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This is for Rick (Hotform)

Thanks for you comment. But considering I do not have a Medtronic POS Pacer your statement does not apply to me. I have heard from my pacer rep that I should stay away from the alternator of a car because it can interfere with my pacemaker. So yes I had the guy at the parts store who was more then happy to take my New alternator out to my car. Now i'm sorry that I was unaware that the alternator had to be hooked up to actually interfere. But since I am not willing to mess up my nice brand new $6...

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Hacker and our pacers

I have studied the recent research article on pacemaker hacking and done some of my own. To start with the following article on frequency use in the world shows that there are radio stations in Europe of1 million watts or more on the frequency band mentioned in the hacking article.

(155 to 281 kHz: This is another AM broadcasting band in Europe and parts of Asia. In Europe, there are numerous high powered (1,000,000 watts or more) stations here. These stations are capable of coverin...

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memory loss

Have had my PM for over 2 years - has anyone ever suffered memory loss., since PM inserted?
Thanks for all the advice

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Diaphragm contractions

Hi. I received a dual chamber PM 2 days ago (my first) and during the second night of sleep had "chest contractions" which were strong enough to wake up my wife. The contractions were infrequent but I decided to go to the emergency room at the hospital. It was determined that my diaphragm was picking up an electronic single from the cardiac pacemaker and causing my diaphragm to contract. Has anyone heard of this condition? Can it be resolved by changing programming settings in the PM? Are...

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long term effects of having a pacemaker

Hi,
I'm a 49 year old woman that has had a dual pacemaker for a little over 2 years now. I was told that I have 3rd degree heart block. I just had an it checked yesterday and the nurse said I was pacing 94% in my ventricals. I asked if that was a bad thing and she said well, over time it can be because ventrical pacing that high over years is not a good thing.
She told me to ask the doctor more about it when I see him in June. She aslo said that because of my condition (heart block...

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Pulling Leads Loose

Does anyone know how common it is for someone to pull leads out of place after surgery by doing too much with the arm too fast? Has it happened to anyone here?
I'm just scared to death I"m gonna do that, and wondered if I did , would you even know if you weren't PM dependent?
Christina

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Hackering IMD's! What???

Have anybody heard this on the news or read about it on the web anywhere? It's horrible and scarey!!! But I think it is worth sharing... Here are some of the sites on the computer that are carrying the news: secure-medicine.org/icd-study/icd-study.pdf, schneier.com/blog/archives/2008/03/hacking_medical_1.html, nytimes.com/2008/03/12/business/12heart-web.html?_r=3&oref=slogin
Just a little bit spooked at the moment...

pacie

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Not necessarily a death wish

I've noticed that every time someone says anything about wanting a pm/icd removed or wishing they'd never got one, people seem to think that's the same as saying they don't want to live. People have varying degrees of needing or not needing their devices. Some of us never had a serious life threatening emergency, just indications of that being a possibility. Kind of like everytime you drive a car, you risk having an accident. I know people who had a car accident, and never drove again becaus...

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Hello!!!

Hey guys, I know you are tired of hearing from me, but I think this place seems desserted any more. Hardly anyone posts comments, although you may prefer to email an answer instead. A LOT of people have left, and I don't understand why. They say there are problems with others, but I have resolved all my issues. On a more positive side, I am thinking of publishing a book of qoutes, so if you know any please let me know! Bye! Remember, "It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see." -...

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lead replacement

i had bi-valve and defib device implanted feb. 18. before they sewed me up in the operating room, the pacing was working. i thought i felt perky when i came back to regular room. however, next morning test and x-ray showed one lead had shifted. a followup clinic visit showed the lead migrated ever more and was not "capturing," whatever that means.
i go back in march 18 for lead replacement. dr said the lead problem is not something he or i did. just happens. he's going to give it another sh...

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What is this?

So I go for my 5th PM check, just had my little buddy installed 12-15-07, and I am told that they are going to turn on my ECG recorder beacuse I have several, more then 10, atrial tachy episodes of more then 260 bpm - OH MY GOD!! I feel little hick ups here and there but I thought it was just PVC's or something. Any one else with a run away atria? What do I do? What questions should I ask next time? They are checking me in 3 months again to see what it shows, should I wait that long?

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Query

Is an ICD the same as a pacemaker? Sorry to be so ignorant but only had mine since January, a pacemaker that is.

By the way, don't want to speak too soon but since they altered all my settings I have been feeling better. Still tired but I think at last I am on the way up.

Thanks for all help given when I have been whining on the site - all your responses were helpful and I still log on daily just to have a read.

Take care everyone

Love Jules

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Patient restrictions

I am a retired 70 year old active male (I play tennis year round)
who on February 21, 2008 passed-out while walking from my car to a restaurant. This is the first time this has happened.
On the second day of my hospitalization a defibrillator was implanted into my chest after the completion of a number of tests. It has been 3 weeks and recovery is going well except for some swelling which the cardiologist is not concerned about.
I would like to hear from other implant patients wha...

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Time for a Update!

Hi my friends!
I am still in Chicago for a couple more days before returning home. I have enjoyed my trip besides the hospital stay from hell.
My heart is still a little out of sync though on the 19th I will figure out what is going on exactly.My doctors gave me help and advice over the phone to prevent myself from not landing myself back in the hospital here.
I have had some problems lately and I believe some of you have heard me talk about this before. As the weeks hav...

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Thanks

Thanks for all of your input, to set things straight it's not a joke nor am I in need of a pshrink,and I don't have a death wish. I do have issues with implanting foreign objects the human body be it mine or yours..it's not right. now we went back and forth about this and in the end it came down to being tired and beaten so I gave in. A fact that I am not proud of but there you have it. As for considering the consequences I have weighed everything time and time again and my answer is always the...

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Chat

Going to the chat room to see if anyone will join me.

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Pacemaker irritability

I had a dual-chamber pacemaker inserted in 2006 after a serious MVA with spinal cord injury. Since then, I've experienced an increase in irritability of the pacemaker with any movement of the left arm, activity, motion, driving on a bumpy road, mowing the lawn (riding mower), etc. Has anyone else experienced this problem? If so, how did your doctor help you resolve it?

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I want my icd removed

I am the recent recipient of and icd that I fought tooth and nail against. My Doctors overrode my objections with their sanctimonious arguments about how they know what is best for me and implanted the damn thing anyway. Should I have one? Most definately my EF is less than 35%. This is not, however,about treating my "condition",this about respecting the wishes of the patient. What can I do, who can I see or talk to? I completely understand the risk of sudden death due to ventricular tachycardia...

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support needed

can anyone tell me if lying on the side of your pm can cause damage / i cant lie on my right side as my pm(implanted on the left) flips over but by lying on my right i always wake up inpain i think im squashing the pm.also ive developed a feeling of pressure in both sides of my neck tight chest heaviness and fast heart beat especially on standin/minimal exercise and after eating ive tried beta blockers that ease symptoms slightly but make me feel ill with asthma like symptoms so ive stopped the...

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The New Me

  • by HB
  • 2008-03-13 06:03:54
  • Coping
  • 1664 views
  • 1 comments

Hi, I'm Heather, a 58 yr old with a brand new ICD (St. Jude's Atlus II). I have a history of dilated cardiomyopathy, but was stable and healthy for 13 years until this past December when I had my first V-Tach. In the next two months I had several more, never actually fainted, but came close to it, in and out of emergency several times. A week and a half ago I went into the hospital for what I thought was to be an EP study, followed by a cardio-ablation. I had more or less prepared myself for tha...

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You know you're wired when...

You need to be re-booted each morning.

Member Quotes

My cardiologist is brilliant and after lots of trial and error got me running. I finished this years London Marathon in 3hrs 38 minutes.