Complications after pacemaker fitting

[Westie2012]

Since having my pacemaker on November 25th which went ok 4 days after the procedure I started getting what felt like jolts in my tummy that actually made my body jump, went to A&E, ecg and chest X-ray g done, everything looked ok so I went home with instructions to call the cardiologist Monday morning for advice . Sunday night I was feeling better however , I was woken at 2.30 am so suddenly with the most excruciating pain that hit like a lightning strike it just started out of nowhere. Hubby thought I was having a heart attack. Paramedics were lovely, gave me morphine and off to hospital, ecg was erratic, the paramedics were discussing my heart rate and just gave each other a worrying look. They couldn’t tell my husband whether it was a heart attack or not, because of covid he had to stay at home, he admitted he thought he’d lost me. Many hours in A&E, blood tests, ecgs, X-ray, heart scan and pacemaker check, when the pacing team altered the pacemaker settings the jolting started up, the wire was irritating my diaphragm. Around 6pm I was sent to cardiac assessment unit to wait for covid test results before they could move me to a ward, 9pm there was a bed available and my test was negative thankfully. Dosed up on pain relief, two days later had the wires replaced. 12 hours later woke up to even worse pain, I’d developed pericarditis as the wire had put a hole in the heart muscle so was given even more pain relief and started on antibiotics. I wasn’t well enough to get out of bed as slightest movement increased the pain, I was finally well enough to be allowed home Saturday after almost 6 days in hospital. I was almost at the point of asking to have the pacemaker removed with all the complications after. Very traumatic emotional experience that I wouldn’t wish on anyone. Slow recovery period so trying to be extra careful

[Harboreyes63]

I live in the States So how everything works here is a little bit different. Once when the doctor reset my pacemaker when he shouldn’t have every day at 4 o’clock I would get the kind of jolt you’re talking about it was the strangest thing and it hurt and it got to be i so scared for 4 o’clock to get there so I went to a different doctor and when he called in the pacemaker people which are Medtronics here they came and they checked the settings. They said the settings are all wrong and tweaked it well fast forward everything was fine for two years and then the doctor decided to change the pacemaker a little bit and then I was in a fib for five months Almost ended up having my AV node removed until Medtronics company sent someone in and they said oh my God your pacemaker set all wrong you could have died when they reset it I had been in the hospital 16 times and when they reset it at the correct setting it was perfect and no more Afib so I suggest to you that your settings on your pacemaker are incorrect for you and whoever sent them did them was wrong and I would go if it’s possible to someone else because it’ll make all the difference in the world and I know exactly what you’re going through.

[jeanjeannie50]

Bless you Westie, what a horrible and worrying experience you've had. I really hope the medics will soon have you better. Please let us know how you progress.

Wising you well.

Jean

[meadfoot]

Wow Westie what a trauma for you, you must have been so scared. Not what you expect or hope for when having a procedure and implant aimed at improving your health issue. I so hope things are resolved now and once you are rested and back up to full strength the benefits of a pacemaker give you the outcome and improvement you desire. Best wishes.

[Westie2012]

Well just when I thought I wouldn’t have any more hospital stays thats what happened. I was discharged on Saturday 6th December, still in a lot of pain especially at night. The following Tuesday I’d been a bit better so I walked to take my daughter to school. A few hours later I started getting a mild right sided chest pain that got worse when I breathed in. This got worse over the next 30 minutes. I was advised to go to A&E, more heart scans, ecgs, chest X-rays and bloody tests. They said they thought I might have a tiny blood on on my lung, took round to another department, given blood thinning injection, sent home with strict instructions to do nothing at all and go back immediately if I felt more unwell . CT scan the following evening thankfully no blood clot but they were concerned about the fluid still around my heart so another two night stay on coronary care. Thankfully I’m now slowly feeling better, lots of medication to continue over the next 3 months. Just hoping that is my last hospital stay for a very long time.