Is Pacemaker of Help?

[Bridges4]

Hi to all my AF friends. Can anyone tell me if a Pacemaker is recommended (or useful) to control AF episodes? Any personal experience would be helpful. Thank you

[BobD Volunteer]

NO . A pacemaker will control ventricular rate but not atrial rate. Some people ,where all else fails , have a pace maker and AV node ablation. The AV Node is the heart's natural pacemaker. The PM is installed and once working satisfactorily the AV node is ablated and the patient is then dependent on the PM. The atrium can continue to fibrillate without affecting the ventricle so the pulse (ventricular rate) will be governed by the PM. Those who have had this procedure will usually still be able to feel the fibrillation whilst not being affected by it in terms of fatigue etc.

Sorry but there is no easy fix. I wish it were not so.

Bob

[Bridges4 in reply to BobD]

Thank you Bob

[Hidden]

Hello Bridges, i'm sure you'll get differences of opinion on here, but speaking for myself, having a pacemaker fitted was the best thing for me. As I always say, I don't want to tempt fate but after having palpitations for 20 years , and being diagnosed with AF in 2015 , I was put on Bisoprolol to slow my heart beat down and the cardiologist suggested a pacemaker to keep it at a steady beat. I've never felt better . Some people on here talk about having ablations etc, but I was never offered anything like that, in fact i'd never heard of these procedures before I read about them on here. I don't have the worry anymore of the palpitations suddenly coming on and spoiling my day. Hope this helps. Stay well.

[Bridges4 in reply to Hidden]

Thank you for your kind response

[seasider18 in reply to Hidden]

I wish that my pacemaker had that effect. The pacemaker clinic say that my device still gets readings of up to 144bpm.

[CDreamer]

My husband had a pacemaker fitted in 2013 after he developed brady/Tachycardia - slow heart rate/fast heart rate plus several episodes of AFib. This is not the Pace & Ablate procedure Bob talked about which makes you entirely reliant upon pacemaker.

The original idea in hubbie's case was to be able to prescribe beta blockers for the AFib but with a HR of 35-40 with pauses that would have been dangerous - so pacemaker was inserted first and made an immediate difference. We asked whether or not it would help the AFib and the reply was - unknown - can sometimes help but often not for reasons given by Bob.

Having said that, it made an immediate difference to QOL and he was soon back on the golf course at 79. For the first 2 years - no AFib but episodes started, not frequent and not that symptomatic apart from 2 but so far he hasn't required any medication apart from anti-coagulants and the last pacemaker reading showed less than 5% of time in AFib.

So I would conclude that although it is not a treatment per se for AFib, it can be helpful if you have accompanying conditions. Frankly at hubbie's age (now 83) there are not too many of his friends that haven't got pacemakers and it does seem to give a new lease of life!

[Bridges4 in reply to CDreamer]

Thanks CDreamer. I will take all information, kindly sent to me by several people, with me for my next cardio appointment. I am 75 with heart failure, diabetes and, of course, AF so I need to be sure that any decision will be the right one! My brother has a PM but he doesn't have AF. Something called Bundle Branch Block. Take care and I hope your hubbies golfing handicap is being maintained!

[Hidden in reply to Bridges4]

I have left bundle branch block as well as afib. Not sure which is worse. I've not been offered treatment apart from beta blocker and warfarin.

[JohnHassall]

I have had permanent AF for approx 20 years, I live in the UK and several consultants have told me that age 65 any surgery would be a waste of time as the AF would almost certainly reoccur. I had a pacemaker fitted and was put on an anti coag. when I reached 65, the PM is simply to kick in if and when HR drops below 30bpm.

I am lucky and don't feel many symptoms in my daily life, I like to keep fit as I'm sure this helps in more ways than one.

[seasider18]

I quite happily lived with my daily heart rate in the low to mid 40'sand drops to mid 30's in the night with 3.5 second pauses. Now my pacemaker is set to kick in below 60.

I to am in permanent AF but 90% of the time I don't notice it. I turned down an ablation and a planned AV node ablation was postponed as I was having an MRI scan and they did not want me to be pacemaker dependent during it. That was last June and they have never come back to me on it.

[DGET1]

I would imagine you would only have a pacemaker for very low heart rate