Pacemaker pain

[Scottiestirling]

Hi, my adult daughter is having problems with the positioning of her pacemaker. When it was replaced a year ago, it was embedded in a muscle in her shoulder area. She is in constant pain. Does anyone else have experience of this sort of issue?

[fantasyfanuk]

Hi, yes I had my pacemaker replaced at the end of 2019 and had a lot of pain for around a year. It did eventually settle down and now it is only a problem if I catch the edge of it and it tilts. This happens because it is very close to the surface. The cardiologist said it wasn’t in an ideal position but it was so tricky to fit that he doesn’t want to try to move it. My gp explained the ongoing pain like this, the pacemaker gets knocked or shifts itself and that causes pain and disturbance of soft tissues around it. The injury continues to cause pain for a while, settles down and then the same thing happens again. That really helped me to understand what was going on. I was also reassured when the cardiologist had a look at it but that was just before the first lockdown and Ive not seen him in person since. Has anyone looked at the positioning of your daughter’s pacemaker? The thing I found hardest to deal with was what position to sleep in as it can sometimes hurt however I lie in bed. Hope things improve for her soon.

[Clipperkid]

I must have been lucky my cardiologist placed my ICD in my breast tissue which makes it almost invisible to my daily life

[Bigheart58]

I occasionally get very slight discomfort around my ICD and am certainly aware of it when lying down. Hopefully your daughter’s pacemaker will settle down and the pain will subside.