PVC's

I am a 40 year old healthy BOY! I was implanted with a dual boston scientific Pacemaker on August 20th 2008 for a failed tilt table tests which revealed a 5 second pause. All was great post PM until January when I went into A Fib for the first time. That was a crazy feeling. My Cardiologist converted me on a Blast Dose of Flecainide, and sent me home on a small 50mg dose twice a day. That worked for about 3 weeks and then I started having PVC's in mass quantity. Cardiologist uped the dose to 100mg and had a Pacer Check. During the Pacer Check they saw many PVC's.

In fact I had a PVC while attached to the Laptop. The PM Tech said it was a Pacer Spike???? What is that? Should I feel a Pacer Spike? Anyway she did not explain.

I went home and was good for a month. Last week the PVC's started and have not let up. They hit me sometimes in a way that feel like a shock feeling in the upper chest (Ventricle Area).

I went to the DOC who did an EKG which captured a PVC's. He now has me going in on Tuesday to get hooked up to a Loop Monitor for two weeks.

Question for anyone that can help. Will the Loop Monitor provide insight as to why I am having these awful PVC's?

Secondly, What is a Pacer Spike? Does a Pacer Spike feel like a PVC? If so is that something that can be adjusted by the Pacer Tech?

Any helpful answer would be greatly appreceiated

The past 7 days I have experienced heavy palpitations.

4 Comments

PM Spike

by SMITTY - 2009-03-29 03:03:30

My PM technician told me that a pacemaker spike is when the hearts natural pacemaker fails to send an impulse and the pacemaker detects this and sends an impulse to make the heart beat. My definition is that it is a spike seen on an ECG when the PM does what it is supposed to be doing. What I have never understood is how can they tell what caused the spike, the heart's PM or the manmade PM. They all look alike to me.

Smitty

PVC's

by ElectricFrank - 2009-03-29 05:03:14

There is good news and bad news on PVC's.

The good news is that they are rarely life threatening.

The bad news is that they are unsettling and there isn't much that can be done to prevent them that doesn't involve side effects.

They are very common even amongst young athletes. They come and go for no apparent reason. Last year I went through a time when I was having over 1000/day. Now they are back down to my normal 200 or so per day.

A PVC happens when the ventricles contract early before they have time to fill. Then there is a longer interval than compensates to put the next heart beat back on schedule. This allows the ventricles to fill to a fuller extent and makes the following beat a whooper. That's the shock or thump you feel.

PVC's come either as singles or runs where there are a number in a row.

I've never seen the term Pacer Spike used in any of the technical literature. I suspect the doc is coming up with a term he thinks you can understand.

One thing that can aggravate PVC's is too have the pacing voltage set too high. This irritates the heart tissue and can cause premature firing of the ventricles.

frank

PVC's

by sweetkozy - 2009-03-30 02:03:16

Just a short note...I'm 28 with a PM and I aways have over 1 million PVC's in a year. It's a nuisance, but I do live with them. I can take medication for them, but that is all I can do. Which I chose not too. They are a PAIN IN MY TUSH!

Cheers!
Jenny

pvc"s

by susan - 2009-04-08 09:04:57

Took Sotalol for 7 years with few problems,then had3 ablations(yes,3)The last one was of the av node, making me pacemaker dependent. My first pacemaker was replaced in Dec. after 9 years-now I get pvc's many times on a daily basis.Dr. will give me anti-arrythmics,but if they aren't going to hurt me(the pvc's) I don't want to take anything else. Never had problems with the first pm.

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