Pacemaker 2 or 3 Wires

[mullikg2]

I had a Pacemaker implant 18 months ago and for the first 9 months my pulse was a steady 70bpm. but then overnight it went up to around 115bpm and went back into A/F. where it has stayed ever since. I am due to have an AV Node Ablation in 3 weeks time. My Pacemaker was fitted with 2 wires because they were unable to get the 3rd wire in. Does anyone know if the missing wire will adversely my health in the future.

[CDreamer]

Interesting question as I am waiting on a Pace & Ablate for a bi-ventricular pacemaker - which my insurance company has now just refused to cover althOugh that was the recommendations from my EP.

My EP’s explanation was that a single ventricular lead paces only one side of the heart and although effective, for a younger person with a longer life expectancy (I’m 67) over a 10-15 year period there could be a very small possibility of the 2 ventricles becoming slightly out of sync and causing some problems or of muscle failing as one was working harder than the other. As I have a Neuro-muscular condition as well which is suspected to affect heart muscle, he recommended this as the Rolls Royce treatment but because my ejection fraction is high - the insurance company doctors said the argument was ‘not proven’ and disallowed,

So now I am rethinking the whole procedure - it is very difficult to know what to do and when to do it.

I rather suspect it is very individual and a question best put to your specialist who has all of your medical records.

[mullikg2 in reply to CDreamer]

Many thanks for your detailed reply. More to this than I thought.

[EngMac in reply to mullikg2]

Hi CDreamer, I know you have had some chiropractic adjustments. Maybe you need to try more of these from a more qualified chiropractor. As you know, I have been exploring this for a year and one half. Lately, I have tried the PostureMedic to try to improve my posture. This has caused more irregular beats and more occasions of AF. These I can pretty much always stop with a bit of walking and by a vagal manoeuvre or just flexing my back. So I stopped the PostureMedic and the chiropractic adjustment yesterday seemed to get my heart beating more regularly again. Yet, last night for the first three hours, while sleeping, my heart rate was 34 bpm. It has been as low as 27. Then, later it returned to my more regular high 40's to low 50's. As you know, I don't take any medication, so the adjustments are the only things that change the way my heart behaves. No doubt a cardiologist would say that I need a pacemaker. Beta blockers slow my heart too much and my cardiologist recommended Sotalol without even knowing about my low heart rate. He never listens when I tell him what chiropractic adjustments have done, even though I have shown him EKG charts proving what I tell him.

So maybe if you found a chiropractor who can competently adjust all the cervical vertebrae and the upper thoracic vertebrae, you may not need a pacemaker. It has taken a year to get major improvement and perfection has still not been achieved. My chiropractor says that I am old (70) so I cannot expect miracles. If I was younger, apparently it is easier to achieve more success. Yet, he is not giving up and says there is still more that he can do. My messing around with the PostureMedic probably has not helped. For now, this approach seems like the best course for me. Getting a pacemaker and ablating the AV node is a no reverse option I wish to avoid.

[Jennywren2953]

Hi mullikg2. I’ve had a 2 lead pacemaker since October 17 and have been in permanent AF ever since, it actually started in Nov 26 and apart from a few days after the 5 cardioversion I had, I always have it, I’ve also had an ablation in August 17. I had aAV node ablation today. It is too early for me to get excited but I’m feeling much better already, so I don’t think you need the third lead, at least I didn’t. Good luck, I hope all goes well😀

[opal11uk]

I have a two wire pacemaker and it is set at 60 revs but cardio told me from the beginning that this wouldn't stop my PA/F so together with the pacemaker I also take Bisoporal and Disopyramide and that has stopped it for the past 3 years.