Medtronic Adapta

In August I had two Medtronic Adapta PM's implanted. First one lead dislodged. Second one is implanted well with no dislodging. The problem is that they cannot get it tweaked so that I do not feel anything. In October I went in for my first tweaking and I felt worse after. It would thump me in the chest when ever the pm kicked in. I went back in the first of Nov., again tweaked, but this time tech thought that the lead was hitting a nerve and could not get it tweaked properly. But, she did something again worse. A few days later I went back to see my cardiologist and he told her to turn off the rate response and to put the vent. lead at 1.3 again still feeling the kick in. Two days later I went back in again because by now the anxiety is getting me down and she tweaked it again saying that she turned something off. Yet, at 11pm I still feel the resetting of the pm and a few times a day the kicking in of the pm but not as bad and only for a few seconds rather than many. I have been reading some of the comments and have noticed that many have been geared toward the Medtronic Adapta. Does anyone have any info about problems with the Medtronic Adaptas? If so I would love to hear from you as to what you're or have experienced. Thank you

2 Comments

Two Adaptas?

by golden_snitch - 2009-11-19 02:11:10

Hi!

Are you sure you had two Adaptas? I don't think you would get a new unit just because a lead dislodged. I would rather say they took the pacer out, connected the lead (or a new lead) again, and then put it back in. I mean, it wasn't the unit that wasn't working, and it was brand-new and very expensive so I don't think insurance would have payed for another new unit.

Regarding the tweaking: if often takes a few months to get the settings right. The heart has to get used to the pacer, the leads need to heal in and so on. So that's normal. What's important is that you have got a cardio who is willing to tweak it again and again until you feel well.

The Adapta - from the technical specifications - seems to be a really nice piece of machinery. I think I heard someone complaing about battery life here, but can't remember anything else.

Best wishes
Inga

tweaking

by Tracey_E - 2009-11-19 06:11:08

I doubt if the Adapta is the problem. Pacemakers vary somewhat between manufacturers and models in the bells and whistles they have, but all of them work basically the same and will do what you need. It's more than likely a programming problem, not hardware.

It's not uncommon to take some time to get the settings right where you need them. Just keep going back when it's not right. If you get the feeling they're giving up, then it's time to get another opinion.

My doctor makes only very small changes at a time. It makes it easier to figure out if something new is working or not, but it also can mean quite a few trips back until it's right. The good news is most of us only go through this once. Once they figure out the settings for you, you should be good to go indefinitely.

I'm sorry, I can't tell from your words, are two different people making decisions about the changes to the settings? One could be undoing what the other is doing.

You know you're wired when...

You have a little piece of high-tech in your chest.

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