Aching left arm

• by Luke
• 2007-10-19 05:10:57
• General Posting
• 1291 views
• 0 comments

I am a Newbie, but old (77). I am not very familiar with the terms used, so please enlighten me. I had a Medtronic two lead pm installed in December of 2006. It was done because my heart paused for several seconds while I was in the ER because of prolonged atrial fibs. It is my understanding that it only kicks in if my heart rate gets very low, about 40 I think. I am not sure about any upper limits.

I was in afibs about 60% of the time for 6 weeks after installation. Then the EC adjusted it. Unfortunately just before that happened my regular cardio raised my rhythmol to 225 from 150. Now we don't know for sure if it was the rhythmol or it the PM caused the afibs to be decreased to less than 1% of the time. The afibs were chronic and causing me great pain and discomfort prior to the PM.

That's the history, but not my questions. First, I have been having the odd feeling of a weight on my chest and shortness of breath when driving on a rough road. My cardio had never heard of such a thing, but when the EC did a checkup a month ago she adjusted it so it no longer happens. What is really concerning me now is the recurring aching in my left arm and hand. In addition I feel lousy and weak much of the time....especially bad and weak today. I mentioned this to both of them and they didn't connect that with the PM either. Neither of these things were happening before the PM was installed.

Now I have read a few of the posts and see that both of these problems are somewhat common. If any of you have, or have had similar problems please tell me.

I also have pulmonary hypertension, which is secondary to COPD. the cardios say my heart is in good shape in spite of the above mentioned problems.

Thanks, Luke