I was speaking to my uncle earlier today. He is wearing an ICD. A couple of days ago he was in the kitchen and suddenly he collapsed. The ICD has delivered a first shock but he did not wake up. He said he opened his eyes when the it delivered the second shock. He said the hospital reset the ICD a few days before this incident.
He told me that when he entered one of his bathrooms the ICD delivered a shock. The same happened when he entered the other bathroom. His consultant said he does not have a clue why this is happening. The only reason he can think is that the gases building up in his stomach triggers the ICD to deliver a shock.
Can someone please explain why this is happening? Do you think this is as a result of the ICD being reset a few days ago. has anyone had the experience the ICD triggering due to gas in the stomach.
thank you for looking at my post and I would be grateful if someone can provide a solution or possible reason for this to happen.
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Elonor236
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Hi sorry I have never heard of that, mine fired because of VF, I never even noticed, the hospital phoned and told me, I know anything magnetic can set them off, and mobile phones should not be used at that side, the icd clinic can tell if it's an appropriate shock or if it has fired for no reason, I hope you find out char
Thank you very much for your reply. I will pass your message to my uncle. He lives in Canada, He has gone through a very difficult time over the years. I have no idea about ICD until my uncle mentioned it to me. Can you please tell me what VF stands for? Did your doctor mention anything about the ICD could fire when gas builds up in one’s stomach? Thanks you very much again.
Hi its ventricular fibulation, it done its job well as a defibrillator, my cardiologist did point this out, I was so lucky to have it, I have never heard anyone mention gas just magnetic fields, which could even be fasteners on clothing, if he drives it could be a problem if it is an appropriate shock, in this country its an automatic six month ban, it was horrible, sorry to here your uncle has not been well for a while, keep me posted if you find out anything else, take care char
I am very grateful that you have taken time to reply to my post. I will tell my uncle the responses you have kindly given me. Yes of course, I will keep you up to date with any future findings. Thank you kindly. I wish you very good health.
Hi ! You seem to know about driving restrictions. I might get an icd fitted because of low ef due to a heart attack last year. I haven’t been shocked any time. Would I be banned to drive for 6 months?
Hi if it's an appropriate shock, I think sometimes they can go off for no reason, the icd clinic can confirm either or, I had a home monitoring unit and it downloaded everything to the hospital, my shock unfortunately was appropriate so thank goodness I had my icd, from the moment it happens its an automatic 6 month ban, you have to contact the dvla online they will then send a letter to send back your licence, in turn they will send a letter back for your consultant to fill in if you are fit to drive after the 6 months is up, it took me 7 months by the time I got it back, that was a happy day, when you get an icd fitted you have to tell the dvla, it's a £1000 fine if you don't, I hope that all makes sense, if there is anything else please feel free to message me char
I do not have a medical background so I would recommend your uncle works with his medical team to get to the bottom of this.
I have an ICD and my understanding and experience is that it monitors the heart (nothing else). If mine detects dangerous heart rhythms it either tries to correct it and if that fails delivers a shock.
My ICD has corrected dangerous rhythms hundreds of times and has also delivered 3 shocks.
I would say it is highly unlikely that stomach gases trigger his ICD unless they are somehow making the heart behave differently.
The ‘reset’ may have something to do with if it is delivering inappropriate shocks. The ICD settings may need tweaking. I say this because when I first had my ICD I received an inappropriate shock so the settings were adjusted and it has performed correctly since.
I am very grateful that you have taken time to reply to my post. I am so pleased that the ICD is helping you. I will pass your message that you have kindly given me to my uncle. Last year Uncle had 3 shocks at the airport in Singapore, He thinks it could be the security screening. I will keep you up to date with any future findings. Thank you kindly. I wish you very good health.
A friend in the USA had something similar happen to her and (don't laugh) it turned out to be an electrical fault in her en-suite, the 'family bathroom', and kitchen. Her son is an electrician and ended up having to rewire the whole house. In the US homes with multiple bathrooms sometimes share circuits, and one or more power points in the kitchen can share a circuit with the bathrooms as well.
I don't know if Canadian home electrical regulations permit electrical outlets in the bathrooms but it's worth looking into for your uncle - if building regs permit a shaver or hairdryer point, for example, he might want to have his wiring checked.
It could be something or nothing but it is definitely worth looking into especially as he's seen his medics and been told it's stomach gases. He's done what he is meant to do - consulted the medical experts and now it's time to check the electric supply in home and at work.
You might want to give this article (with footnotes) a quick read (the title says defib but in the text talks about ICDs firing inappropriately as well):
Hello everyone, I spoke to uncle earlier and passed all your messages. He is extremely grateful to you all. He said he had shocks agin last night, he checked his blood pressure and it is extremely low. He is waiting for a call to go to the hospital today.
He mentioned to me today, when the ICD was fitted years ago he kept getting shocks for no reason. For example when he opened the car door with his left hand. He decided to put a copper wire in each shoe touching his feet , made a tiny hole in the shoes and release the wire through the shoe touching the floor. (Grounding himself) He said it stopped all the in appropriate shocks. He has also got rid of his microwave.
I thought I would share this information with you all as you have been so kind in helping my uncle.
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