Christmas Tree Lights

I was fitted with a pacemaker 10 months ago for bradycardia.  In the last couple of weeks I have begun feeling much like I did pre-PM (low heart rate, dizzy, faint, etc).  On Sunday it all came to a head and my heart rate went down to 37 and stayed in the area of 37 - 40 all afternoon (the PM has a lower threshold of 60bpm).  After seeing a number of ER doctors, I was finally able to see my pacemaker doctor who prescribed and fitted the PM.  He asked if we had any new electronics in the house since my heartrate started going down and, weirdly, it was concluded that the Christmas tree lights were interfering with the PM settings!  He made a couple of adjustments and hopefully, everything will be fine.  I live in Spain and unfortunately, the hospital is not able to receive diagnostics remotely from my PM and if they did, he is not sure the problem would have been flagged.  So the lesson is that even if your PM can be remotely monitored, it's still important to see a doctor if you don't feel right.....  Merry Christmas!!!

3 Comments

Fire your doctor. NOW!

by AgentX86 - 2020-12-15 13:51:57

Your doctor is an incompetent bafoon.  You're putting your life in his hands?  Sheesh!

There is nothing about Christmas lights, or any other lights, that can possibly affect your pacemaker or its settings.  Not going to happen and any doctor who tells you otherwise should lose his license to practice medicine.

This is the stupidest thing I've heard here yet, though I suppose it was a good troll.

Thanks AgentX86

by Persephone - 2020-12-15 17:06:45

Thanks for your definitive reply to this nonsense, AgentX86.

Christmas lights? Phooey!

by Gotrhythm - 2020-12-17 16:47:34

Maybe you misunderstood what your doctor said. There's no way Christmas lights caused the problem, and it's hard to believe any cardiologist would have told you that. Today's pacemaker's are extremely reliable. But even the old, old pacemakers back in the 50s weren't affected by electric lights!

I too have had a heartrate that seemed to be below the pacemaker;s base rate. The cause of the seemingly low rate was actually PVCS.  PVC's are real heart beats that the pacemaker counts, but sometimes they are so faint that they can't be felt in the wrist or picked up by a pulse oxymeter.

PVCs can happen randomly or in a pattern. Every other beat, one beat in three, one in four etc. I have had all of them, but most frequently, every other beat My base rate is 70 and the pulse ox would sometimes read 35. And by the way, I felt terrible.

I'm not a doctor and cannot diagnose you. I don't know whether you have PVCs or something else is going on. But you should be aware that there are real causes of a heart rate that seems to be below the pacemaker's base rate. And you might need to go to a real cardiologist who can discover the cause.

Blaming Christmas lights is hogwash!

You know you're wired when...

Titanium is your favorite metal.

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I am just now 40 but have had these blackouts all my life. I am thrilled with the pacer and would do it all over again.