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hi everyone

I had a delightful chat last eve with IanMcC he was working on and he was near singapore. it was just great to think that modern technology can do so much now. he is doing good. jessie

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I am joining this site for my mom

Hi everyone,
I would love for someone to help me out with some information.
My mom received a pacemaker last Monday, June 22nd. She needed the pacemaker because of a very irregular heartbeat. She was so determined not to get one that she almost waited too long to finally give in and have the surgery. In her case, her heart was beating much too fast, and her shortness of breath was almost killing her. She retained so much fluids that she needed to stay in the hospital for an extra...

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flying to europe

hello

i missed you all. my puter went out & it took me awhile to get another one. since i was last here--i have been declared totally disabled. my shortness of breath has gotten better but not the chest pains.
my doc took chest x-rays to see if my pacer is in place. havent got the results yet. but i asked her if i could fly because my other doc said no but she said sure. by the way i have moved back home to be close to my family. i could no longer live alone, or drive to d...

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carnival ride...

so yesterday i went to my town's yearly celebration and went on a ride. there was no harness over the pacer, just a seatbelt and a metal bar at the waist. it's the one where you go fast in circles, but side to side. sometimes it's called the scrambler or something like that. after that ride, all last night my heart was going crazy with irregularities (slow beats to dropped beats, then the pacer would kick in in the way i could tell that it my heart was trying to regulate, but it just wasn't work...

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Pacer or Something Else

It has been a while since I have posted here. I am a proud owner of a Medtronic Pacemaker at this time and have been since 2003. For about a month and a half or maybe a little longer now I have been having problems. When I lay down and still awake, or about to fall asleep and when I am asleep I get hit with an attack that feels like I have stopped breathing and I start gasping for my breath. My heart will either beat very hard or it will race. My Primary doctor had me wear a halter monitor for 2...

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Sailing anyone?????

Hi, I have a question. However before I begin let me say that I have a new laptop and the keys are causing me some problems getting used to them... So if something seems not quite right it's probably because of that.

Now, for my question: I haven't been sailing since my pacemaker implant in February of 2005.
We have a 16ft. Catalina day sailer and I was always the one working the sails. I was always up front, moving about carrying out the commands. After the PM implant I just w...

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Chat room

Tried to converse in the chat room a couple of times now, and find that a lot of the time my messages don't actually make it into the log, but just sit there looking at me for 5 minutes or so. It's just a wee bit frustrating!! And then if I make a comment about it the others in the room think I'm mad at them. OOps. Is it me, my internet connection, or a general complaint? As far as the pm goes, it's been there for 2 years nearly and few problems. The answers that some of the regular amateur exp...

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New Member

Hi,
I am new to this club. I have had a pacemaker since 2005 and it is doing a good job. I was on Amiodorone for a while and that destroyed my thyroid gland. Has any one else had that problem?

Now I am in AFib almost all of the time. Suggestions?
Thanks for any help.

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It Works!

My Medtronic’s pacemaker was installed about 19 months ago at age 70. The operation was in the evening and the next day I left the hospital with my diner as a “take-out”. At the time of the operation my pulse rate was around 50 and at my last check up, the pulse rate without the unit was under the chart. The upper chamber is at 99.9% and the unit is set at 60.

I live in Florida and play golf three times a week and start usually just before noon and play until 3:00P.M. Two days a w...

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elective surgery

Hi all,
I haven't posted in two years, mostly because my pacemaker has become a part of me and although I believe I feel it now and then, it doesn't interfere with my life at all. When I received an e-mail about the newletter, it reminded me how helpful many of you were when I first received my PM in July 2007.
I have second degree heart block and my heart rate goes down to 40 when my PM is turned off. I don't recall the mode of my PM, but I know that my PM is a-sensed and v-paced....

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AF

Hello, Need your advice. I have had two St.Jude pacemakers the past 5 1/2 years. I rely on them completely. My heart is just too slow but healthy.
I take Amiodarone, Sotalol, Diltiazem HCL, Micardis, and Lipitor.
I am thinking of insisting on an Ablation so I can get off these meds. What do you think? Ev

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BASICALLY NEW PACER

I had a dual-chamber pacemaker installed 12/14/08 with 2 adjustments. Still have SOB and lack of entergy. Any hope??

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PM and activity level

I've read several postings about problems with pacemakers keeping up with the level of physical activity. So far (two years plus) I've done pretty well (Medtronic) with moderate activity levels, biking, skiing and race walking. After my three month checkup, my pm was only working 3-5% of the time. However, the following year, the activity rate for my pm jumped to 20%. As a result, I was put on Toprol to regulate my heart rhythm.

Although I like my medical team, getting detailed ex...

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AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok, we are now in the midst of a national crisis; I JUST UPLOADED A PICTURE AND ALL I CAN SEE IS A LITTLE RED "X"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *takes deep breath*. Ok. I'm ok. I don't know how this happened. Just thought I would let you all know!!!

P.S. NEVER shave while experiencing severe chest pain. I didn't cut myself, but I'm just sayin'...

:) Sydney!!!

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A little disturbing.......

Hi everyone,

It's been a long time since I posted.

Was in to the Pacemaker Clinic on Wednesday and the printout revealed that my pacemaker had 'stopped' three times (for short periods) last August.

My Cardiologist looked very concerned, I'm 100% PM dependent, and asked 'where were you last August that had a very strong magnetic field?'

Guess he was going to tell me to stay away but the only thing I could think of was that I was at that Hospital having...

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THUD THUD THUD

Ok, it has been seven months since my dual chamber pacer was installed. For the most part it has been doing real well but I did have to cut out almost all caffeine due to my heart "jumping" and making me cough. The stress & echo were fine at the time. Now, however (about 2 months since those tests) my heart has started doing a weird "thud" that is different from what it has done before. This is a series of thuds while my pulse runs somewhere in the 90's for no apparent reason. Bending over c...

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Great Newsletter

Hello All - Today I had the notice about the Pulse Newsletter in my email so decided to "stop by" for a visit. It's been a while since I had logged in. The Newsletter is terrific, I so enjoyed reading the interview with Karen. Deeply saddened to read that Peter Nash had passed. I always enjoyed him and his postings, comments, answers, etc. I still pray for all members of this forum daily. Everyone, stay healthy and have a great summer. God bless you all.

Sharon (So CA)

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ablations

Hi Kym,Nov.2006 I was to get an ablation but while on the table the machinery did not work,so cardio version was given in its place which is electric shock that did not help my flutters
Sept 2007 I had Transsepal Ablation and I find that has helped me very much.
Hope this info helps you.

Lloyd

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Exercise and the Medtronic Adapta

I had a Medtronic Adapta PM implanted about 9 months ago. One of my issues was that whenever I did anything aerobic, my heart rate would go up to about 130 for a minute or so and then crash to about 90 and stay there. I would be too tired to continue exercising.

When I got the Adapta, I was told that it could adapt to the level of activity I was engaged in. I have found though that it requires a lot of jostling to trigger it to maintain a HR in the aerobic range. Jogging will trigger...

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cholesterol medicines...

My pacemaker is FINE, and no AFib problems !

But I've had muscle pain and weakness, arthritis-like joint pains, fatigue and low energy, "senior moments", etc...

Several times I've quit the statins (Crestor, Zocor, Pravachol, Mevacor, etc.) but went back on them because the symptoms didn't improve. And then things always got worse !

So I've quit the statins again, and am taking CoQ10 in hope of keeping things from deteriorating. My current suspicion is that stat...

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You know you're wired when...

Your ICD has a better memory than you.

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Without this little machine, we would not be here.