Pacemaker

[juanitamc]

Hello I join HealthUnlocked a few month ago, but I'm new here posting.

I went into hospital on the first lockdown as I woke up at 4.00 am with breathing problems and tingling feeling all over and at A&E they told me i had a first degree heart block, within an hour that I was in A&E it went to second degree heart block and within minutes it was complete heart block and was rushed to have the pacemaker fitted, So i guess it does happened quite quickly.

I was really lucky that mine happened when I was in A&E and they was able to take me straight to theatre, and spent a night in hospital and discharge with no med's

Soon as I got home I started suffering with anxiety and it's been over a year now and still have the Anxiety so my doctor put on on Mirtazipine which helped quite a bit, but about 2 months ago I was back in A&E with mild chest pains and by a blood test they done in hospital it turned up to be a mild heart attack.

I was discharge the following day with Bisoprolol, Aspirin & Omeprazole, well knowing me I do hate medication, so I started the Bisoprolol on it's own, and from day one of taking those pills i was completely ill with all sort of things and spent the whole month vomiting and diarrhoea which I lost a stone in weight.

I spoke with my doctor and he refuse to change my medication and told me I had to speak with my consultant at the hospital.... I did ring the hospital but for some unknown reason the hospital will not bring my appointment forward so I can tell him that the medication he put on was making me so ill and was hoping that he would change it.

So I was back speaking to my GP telling him that I had stopped taking the Bisoprolol and he send an urgent Letter to the hospital to see if they could see me straight away,... Well 3 weeks on still waiting for a reply from the hospital.

I did at the end get my GP to change my prescription to Atenalol which I have been taking now and seem to be ok... And I'm keeping my fingers cross.

Sorry for the long message here, but I only just plugged up the carriage to write this. xx

[Hidden]

Hello & Welcome

I am glad you have plucked up the courage to post as you will find everyone is so helpful and friendly and hopefully you will not feel so alone

Members will come on and you will get lots of good advise as they do and as I am still quite new to all this I do not have as much knowledge as they do

I see you have been through it though and it really does leave you feeling anxious and all over the place

I had a heart attack in Oct last year , one in Feb this year and March and now waiting for a double Bypass

I do know they tend to put you on the best heart meds they have to prevent a heart attack , I had a med fear but soon had to try and overcome that as now I have to take so many but they are a must not a choice

Now and again one may not suit you and can be changed , Doctors especially in the early stages can however tread with caution and would rather have your Consultant make this choice they can however email them and ask

I just worry that you are not taking all the meds you were prescribed , I understand with my med fear how this might make you feel but stress they are so important and I think you should start taking them , for your heart and also if for some reason you don't get on with them you will be able to talk about it when that important appointment with your Consultant finally comes round

You may be taking them all now and my apologies by suggesting you do if you are

You were very lucky you were in the right place at the right time but once we have we then have to follow all the advice we are given including meds so we can continue to stay well

You are not on your own and can come and talk with us knowing we know how you feel including the anxiety you are suffering , but know it is so normal to feel this way and if you look at so many posts on here others have to but in time that has got better and they are living life to the full and in lots of cases better than they were before , that is what I am hoping I can do and I wish the same for you to x

[buddy2blue]

Wow that’s a lot to deal with in a very short space of time. It must have been so scary for you. I hope things are a little better now xxx

[Arnika]

I am so sorry that you are having so many poblems with your medicines.But I am glad that you have decided to write, and share your problems here.

I find it very helpful, when my own issues get me down.

I also had pacemaker fitted (last October) and I am on BIsoprolol and some other medicines, and I also suffer from bad side effects.

Unfortunately Bisoprolol is one of those life saving medicines which can also cause lots of side effects.

I suspect that the problems you describe might be caused mainly by Aspirin, Taking Aspirin prevents blood clots which could be very dangerous, and cause heart attact, or stroke but there are other medicines that act in a similar way, so if you still get problems, you can ask to have it changed.

I am also having problems seeing my consultant, in fact I have never seen one, but I was given a phone number to the ward in hospital where my pacemaker was fitted, and I can speak to the nurse if I have any issues, or questions. I spoke to her after op when I was having some problems with recovery.

I also called hospital and asked to speak to my consultant's (have his/her nameready) secretary and she spoke to the consultant, and called me back. Unfortunately I was told that I must take Bisoprolol (5mg), they just slightly reduced the ammount I must take.

How many mg are you on? I am now getting more use to it, but I have good days and bad.

Unfortunately GPs do not like to do anything, once you are under consultants care, and these days it is almost impossible to see them, so we must try harder if we want any help.

Perhaps you can also call your hospital and ask to speak to your consultant secretary and leave some questions for the consultant, and ask her to call you back. Be very calm, and very polite have some simple short questions, and in my experince, some secretaries can be very helpful. Good luck, and don't give up. And stay in touch.

[juanitamc in reply to Arnika]

Hi, My doctor managed to change the Bisoprolol that I was taking to Atenalol 25mg, As I was having problems with awful side effects and when I contacted the hospital and spoke with the consultant secretary she told me I needed an urgent letter from my GP so they could bring my appointment forward. (Which my GP done straight away) ButIt's been over a month now and I'm still waiting for a call back to see if the cardiologist will either see me straight away or phone me.

Regarding the pills I did get Aspirin as well to take, but on my notes from the hospital it specifically specified that I could not take it as I suffer with ulcers in the stomach, but they never took any noticed of it, and still handed me the pills. (Which I will not take) as I don't want to end up in A&E with bleeding on my tummy.

I just feel like no-one cares, specially with this virus that's going round.... It seems to take for ever to get even an appointment on a phone to speak to a doctor now days.

[dembaba in reply to juanitamc]

I stopped taking aspirin as well. It used to make me feel awful. It does say in the booklet they give you at hosp it can make symptoms worse in some patients. Bisoprorol is horrid as well, but its a beta blocker and has to be taken unfortunately. I cut down my dose which helped a bit. Good luck and take care.xx

[Fredders]

Are you taking the omeprazole? It protects your stomach from the effects of the other drugs and I note you say you have a stomach ulcer, so the omeprazole would have been prescribed to protect your stomach. I am on omeprazole because I have stomach problems and have to take a lot of medicines. My husband was on bisoprolol and was also changed to atenalol due to the side effects.

[juanitamc in reply to Fredders]

Hi, Sorry I haven't replied sooner, Yes I have been taking Omeprazole for about 15 years now, but for some reason when I started taking the aspirin with the Omeprazole my tummy has been playing up with a burning feeling so I have stop taking both of them for now an just take the Thyroxyn and Atenolol and a brown inhaler for now.... I will try to take them again soon, and see what happens.I hope your husband is doing OK with the atenolol now.

All the best

[Fredders in reply to juanitamc]

I've been on omeprazole for years too, after they found damage to my stomach wall, probably caused by taking ibuprofen on an empty stomach. I'm on paracetamol and codeine now, for back and hip pain and not allowed ibuprofen cos I'm also now on warfarin. Husband is much better on the atenalol, no side effects.

Take care.