Pacemaker implant

Hi,

I had my Pacemaker procedure done six days ago.

The only question I have has to deal with my pain around the incision.  For the past couple of days, my pain is sporadic.  I go through periods, of approx. 3o minutes feeling NO pain, than all of a sudden it reapears.  The intensity of the pain is pretty much the same level as I had in the recovery room.  My pain never has been severe.  I only take Tylenol and not that often.

I was just wondering if anyone has experienced this.

I see my Surgeon tomorrow, seven days after the surgery.

I had Bradycardia with an average daily resting pulse in the mid 40s.  Now, every day has been in the lower 70s and I do feel much better except for this nagging pain on my chest.

LG, Mike

4 Comments

Post op pain

by Gemita - 2023-11-14 05:10:45

Mike, my doctors always tell me to keep taking pain meds at safe doses until the pain is better controlled.  You are saying you don’t take Tylenol very often since your pain is not severe, and yet you still intermittently get “recovery room” level of pain.  Personally if you find this difficult to tolerate, I would start taking Tylenol more regularly but I would certainly speak to your doctors tomorrow and tell them about any concerns you may have.

Hopefully your wound area is not unusually swollen, inflamed or discharging anything nasty.  Those are the things to look for.

Some of us take longer to heal than others, so this might be normal healing, but it needs checking to be safe.  I had nerve like sharp pain that was intermittent.  Other members report ant like bite sensations or burning pain.  

Although the pacemaker implant procedure is fairly straightforward, it can lead to trauma of delicate blood vessels and nerves.  We did a survey on post op pain not so long ago and I attach a link which you should copy and paste into your main browser to open, for you to see the findings.  I hope it will be helpful.  

https://bjcardio.co.uk/2022/07/pain-after-pacemaker-icd-implants/

In the meantime, good luck for your appointment tomorrow and I hope your surgeon will be pleased with his work.  Please let us know how it goes

Welcome to our world 💕

by Lavender - 2023-11-14 09:51:49

Your recovery is so new still. Nerves and muscles were cut to make your pocket to hold the pacemaker. It will heal in time. I remember thinking at seven months post surgery that I was finally feeling good. Until then, there were on and off twinges, shocks, ant bite sensations and just the distractions of feeling it all. 
 

I am glad you're seeing the doc today for your wound check. You can ask more questions and get reassurance. 
 

It is going to be ok. May God speed your healing and increase your comfort each moment. ❤️‍🩹

Pacemaker implant

by VSO737 - 2023-11-14 13:46:52

First of all I want to thank Gemita and Lavender for their input.  I know I can not be the only one who has experienced my issue.  Thank GOD it is not an extreme pain.  I always have a difficult time putting a number on the pain.  I would put it at a 4 but really don't have concrete evidence that it should even be that.  I have read it feels like a burning pain and that is exactly how I describe it.  I can picture the pain I would have if I was hanging from hooks attached to the location of my incision.  Maybe I've watching too many creepy movies.....................LOL

ONE thing for sure.  I would take this pain and worse pain than HAVING SHORTNESS OF BREATH.  My having shortness of breath is what took me to the Cardiologist in the first place.  Glad I have not had one of those episodes for quite some time now.

I believe that my Pacemaker implant is responsible for me not experiencing the sciatic nerve pain in my buttocks upon immediatel getting out of bed.  I have not had that pain in the past six days since my PULSE rate went from the mid 40s to lower 70s.  I will be talking to the Doctor about that today.

Also, one of the Doctor's present in my procedure told me that I really did not need to wear the ARM SLING, that it was more a ploy to keep ME FROM RAISING my arm ABOVE MY SHOULDER.  He is also reponsible for me having the worse pain during the entire process, that is WHEN HE RIPPED OFF ALL THE BANDAGES.  Especially the excruciating pain when he removed the ones over the 'loop monitor' incision. I had my 'loop monitor' removed at the same time and I have NO pain whatsoever in that incision.

My incisions are coated with some GLUE looking material that will wear off on itself.  I can place water over the incision but NOT submerge them.

The pain I'm having may be due to the fact I have NOT been using an arm sling to support my arm.  On a positive note, I think this pain I'm having is on the way out because today I'm going longer periods without the pain.

Thanks again for the input, I think this is a GREAT forum.

LG,           Mike from Southern California

Hey Mike

by Lavender - 2023-11-14 18:32:53

That sling can only bring trouble. It's truly only to remind you to keep your elbow below the shoulder. Too many folks get frozen shoulder from wearing the sling so long. You need to use the arm as much as possible but not lift anything heavier than a gallon of milk for a while. 
 

What a shame that more gentle care wasn't taken in removal of bandages😵‍💫

Yeah, most of us had glued incisions. Don't touch. In time you'll be A OK❤️‍🩹

You know you're wired when...

Muggers want your ICD, not your wallet.

Member Quotes

But I think it will make me feel a lot better. My stamina to walk is already better, even right after surgery. They had me walk all around the floor before they would release me. I did so without being exhausted and winded the way I had been.