTY - 2007-05-30 12:05:17

Hi Tata,

I’ve had my pacemaker for seven years and while I’m not sure that what I feel is exactly the same as yours, but anytime the magnet is placed over my pacemaker for a checkup I get weird sensations.

As for the shock feeling you describe I haven’t had that although I did go through something I called shocks for about five years. Mine was caused by one of the leads stimulating (that’s what the dr. called it but to me it was a shock) a nerve. I had an injection to deaden the nerve to solve my problem.

You should not be feeling anything when your pacemaker starts or stops. There are no moving parts and the electrical impulse should go directly from the pacemaker to the heart wall via an insulated wire. If you are feeling something abnormal, it could something like I had. Did you have a checkup shortly before this started? If so a setting could have been changed to cause this problem. Regardless of the cause, I’ll repeat, a pacemaker should never cause pain for anyone and you will need to see the doctor.

Now the following is for Paula. Anything is possible with a pacemaker and I’ll never say whatever the problem; it cannot be caused by your pacemaker. However, you should never feel your pacemaker “kick in” if the settings are correct for you. If you are having this problem see your doctor as the problem is not likely to correct itself.

I see you have had your PM for only a month, so I hate to say this, but when you tell your doctor of the problem, don’t be surprised if you are told “the problem is not caused by your pacemaker.” If you didn’t have this problem before you got the PM, then I have to agree with you, it is the PM. But, again, I’ll say the operation of a PM should never cause discomfort. But sometimes it seems that it is next to impossible to get our doctors to believe us.

I have decided that having a pacemaker implanted should be a perquisite for any doctor that is going to be implanting and looking after them so maybe, just maybe, they will understand.

Good luck to Tata and Paula,

Smitty

Just my thoughts

by dave969 - 2007-06-07 05:06:35

I have had an ICD installed since 2004.
What I feel when it starts to correct the heart rate or beat is a thumping sensation simiular to what a pergenant women would feel if the baby is kicking.
That is the Nurses description not mine.
When I talk you can tell as my voice stops and goes with the Pace Maker.
On monday I got 2 false shocks from the defibulator,boy was that scary. White light, punch in the chest and a little lite headed, not bad.
I know the Technician can tell alot from the readings,
like when I went back on 3rd shift they could tell what day, to much work removing snow from driveway, things like that

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