Can you feel the pacing???

I just had a pacemaker installed last week. I really think that i am feeling little electrical impulses in my heart. It seems to come in a double patter with a very slight pause in between. The first little shock is always higher than the second. I have tried to pinpoint the specific spots, but they are not always exactly the same - they are consistently on the rt side of my heart (toward the center of my chest).
Does anyone else get these sensations? Is this just a temporary occurrence since it's only been implanted for 7 days?

10 Comments

not usually

by Tracey_E - 2009-08-13 03:08:28

Most cannot feel the pacing though some say they can. It may just be that we all get hyper-aware of every little thing the first weeks. I'd ask about it when you are checked next time. It may be that it needs adjusted.

Little Shocks

by J.B. - 2009-08-13 04:08:27

My EP said we should never feel our pacemaker doing its job anymore than we felt our heart's natural pacemaker doing its job. All the pacemaker is doing is replace that electrical impulse the heart's pacemaker did not send.

From what you describe my guess is the impulse from the pacemaker is stimulating a nerve in your chest. The nerve can be in close proximity to the pacemaker or across on the other side of your chest. As for it going away, that is possible, as the first time I had a similar problem it went away after a few weeks. The second time around it acted like it had found a home and it took several tries to get rid of the "shocks." All it finally took was for the EP to fine tune the strength of the pacemaker impulses to where they were strong enough to give me a heart beat, but not strong enough to travel outside of my heart and stimulate a nerve.

If your's are bad, call your doctor now of if you can tolerate them you may want to wait and see if they will go away. Rest assured you are not the first one to have this problem and it is correctable.

Good luck,

J. B.

Shocks

by J.B. - 2009-08-13 10:08:40

Pawgles, Sorry about that but I was just repeating what my doctor told me and he did say we should never feel our pacemaker doing its job anymore than we felt our heart's natural pacemaker doing its job.

Me, too!

by pezzypooh - 2009-08-14 05:08:34

I have had my pacer for 4 months, and I probably feel it about half of the time...I always feel it when I am laying down (prior to sleep mode kicking in), and I feel it many other times during the day. Recently, I was in a meeting at work, and it kicked on, and I must have made a weird face, because my supervisor looked at me and very excitedly said, "are you alright?!?!?" It's definitely noticeable when my pacer goes off!!! Good luck, all!

Agree w/pezzypooh

by Greg in ME - 2009-08-20 03:08:38

I was really aware of mine for the first month but now only notice it about half the time or less. I think it's just a matter of getting used to it. I look at it as a sign that everything's working like it's supposed to. Good luck!

Been there, done that!

by podpm - 2009-08-23 12:08:23

I had a PM installed about 3 months ago and by that evening I could feel pulses every time my right ventricular lead shocked me, like someone poking you inside - not painful just annoying. To make a long story short, the electrical impulse was pacing my ventricle but also stimulating my chest wall muscle (pectoral). After two months, they went back in and moved the lead to an area of my ventricle. They had to move it 5 times to find a good spot - woke me up during the surgery to test it - but all is good now. My MD and the Medtronic rep had never seen this side affect. You might want to ask your MD about it if this sounds similar

further question

by twe - 2009-08-28 11:08:20

at the risk of sounding stupid...............I had my pacemaker implanted almost 2 weeks ago, i have begun to feel really hard pounding at times (often several times a day), I thought this was the feeling of pacing and that I should be feeling this but from the comments I read above it doesn't sound like I should be feeling this strong of pounding heart beats??? any thoughts?? This is not a tingling feeling it is a hard pounding that actually kept me awake for more than 2 hours straight las night

further question follow-up

by podpm - 2009-09-08 09:09:02

Doesn't sound normal at all. I would get it checked. When the test your PM, they will typically turn the voltage up and down amongst the other tests. That might help narrow the problem. With me, it got more frequent and intense with higher voltage.

question follow-up

by usmc - 2014-03-07 02:03:49

These comments appear to be very old so I don't know if anyone is actually tuned into this site or not, but here goes. I have had a PM since Oct 2013, I never noticed anything regarding "tingling" or "shock" feelings following the surgery. However, I just had my PM examined in late February of 2014 and since that visit, I have noticed at least 3 or 4 times a day, a tingling, electical type feeling in my chest causing my pectorical muscle to actually contract. No pain, but very uncomfortable. It stops me in my tracts and I actually grab at my heart area and squeeze my skin to try and cover the electical sensation I am having. It seems to only last 15- 20 seconds then goes away until the next time, usually hours later.

Pounding=pacing?

by theresagiordano - 2016-03-21 01:03:08

I'm not sure if I'm feeling my pm pacing. I got mine on March 1st. Every once in awhile, my heart pounds. Just 1 to 3 beats. Like when you have the monitor on. Do some people have that pounding sensation when they are pacing?

You know you're wired when...

You get your device tuned-up for hot dates.

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I just want to share about the quality of life after my pacemaker, and hopefully increase awareness that lifestyles do not have to be drastically modified just because we are pacemaker recipients.