Splitting headaches and palpatations and nausea post pscemaker

[Alphakiwi]

Anyone having these symptoms. Its 16 days now since pm implant and now back to waking at night with palpations and elevated hrt. During the day i get thumps in the chest a number of times which also causes me to suck in involurantarily . I feel absolutely rotten with it and no nrg. I was told the pm implant needs to be followed with av node ablation. I hope this will help as its no fun like this. I do understsnd that iy takes a while for the pacer to adapt to me. Perhaps someone can share something about it with me .

[CDreamer]

So sorry you are feeling so rough. I did have problems initially and rang the PM clinic to check the settings which were altered which gave some relief - I had long bout of what I can only describe as exaggerated hiccups. Yes it takes time for everything to settle. Yes it got a lot better but it won’t stop AF - even after the AV node ablation you may still feel palpitations, especially when in bed.

The AV node ablation will stop the the electrical disruption travelling through to the lower part of the heart so although the atria may still fibrillation, the ventricles will stay steady and so your pulse will not be regular rather than irregular and that may improve your QOL.

If you are feeling so uncomfortable do ring the PM clinic and ask to talk to someone. Do you have a monitor at home?

The implant disturbs a lot of soft tissue around the shoulder and neck which will be inflamed so tension around the shoulders and neck may cause headache, mine certainly did. You need to be aware of possibility of frozen shoulder so ask a physio for some gentle mobilising exercises, it’s important to build mobilisation and strength again soon after the implant surgery. Where you given any advice from a physio?

[bantam12]

I didn't feel ill after my pm was fitted, I was in a lot of pain and was a bit breathless for a while and the settings did need changing slightly but nothing on the scale you are experiencing. Definitely call your pacing clinic so they can check you out.

[barbharris1937]

my pacemaker was not activated until I had the ablation so it didnt help with the A.F. Hope all goes well with you. Mine after 5 weeks much better but not perfect.

[Barb1]

Why did you have the pm fitted? Mine is for a fast heart rate. I am due the ablation on the 3rd August until then the pm is doing nothing.

[Alphakiwi in reply to Barb1]

My hrt goes low and high so i guess it takes care of lows at night so i dont wake as much with nausea i guess. I hope it takes care of these dreadfull palpitations i get and stop arrythmias from ocurring. Also apperantly the algorythm in the pm learns about my physical activities and so the technician told me on friday i should be out doing as much as i would normally do. I wish you well for and after the 3rd Barb1.

Meanwhile it is cope and wait for me at the moment but i will see my gp today or at least get an appointment.

[Chrissy7 in reply to Alphakiwi]

When you say your heart rate goes low snd high was that prior to your operation?I don’t understand anything about pacemakers yet but something tells me soon I may- my heart rate went very low on atenolol - 42-48

At night and I have spikes during exercising that make me feel dizzy - jumps to 185 momentarily then back to 90 - (before meds and now I don’t exercise that hard just lightly - as I’m still undiagnosed.)

I see this was 2 weeks ago- glad to hear you’re getting some relief …

[Alphakiwi in reply to Chrissy7]

Chrissy, my hrt was going low at night before the pm was implanted. I kept waking every 2 hrs or so with heavy pounding and then early morning around 5 hrt would go to a low average which made me very nauseas and uncomfortable.The pm has taken away the low hrt and the nausea but has NOT fixed my exercise intolerance or spikes in hrt when trying to exercise. Apparently i will be called up sometime after the pm has settled to do the AV node ablation. When that is done the pacemaker will control the hrt entirely.

Then i will not have to put up with yoyoing between drug side effects and the arrythmia. The fast and unstable rate of the atrium will still be there but not felt and it cant get to the ventricles through the AV node because it has been destroyed. Then the pacemaker will be operating my hrt requirements 100 % of the time.

I have a 2 lead pm and it is rate sensitive and can be individually customised. It detects such things as breath rate. Limb motion, and even emotions. Smart eh.

I thought that the usual ablation of the heart wall would be maybe what i could have but the team at Auckland hospital said no. My left atrium had severely enlarged causing the electical current to go in the opposite to normal way which renders that sort of ablation unsuccessfull. Hope this clears things up for you.

[Chrissy7 in reply to Alphakiwi]

Thank you. Our issues sound similar.

My HR is definitely dropping at night- esp on atenolol (but I know that doesn’t count.

Glad to hear things are looking up for you.

I won’t know if there’s anything abnormal with my heart until they do an MRI… They say that’s the last test they need to make sure they haven’t missed anything.

You sure hit the nail on the head when you said yo-yoing between the drug side effects and the effects of the arrhythmia. I’ve never heard it said better to describe how I feel and live daily.

Good luck to you.

[bantam12 in reply to Alphakiwi]

I've just had my rate response switched off as it was causing problems when exercising with very erratic rates.

[Barb1]

Thank you. Unfortunately the pm doesn't stop the AF, just stabilises the heart rate. For me, I am hoping it will get rid of the breathlessness and give me more energy

[Alphakiwi in reply to Barb1]

Yes I am hoping for the same plus getying rid of palpitations and nausea. Itwill of course stop atrythmias returning as the heart will be paced 100 %. Please keep me in touch abouy how the ablation goes. Im hoping the ablation will be done at least by thr end of august

[Barb1]

The arrhythmia doesn't go away. It continues doing it's own thing in the top part of the heart.

[Alphakiwi in reply to Barb1]

True, but i understand that it isnt felt or noticed.

[Barb1]

I hope so.