Most Recent Messages in Checkups & Settings

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pacemaker settings

Thanks for the response regarding heavy and tired legs after PM
I think it could be the setting it was paced 50 then 75 and legs nearly collapsed, doc then paced to 60 which seemed okay but heavy legs returned. I try to really exercise ,bike ride etc but that doesn't seem to help much.I have always been energetic but this has stopped me doing things even walking.

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Phone Check Thingy

Hi everyone,
I'm leaving for vacation in the morning and wondering if it's a good idea to bring my phone check thingy. I have one in a gray box with wires for my wrist and the round magnet and phone cutouts.

I just thought of bringing it now. What does the phone checker actually tell them? Is it worth bringing?

Thanks for your speedy replies....running around packing!

Wenditt

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PM checkup

Just wondering if it is normal to not see the doctor when you go in for a PM check? This is the first time I have not seen him on a visit and I have had my PM for over a year. The tech said he was at the hosptial. She did not know anything and could not answer any of my questions! It was very frustrating.
My main concern right now is that I can not sleep. I found out from the tech that when I went in two months ago to see the doctor when he changed my RR he also raised my lower limit to 80...

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turned the beats down now lighthead and dizzy

I only had the pacemaker a week.....when to check up and found out the top is still beating to fast so they turned it down the bpm. Now i am feeling a bit dizzy and lightheaded. They did say I will need meds to help with the top half of the heart. They slow it down so it dont race so much. But dont like this dizziness and light headiness. Anyone ele had this or have any suggestions.....I think I was in the 80 and now in the 60. Before this I was in the low 30.

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First check-up

Went for 6 week PM check-up today and there were a few surprises.
Firstly, I didn't see the cardiologist who implanted the pacemaker - my check-up was in the "diagnostics unit" (where they do treadmill/ECG, etc tests).
In the atrium, my PM is just "sensing" (i.e. not pacing) meaning my heart is initiating beats correctly in the top. The ventricle is being paced 99% (hence my condition - 2nd degree heart block - beats are not efficiently relayed top-to-bottom).
I said I was still...

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6 month check up

Hello to everyone
I haven't posted anything in a long time but always stop in and read the posts most every day and I wanted to give an update on my condition.
Had my 6 month check up on Thursday and it was not one of my better ones. The lead from my pacemaker to my upper chamber is giving off some different readings and is probably going to need to be replaced. The pacemaker made corrections and it is working ok. We are going to monitor it for the next 3 months and see what happens an...

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Thanks Pookie

I posted a message about 3 weeks ago with my concerns qbout an upcoming MIBI test. I thanked Frank for his response but was saving my response to you Pookie until I got the results. I had the test on July 7 & 8 and have been awaiting the results. I have called the cardio. 3 times telling the nurse that I am still having dizzy spells and would like the results of my MIBI. She tells me she will look up my file and call me back. No such luck. I had such a dizzy spell last week in a store and had t...

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HAD MY INTERROGATION - WHOOPIE!!

Hi guys, had my 6th month check up yesterday, brilliant news, afib episodes 11,000 first 6 months, 920 second six months, none at all this six months, I never took the medication but have a glass of red every day, have no idea if this has had an effect, wouldnt recommend it though unless doc says ok.

Vent pacing went from 84% then to 32% and this time only 6.5% fantastic news.

Atr pacing about 82%.

Told them I loved rate response on and how well I feel so they di...

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what does pacing mean

oh one more thing....what does pacing mean? i think at my check up they said I was pacing at 20% .....is this referring to my natural heartbeat or the beats the pacemaker is causing? Can someone explain this to me too?

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how do i know what settings i have?

OMG! I am so scared. I haave had my PM for just over a week. First time ever and I just happen to find this website. The more I read others posts the more questions I have. I know my PM is rate responsive and dual chamber. I don't know what all this setting stuff means. All I was told was its rate responsive and it won't go above a certain amount or ever drop below 60. Does this mean that if my high is 150 then my pulse will not go above that? I want to try to get back into my workout routine an...

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PM settings & Blood pressure

Hi all :)
I have a question about the PM settings and ones BP
this confuses me and so I thought I would ask :)
my top setting on my PM is 120 bottom is 50...my BP usually is 120/78 pulse is usually 62 or so... okay so yesterday I was outside with hubby doing yardwork and weed wacking,mowing etc etc.... I sometimes feel sob so yesterday when I did I came in and took my BP oh and throw in some PVC's too anyways, my BP was 130/83 pulse 78... so would the low setting of 120 on...

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Update on changing settings

I had written last week about wanting my upper limit raised as it was set very low. I thought it was 120 BUT it is only at 100! No wonder I would try to exercise and be huffing and puffing!

After meeting with my Cardio he actually listened to me and said that the upper limit is the highest the PM tracks. I said - remember my hr drops during exercise so it is not going to go up on its own....

He agreed and tried to reach the EP to discuss. of course they weren't availabl...

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PM Setting Changes

Hi everyone! I have an appointment Friday with my Cardio to discuss changing my PM settings. I have thought long and hard about this as everything is going ‘OK’ and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to mess with them. BUT I think the time has come. I have AV Block 2nd Degree Mobitz 1. My hr mostly drops during exercise. I have only had the PM for about 1 ½ years so this is all still new to me. They had turned on my rate response to a low setting early on as I was still having sob going upstairs....

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I am confussed - need some advice

I am about 8 weeks post PM surgery. I feel like I got my life back - getting more energy everyday and feeling great. I had my appointment and asked about the % of pacing my PM is doing because I always see that number on this site. I was told that my atrium is doing the pacing and my problem was with the conection between the atrium and the ventricles. My ventricles would only beat about once for every 3 or 4 beats of the atrium. My doc told me I was paced at 100% even though I am not being...

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Return of AF

I had my first pacemaker implanted in 2000 following a failed ablation for atypical atrial flutter - had a few events thereafter then was free of events for 8 years (taking 5mg Bisoprolol & Warfarin therapy daily).

2nd pacemaker implanted July 2008 and all went well until January 2010 when the pacing check was failing to pick up 'p' waves - nothing done other then monitor in 6 months (June 2010). Just two days before the check up AF returned - confirmed at the check up, again the 'p'...

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Outstanding checkup!

That's right after the year I have had I am so happy to share that I just had an excellent doctor visit!

I have had a stress test and a heart echo. Had my new pacemaker interrogated and everything is clicking and humming along as it should!

I asked about my medications, (no change) I asked about my old pacemaker... as in "Where is it?" (they seemed to have lost it). The EP asked me if I knew the serial number and I said "sure" and said that I could email it to him if he nee...

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check ups

I have had my pm for about 6 months and had a check up, the st jude rep checked my settings,90% pacing upper, lower was 2% which was a surprise since that leed was put in for insurance. Mine is set at 70bpm. Not sure if rate response is set. My problem was bradycardia, in 30'sbpm, fainting episodes. was able to go up.

Anyway my question is does anybodies cardiologist turn their pm off during their check up to see how your heart is naturally. To see if our hearts are the same or have g...

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I am so happy

Hey all

Just had my yearly check up (7 yrs this year) & extremely happy to report Dr doesn't want to see me for another year & reckons he would look at replacing pacey within 9 months after that. I am so happy that my first pacey is lasting the distance (have met a few people who only got 5 yrs). So I just wanted to share how happy I was with the only people in the world who really do understand the highs & lows of being wired for life!
Cheers everyone :-)

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How low should you go?

At my last appointment they changed my low setting from 50 down to 45. They did this because while laying in bed my RHR would get down and very close to 50 if not hit 50 and I could feel the pacing here and there.

But then over this weekend I had dizziness-something I haven't had in a very long time. It could have been the warm weather and working in the yard-not totally sure. My blood pressure was good so I don't think it was anything serious. Other than a flashback to when the block...

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PM check up

I went in for my three month check up and the doctor changed some settings. First when I was getting checked by the tech he asked me to walk up and down the hall so I did and then when I sat back down my heart was skipping beats and going up and down. He said your still having sinus node problems but he said that the pacemaker only came on when the pause was too long while I was walking and when I sat down. He said I was pacing 41% overall. That is all he said and left. Then the doctor came in a...

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My pacemaker is the best thing that every happened to me, had I not got it I would not be here today.