a newbee

hello everyone,

going in on 3/3/09 for a pacemaker, little history...I had an aortic valve and root replaced in june 2005, since then I have felt real great and really lousy. My shortness of breath was really starting to bother me so the doc put me on a holter moniter for 48 hours. Called last night and said my high rate was 77 and low was 32, so you get a pace makler real soon! I am 47 and in great health and good physical condition. When I work out (thanks to my athletic wife) my rate was between 42 and 60 after an hour of rigourous activity. What can I expect as I'm looking forward to having lots more energy?

3 Comments

diagnosis

by Tracey_E - 2009-02-25 02:02:47

Your symptoms are low hr, did they say why? Several things can cause it. They can all more or less be fixed with a pm but they work differently depending if your problem is sinus or an av block.

32 explains why you have really lousy days! That will not happen after you get your pm. They have a minimum setting- usually 50 or 60- and your heart rate will never get below that again. Not only will you have more energy from the higher rate, but picture all your organs getting flooded with oxygen. A very low hr makes us sob, dizzy and tired, but it also does unseen damage to our organs.

If your rate is only getting up as high as 60, I think it's safe to say you will have considerably more energy and stamina once you get your pm! My rate stayed in the 40's before I got mine due to an av block, now I have a normal range. The pm doesn't let me get under 60 and I get up as high as 150 working out. I can do things I only dreamed of before. I ski, hike, work out, rollerblade.

If you have any questions about the surgery, recovery or living with a pm, please ask away! I'm 42 and got my first one at 27. There are a lot of us here and we're always happy to answer questions.

my recent experience

by muirghe - 2009-02-25 05:02:39

I just had a PM "installed" on January 16th. TraceyE is right, you will have move energy, but I am finding that the stamina doesn't come right away. Maybe it is b/c I was living with AV block (undiagnosed) for some time. I do find I am gaining back some stamina which I attribute to my regular walks. Boy, I am looking forward to hiking again!

I wish you a speedy recovery from the procedure.

Go for it

by jimkirschvink - 2009-02-25 10:02:42

Did your heart rate change after your valve surgery? Sometime the valve surgery will screw up your electrical paths, and it's not uncommon to need a pacemaker after valve surgery,

Irregardless, you'll be blown away how much better you'll feel after your timing is back. Best wishes!

Jim Jim

You know you're wired when...

You run like the bionic man.

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