Irregular beats

I have a dual chamber Medtronic pacemaker and am now experiencing frequent pvc's . They are showing up as an irregular rhythm on the home blood pressure machine. I was recently having multiple rate drop episodes and they changed the settings . Has anyone ever heard of this occurring? Thanks for your help.

3 Comments

PVCs

by AgentX86 - 2022-07-11 22:11:24

Yep, very common in paced individuals (everyone else, too, but they're usually infrequent). If you search th forum, you'll find many sugh treads.

Are you sure it's not Afib? They act sorta the same.  Anyone who's had AF and PVCs knows the difference but both are irregularly irregular arrythmias. Your pacemaker will be able to record episodes of AF but probably not PVCs.

Lots of irregular beats here too

by Gemita - 2022-07-12 06:13:16

Mary, I would ask your general doctor whether you could have some general checks, like electrolytes, thyroid for any abnormalities as a cause for your irregular beats and perhaps to have further external monitoring to confirm the arrhythmia present.  When you know what you are dealing with, it will be easier to treat or to rule out any potential causes.  Hopefully you are keeping well hydrated especially during hot weather.  Dehydration can set off my arrhythmias as can lack of sleep.

I would continue to pursue the pacemaker settings route too.  Rate Drop Response is a pacemaker setting I believe that can be helpful but it may take time to find the best setting to suit you.  (See Medtronic link on this function below - please copy and paste into your browser to open).  You could ask for a treadmill exercise test so that your technicians can see what actually happens to your heart rate during exercise.  My PVCs are often triggered by exertion (as well as when at rest) and PVCs and other arrhythmias can certainly make me feel as though my heart rate is crashing, due to the irregularity of rhythm.  So yes the feeling of rate drop episodes is well known to me and to many others here too I suspect.

https://www.medtronicacademy.com/features/rate-drop-response-rdr-feature

PVCs

by Lavender - 2022-07-12 19:15:33

I have them daily. Not all day. Doctors said it's ok in my case and just ignore. Not easy to ignore😜but doesn't scare me anymore. 

You know you're wired when...

You have a dymo-powered bike.

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