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calcium channel blockers

Any of you have experience with using calcium channel blockers instead of beta blockers? I recently switched and so far prefer the calcium channel blocker. The beta blockers always made me feel like I was operating at idle - I'm feeling more like the engine is running and responding to changes in demand. I have chronic atrial fib and hypertension. I'm taking both an ACE inhibitor as well as the calcium channel blocker. Pulse and BP both seem well controlled. My PM is set for a low pulse of...

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Checkup Tomorrow

I am having a quick checkup tomorrow and just wondered if you all can tell me what questions I need to be asking. I'm not even sure what my low setting is! I am going to ask that one for sure. I am not having any issues, just have a PM (Guidant) that is under recall so it gets checked frequently.

Any suggestions/thoughts/ideas will be appreciated!

Thanks,

Theresa

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Good news!

Hey everybody,
I just got off the phone with a medtronic rep/tech that I know. He does our teaching at our hospital were I work. I explained to him about myself and all of you and our frustrations about not getting answers to questions that we need. Too many people are suffering and something needs to be done. We discussed getting together and developing a educational program for people like you and me. Something that we can sink our teeth into regarding our devices, complications, concerns...

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SURGERY ON UTUBE

Dont forget to go into Utube on the internet and type in Changing The Beat in the seach box to watch the 1 hour video on surgery and complications with pacemakers etc. Dont watch it if you cant stand the sight of blood. Cheers Peter

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Posting a Photo.

To Duggie and Blake.

Thank you both for your help. Duggie, your instructions were easy and clear. Because of that, I was finally able to view my file name in its entirety.
Blake, I never knew how long it was. So, now I completely understand what you meant, and I changed everything.
It's now short, clear, and it works. I feel so much better, I'm no longer a " photo posting failure. "
Thanks a bunch.

Have a fantastic day.

~ Dominique ~

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Does anyone else feel their right ventricle being paced?

I'm 28 year old male with a medtronic AICD, which I've had for almost two years. With the exception of a few body positions that eliminate the problem, I can almost always feel a sort of tick or twitch on what seems to be the left side of my heart anytime my right ventricle is paced by the device. When I exhale completely, the twitch turns into a more uncomfortable pain more like a shock.

I was wondering if anyone else has this same problem? There are times when I'm paced frequen...

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sleep....

Anyone have any good ideas for getting some sleep? I had my pm put in Friday and am wearing the sling to bed. I slept pretty good Friday night but I must have woke up 10 times last night.
Thanks, duggie

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breast lift surgery w/ PM?

does anyone know if it is possible to have a breast reduction/lift w/ a pacemaker? i can't find any info online, so i thought i'd ask here...thanks! i have a Medtronic Enpulse DR PM for 3rd degree heart block... haven't used the PM since i got it basically 4 years ago when i was pregnant w/ my son...Drs. don't want to remove it even though i'm 100% sensed (on my own, not using PM) since 5/2004 (got PM in 2/2004). go figure, huh? also, it is preventing me from getting health insurance. any t...

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normsw

Hi-I'm new to this club/forum. I'm 75, on my 2nd pm after 6 years on the first. It's only a backup, as I have an electrical prob. leading to bradycardia and fainting, so it's set at 60.
My pulse rarely goes over 80 but I have 2 different situations:
1. When I lie down to go to sleep, often my pulse will drop to 46 to 50 for a while; deep breathing will get it back up again.
When I wake up in the morning sometimes it's also in the 40's.
2. Occasionally while working at my lap...

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thanks for the info..

hey everybody, thanks for the info and responses to my posting. My mother always told me I should have been a lawyer for some cause because I get so fired up about issues like this I promise that I will do what I can to get the ball rolling to help us get anwers that we are legally, morally, and medically intitled to. Those of us who are in the med. prof. see everyday the struggles that the public go thru with their doctors, ins.co., ect. and it takes a very proactive approach upon the pt or fam...

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Does It Ever Occur That One No Longer Needs a PM?

This is a question I'm having difficulty finding an answer to.

Does it ever happen that, after, say, a few years, whatever the problem was that necessitated the PM in the first place [in my case, heart block] simply repairs itself somehow and disappears? And that the PM is, as a consequence, removed?

After my last PM clinic visit, I was told that my PM was only kicking in 20% of the time. I think that this is a lot less than it was kicking in during the early years.

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gellia2

hi michele susan here i was hoping you can write me and tell me what they didi for you in physical therpy so i can try to do it at home since i dont have insurence right now,so i can try to get some relief ,also i am very greatful for all the help and support i have gotten on this site .thanks alot ,waiting to hear from you,and god bless everyone for being so understanding when it felt like i was all alone.

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Shocking

Has anyone felt little shocks come from the Pacemaker its self? Not the leads but the gadget.

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thanks

thanks for all the really good feedback to my letter. your care means a lot. I am going to post a message tom. and would like some feedback on it too. as a nurse and a pt i want to take a active role in getting the doctors i work with to listen to some of the complaints of sim. signs and symptoms people are having. i will go into more detail 2/23/08 but for now i am pooped.
have a good night everybody!!

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celebrex

Hi does anyone take celebrex with their pm .Wonder if its ok .Thank you.Richard

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what can be done

Is there anybody out there who might know of a web site,person or persons in the medical field who is willing to give straight answers to our questions. Reading about so many people haveing problems (including myself) is very disturbing.This web site is a great tool for knowledge and support but the companies making our devices and the doctors putting them in need to help us way more than they are. strting from the bedside before placing a pm . Too many of us around the world are suffering among...

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perforation

I received a St. Jude 5386 pm in December 2006. From the beginning I had something that felt like a "tic" at the pm site. The cardiologist and the tech told me it was just "settling in." It got worse over the year, and I learned to make it stop by holding my torso in a certain position. It got increasingly difficult to do that and a new sensation cropped up: it felt like a cell phone on "vibrate" only less intense, also at the pm site. 10 months after the implantation an impedance check was done...

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video!

wow!! i love the utube video!! great is all i can say! it really touches my pm! hehe (cause it touches my heart) sorry lol

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First Check Up

Well I went to the doc yesterday for my first check up. He said things look great. He did say I have a slight infection from where I had a bad cold. He said that it would get better in a week or so. He told me thats where the pain/pressure was comming from. So thats good to know. One down point. I did have another PE. (clot in my lung) Im a factor five so I have had many. But he wasnt very happy about that cause of the pacer wires! So ive been through the ringer! hehe My pm in now set @ 70 and 1...

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Utube Special

Just to let you all know that if you go into GOOGLE type in Utube and go to the Utube web site and enter CHANGING THE BEAT in the seach box you will be able to watch a 57.57 minute (Nearly 1 Hour !!!) video of two electrophysiologists talking about pacemakers implantation , complications and further developments. Its highly educational. Warning though there is some live video of pacemakers being implanted and if you cant stand the sight of blood etc dont watch the video. I think it is really int...

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Your ICD has a better memory than you.

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