Weight Loss & PM placement

Hello all,

Anyone lose weight after their PM & what did you do? Implanted 4/2019. 
I've lost a decent amount of weight over the past year- about 40lbs. I think I was 180lbs when implanted; I'm now under 140lbs. It was mostly intentional- I lost some from ceasing antihistamines, realized I was under 160 last May, cut out most added sugars & picked up my walking. I *may be* still slowly losing, too. About 137lbs.
 

It's great! I'm 44yo & haven't looked like this since I was 20? But, there's excess skin & my PM is visible. It moves a little weirdly. My Cardio actually seemed disappointed in me that I'd lost weight (idk. I'm not too thin- im not thin lol.) He didn't bring up a PM issue, but I've been dealing with Chronic Idiopathic Pericardial Effusion since Jan 2021, have lots of appointments & echos.
 

Any feedback helpful. I do core exercises but have a hard time with anything hand or foot related due to "unstable joints" (no more planks, no balls of feet, etc.) It's almost like it can turn sideways if I lay on my side. Not totally, but it's weird. I'm not going back to eating crap just to gain weight. Still, it was implanted when my weight was solidly not budging (below 170 at my BEST.)

3 Comments

That Happened to My Daughter

by Marybird - 2021-11-15 15:01:50

Hi MissAshleigh,

My daughter probably weighed somewhere in the range of 230-240 lbs when she had her first pacemaker implanted in 2012, and over the next few years, lost about 60 lbs or so, leaving the pacemaker seemingly not well anchored and roaming randomly all over the left side of her chest. She described it as sometimes feeling as though it had flipped over, rested sideways, upside down, any which way it landed, and sometimes she said it felt like it came to rest close to under her armpit. 

She spoke to the cardiologist who had implanted it, asked about the possibility of having a new pocket put in for the pacemaker, or maybe replaced under her pectoral muscle. The cardiologist was clearly reluctant to even consider such a move and it seemed he just put her off, saying they could consider it if she had issues with the pacemaker at a later date, but he didn't think this necessary.

I'd think a potential worry for a "wandering pacemaker" like that might be damaging the leads as they are yanked on by the movements ofthe pacemaker, but my daughter never had such issues with her pacemaker. She didn't pursue having her pacemaker reimplanted after her weight loss, and lived with it moving around for maybe 4-5 years before she had a replacement generator in August 2020. That solved her wandering pacemaker issues.  

I'd say this is an issue to bring up with your cardiologist, and go from there.

And congratulations and many kudoes to you for the weight loss. It's never easy, but it's so worthwhile if for no other reason than the immensely improved health it brings a person. 

Weight loss

by AgentX86 - 2021-11-15 21:31:37

I lost about 30lb in the year after my implant (relatively stable since).  I'm larger than you, at 200lbs give or take so it's not the same ratio.  My PM is a lot more visible and the leads can clearly be seen going up towards the collar bone.  However, it hasn't moved.  They should be sutured so that they don't move around but occaisionally they become unteathered and move around.

Your EP probably doesn't want to mess with it because an infection could be disasterous.  He probably believes it's better left alone.

weight loss

by Julros - 2021-11-16 01:05:52

Yes, I lost about 40 pounds over a year.  With a heart rate of 35-40 I was always tired, and my ejection fraction was down to 50%. After my implant, I finally had some energy and didn't huff and puff walking up slight inclines. I now about 15 miles a week and am in probably the best shape of my life, at age 64. My EF improved to 55%. My pacer is quite obvious, but it hasn't moved. 

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