Pacemaker

[Buddy00]

Hi I had a dual chamber pacemaker fitted a few weeks ago due to bifasicular block . I am told it’s working fine ,but when I stand up or walk around I feel lightheaded and strange in chest / stomach possibly nauseous. I’m taking 8 mg candesartan tablets. My blood pressure seems okay so gp is reluctant to alter dose but I can’t carry on like this . Has anyone suffered anything like this.

[S11m]

Yes - the solution might be to have the base pulse rate increased.

I had a dual lead pacemaker installed when I only needed the ventricle lead - but, when they "killed" my atria with the second Catheter Ablation, they discovered that the Atrial lead was out of position. I was disabled until they inserted an additional Atrial lead when they replaced the pacemaker, but I was still suffering from poor circulation, postural hypotension etc.

Last week they increased my base rate from 50 to 60 bpm, and now I feel better.

[Buddy00 in reply to S11m]

Thanks for the reply, this is my main worry that the lead may have moved , even though I’ve been careful . I’ll talk to the cardiac monitoring team next week.

[bantam12 in reply to Buddy00]

I had my pm setting increased from 60 to 63 because I was feeling a bit squiffy.

[Buddy00 in reply to bantam12]

Mine is also set to 60 ,Ive just been out for a walk and feel slightly out of breath and palpitations I would’ve though my heart rate would increase when walking so not sure what’s going on.

[bantam12 in reply to Buddy00]

That's the symptoms I get, 24 hour monitor last week showed non stop ectopics but my pm is working ok so it's a separate issue.

[Buddy00 in reply to bantam12]

Oh blimey that’s all I need.

[Buddy00]

Thank you I will speak to the monitoring team on Monday again and see what they say.

[Fredders]

Definitely sounds like your settings could be too low. When I had my pacemaker fitted following my AVR I kept getting out of breath just walking about and getting dizzy spells, but once they turned my settings up I was fine.

Wendy

[Buddy00 in reply to Fredders]

Thanks Wendy , I’ll speak to the monitoring team on Monday 👍

[Roamie in reply to Fredders]

Hello, I don't know if I have the same pacemaker as Buddy00.

I have a DDD which, when I experienced shortness of breath, was altered from a range of 60 - 90 to 60 - 120. Would this be relevant?

Roma.

[Buddy00 in reply to Roamie]

Spoke to monitoring team today and sent them the latest readings via the app and they assure me all is okay , and all readings are as they should be. I’m now dealing with my gp and looking at my blood pressure medication.

[Fifimyangel]

I have a pacemaker dual chamber. Its early days fir you yet. Everything will settle down.

[Buddy00 in reply to Fifimyangel]

I certainly hope so , I actually felt great until last week, I went for a long walk and all was fine but since then it’s all started.

[lucielooloo]

Hi I have a duel pacemaker fitted, it’s been ten years but I don’t recall feeling lightheaded, do you think it may be anxiety? Takes a while to adjust to having a device, or may be it needs a couple of settings adjustments , if it continues I would contact your cardiologist x

[Buddy00 in reply to lucielooloo]

Thanks for the reply, hopefully everything will settle down.

[Felixia]

Hi Buddy, had a similar procedure done last week but to correct sinus pauses and significant bradycardia.

Since then have been back to hospital twice because of weird fluttering feeling in chest and also dizzy spells.

Was told yesterday that the weird feeling is due to the pacemaker firing and it is something you will get used to. They also adjusted the settings slightly to address the dizzy/lightheadedness spells.

So far seems better but early days. Was told your body also needs time to adjust but they did also say if you have any doubts, never hesitate to contact them.

Wishing you good luck.

[Buddy00 in reply to Felixia]

Thanks Felixia, I will speak to the monitoring team tomorrow. Glad to hear yours has been sorted out 👍

[R3mi]

Hi Buddy00

You have only had your pacemaker in a short while. The one thing with anything new is that you can get very conscious about it. I have found that Anxiety can affect all sorts of things in your body that people wouldn’t normally associate it with. If your health care professionals are Ok with it you have to trust them, they do what they are doing on a daily basis. If you have concerns or don’t understand then ask them about what concerns you. People automatically think oh I can’t ask them this or that. But honestly they absolutely love to explain. They know that their patients want reassurance. They want to you be completely satisfied and go away happy and at ease with your situation. You feel good about your job when you get what ever you do right, they are exactly the same. Go and talk to your GP have the questions ready and he/she will reassure you. In a little while hopefully you will not even be aware of it. If there is something not right the chances are they will fix it

And you will be able to enjoy a full and contented life. I wish you good health and long life.

[Buddy00 in reply to R3mi]

Thanks for the reply , I understand about the anxiety but not sure that’s it , I was fine until last week, I had a long walk and felt great but since then something isn’t right , yesterday I went for a walk and after a while we had to keep stopping as I felt out of breath and a bit lightheaded

[R3mi in reply to Buddy00]

Hi Buddy00

As you have only had the pacemaker in a short time. The chances are for sometime you have not probably been very active build up slowly your exercise programme.. I am sure you will find that all will be ok. Anxiety is like putting a brake on a fast moving vehicle it stops everything.

[Buddy00 in reply to R3mi]

Thanks

[Gsarah]

I have a dual pacemaker fitted. It was 8 weeks a go. I started to get a bit of discomfort in middle of my chest. I panicked and it started happening when I was walking up stairs. TBH I think it was anxiety looking back. Let it settle and don’t take your own pulse. I kept checking and I think it made me worse. Carry on doing things as normal. Once i stopped checking it got better. However I’m not on any medication or do I have any underlying health issues. They don’t know what’s caused my complete heart block. Two weeks is early days. Relax and chill out.

Hope you feel better soon x

[Buddy00 in reply to Gsarah]

Thanks Gsarah, I put my Fitbit watch on last night and now keep checking my bpm 🙄. Going to call gp and monitoring team tomorrow and see what they say.

All the best.

[SeniorBowler]

Hi Buddy00. I had a Medtronic DDDR pacemaker fitter Dec 2019, and found that the 'workshop manual' for clinicians was available to viewfrom Medtronic on the internet, It made very interesting reading, if a little heavy going, but I learned from it that the 'R' bit, the response facility, could be switched on or off (not by the patient!). At my first pacemaker check after 6-8 weeks, that facility was switched in, which made quite a difference to my activity comfort. I have occasional AF and my system seems to need to be 'warmed up' gently to avoid AF being triggered when exercising. Takes time to accommodate.

[Buddy00 in reply to SeniorBowler]

Just looked at manual for my azure model , they are a very clever piece of kit.

[Coco51]

Similar for me. At 6-8 weeks I was feeling as fatigued and sluggish as before I got the PM. Sort of lightheaded.

Anyway I raised this with the lovely lady at clinic at the 6 week check. The answer was to switch on the sensor responder and set it at medium.

No more fatigue but it started racing when I started walking after I had been sitting down. After 6 months it was adjusted down to low, to come on at a slower rate. The top speed was lowered to 110 from 120.

This is better. It takes some getting used to!

[Buddy00 in reply to Coco51]

Thanks coco 51 ,

[Hdev]

I had a Medtronic pacemaker put in one week ago today,,not sure what I expected,but the left arm and chest are still pretty sore and limited in usage,,,also have a heavy pain in the center of my chest that comes and goes even when just sitting still,,,,I’m more concerned about going off metoprolol after 5 years due to vision which keeps getting more blurred,,,now we change the meds,,,but to what? Here’s hoping the pacemaker settles down and all the feelings go away,,,some out of breath moments just walking in the house too,,,going for my first device check next week,,,,hoping to learn more!

[Buddy00 in reply to Hdev]

Hi Hdev , I can’t comment on the meds but limited arm movement is a must while the leads settle in. I never had chest pain , just uncomfortable to sleep on my left side but that eased after after awhile. It’s been 5 months now and all seems okay, the app keeps a check on the pacemaker and will alert the clinic if anything is a miss. It took a while for me to get my head around having a pacemaker, especially as I was fine one moment then diagnosed with a heart condition the next. All the best in your recovery.