S-ICD - how long to recover and any other thoughts?

[MrHocum]

Hi Everyone,

I am due to have an S-ICD fitted next week and was hoping that anyone else here with one could post your thoughts about the device, particularly how long it took you to recover and it was painful for and how long you were off work or unable to do certain tasks?

Because it is likely to not need an overnight stay, I think my work expect me to be back and working within a couple of days but I'm not sure if this is very realistic. The cardiac nurse advised 1 week, but I see some people saying elsewhere that they were still in pain three weeks later or even longer.

I also have a golf weekend coming up six weeks after - is that realistic do you think?

Any and all thoughts on these or the S-ICD in general would be much appreciated, thanks.

[Sustainedvtach270]

Hello, I had about 3 weeks off, but repetitive arm movements are not encouraged. For me it was more with my heart that made me less physically fit. You might want to check a Facebook group called "living with an ICD".

[MrHocum in reply to Sustainedvtach270]

Thanks for replying. Do you do a desk job and, if so, was it typing or sitting in that position that meant you had to take that much time off, or do you do something a bit more energetic than that? I'm not sure my work would be happy if I told them I would be off for that long (I do work only at a desk though),

[Sustainedvtach270 in reply to MrHocum]

I do mostly a desk job. For the time off, it all depends why you're being fitted an ICD. Again the challenge for me at the time was not the ICD fitting but the heart, I had cardiac arrest. The ICD fitting is just painful for a few days and was never really an issue. Also in the US, you cannot drive for 6 months

[MrHocum in reply to Sustainedvtach270]

OK, I can see why you would need a bit more time off in that case!

It is six months here too in the UK after a cardiac arrest (but only one month after having the S-ICD fitted if you haven't had an arrest first).

I hope you are feeling better now and that the S-ICD is giving you some peace of mind. It's comforting to hear that having it fitted wasn't really an issue for you, thanks.