pacing

Will someone please explain the feeling when you say you know your pm is "pacing"... Does it mean aware of heart beat or the feeling of afib? I would really like to know. Thank you aldeer

5 Comments

thanks

by aldeer - 2008-03-15 02:03:59

My guess is that is probably afib which I am not suppose to feel....oh well, it IS beating and I do feel well and much better then before pm... good... aldeer

my not so "silent" partner

by CanadianKirk2 - 2008-03-15 04:03:04

I have a dual lead pacemaker (Guidant) implanted in November of 2007. Only the ventricular lead is pacing...the atrial lead is shut off due to displacement.
After the second interrogation in December I began sensing the pacing. I found it very unsettling...I just about freaked out in fact!
It was nothing I could feel by touching my chest externally and it was not painful. It was, however, very unnerving and most evident when I was reclining or semi-reclining to watch TV.
The pacing beats were so strong that I didn't have to put my finger to my neck or wrist to count my pulse...I just had to look at my watch and count.
At the next interrogation in January...the earliest appointment I could get due to the Christmas holidays... I mentioned the pacing sensation to the nurse technician. She turned off the rate response but this didn't have much effect.
This past week (over two months later) I finally got rid of this pacing sensation. I was referred to an electrophysiologist (ep) out of town because of my displaced lead problem. He turned my lower rate down from 50 to 30. He had reasons other than just ridding me of the sensation, of course. Also, he knew that, in my particular case, I could probably tolerate the reduction of the lower rate. Since seeing the specialist I now feel almost no pacing and I finally have my "silent" partner back.


another question

by aldeer - 2008-03-15 04:03:50

What is PVC and VTach? Another "dumb" question is when you say pacing, is that the activity of the pace maker? aldeer

Feelings attributed to pacing

by ElectricFrank - 2008-03-15 12:03:55

Hi,
There are a number of feelings associated with pacing depending on what type of pacing is happening. One of the best ways to understand it is by paying attention to the feelings that happen during a pacemaker checkup. While an office test is slightly different from a phone check, both turn various pacing modes on and off, usually generate pacing to the lower rate, and force a higher rate. In my case with the phone check it causes periods of 55, 85, and 100BPM. It also causes a skipped beat or 2. Each of these sudden changes in beat pattern can be felt.
The other thing though is that a lot of what is reported as pacing is actually the occurrence of afib, PVC, skipped beats, VTach, which may or may not cause pacing depending on how the pacer is programmed.

frank

PVC, VTach

by ElectricFrank - 2008-03-17 05:03:29

I'll put it as simple as I can.

PVC's are ventricular beats that come too soon, usually in about the half the interval of your normal heart beat. This beat comes too soon for the ventricle to fill, so isn't very effective. The next beat comes late and so the ventricle is filled more than normal and produces one of those "thumps" that get your attention. They can come in singles or in runs of several thumping beats. Most of us have a few and they aren't generally considered to be serious (unless you are experiencing a lot of them..then they are serious to you).

I haven't experienced VTach so I don't know as much about it. It means Ventricular Tachycardia. It is when the ventricles start beating at a much higher than normal rate. I have heard anything from 150BPM up quoted as VTach. Like so many of the labels that are put on these things, the meaning gets lost in the definition. I would guess that you would experience it as "your heart racing". Maybe someone here who has experienced it can give a better description.

frank

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