Help

I am a 41 year old female who had surgery 9 years ago in Chicago to repair a coarctation of the Aorta. I went in for a routine procedure last week and the Dr. refused to do the procedure because my heart rate was between 28-32 bpm. I was at my Cardiologist’s office 5 weeks before to have an EKG and an ultrasound of my heart and was told I am fine to exercise and that my heart was in good shape.

I went back to same Cardiologist who had me wear a 24 hour Monitor and now he tells me that I need a Pacemaker. WTF! I have an appointment with a different Cardiologist this Thursday, April 7th to get a second opinion. What I want to know is:  can I still be in a triathlon with this device? Is this the end of fitness for me? Also I hear you cannot lift your arms above your head anymore after the implant, is that true? How am I supposed to curl my hair, lift weights etc.?


6 Comments

Lifting the arm on the side of PM

by janetinak - 2011-04-02 04:04:23

is limited for awhile from a couple of wks to a month or so. Doc's all have their own time periods. You can/should rotate your shoulder & get directions on how high you can lift the arm so you won't dislodge the leads. Once the lead(s) settle in you can lift your arm as high as it goes :-). I made an appointment as soon as I knew when I was to get the the PM in with my hair dresser to get a shampoo & set the 1st wk. Afterwards I could shower, usually a week I just used my other hand. May not have looked as polished as I wanted but it worked for me.Of course, if you live with someone they should be able to help, if not the hair people are used to all this as PM becoming so much more common.

Go to the top right of this page & put in under "search"
words like fitness/exercise,etc & you will pull up a lot of answers to your question on this. Personally I swim & alth not competeitive, the PM has helped me keep in shape so there is not much I can't do for fitness after all heals

good luck & let us know how it all goes,

Janet

Yes to triathlon

by MSPACER - 2011-04-02 04:04:42

You should be able to continue with your triathlons. A pacemaker is not the end of the world, although it can be frightening to find out you need one. You've come to the right forum for information!

You can't lift your arm for about 4 weeks, but after you are healed you will be fine with lifting your arm. As for weights, there are different opinions on that because some doctors think that certain types of movements can fracture the leads. But some doctors say weights are fine.

Why does your doctor think you need a pacemaker? Are you symptomatic with your heart rate so low? A lot of athletes have low heart rates, but no symptoms. What did the doctor see on the holter monitor results?

You should try to see an electrophysiologist if you are seeking the opinion of another doctor. They specialize in rhythm disorders and pacemaker implants.

I, too, am a triathlete with a PM

by Tracie H - 2011-04-03 05:04:20

and I was scared that I wouldn't be able to continue my triathlon lifestyle with a PM. We're the same age, too! It would be fun to compete against you - we'd be the same age group AND with pacemakers! We could start our own club! Anyway, sorry, I digress...YES you can still do tri's. The first few weeks, like others have said, you cannot lift your arm over your head as your leads need to heal. Just cross train, or take some time off (they say recovery is good in triathlon!). The only problem I've had with tri's since my PM is finding a heart rate monitor that doesn't interfere with my PM and with my cardiologist (he's a runner) who thinks HRM are a waste of time. Other than that, being involved with triathlon has only gotten better. I don't have to worry about passing out on the swim, bike or run; I don't have to worry about my recovery after a workout or race any more than any other athlete and I feel SO much better. Good luck and keep in touch. And, if I do meet you in a race, just know that I totally plan to kick your pacemakered butt!! :)

ep

by LS - 2011-04-03 06:04:18

I would make an appt. to see an electrophysioligist. (sp) They deal with the electrical part of the heart issues. My cardioligist turned me over to one as soon as he thought I might need a pacemaker.
Liz

lifting

by sugar - 2011-04-03 06:04:23

Hi,

After you heal, you will be able to raise your arm - I also lift weights - the dr. set a weight limit to start with. I didn't want to exercise the upper body at all for months and now I limit the weights to 10 lbs. each arm at the same time so 20 lbs. is fine with me. Now if I could loose only 10 pounds, I would be just fine.

I used my right arm to curl my hair and I sort of used my left to lift the hair while I tilted myself to one side. My hair sort of does whatever it wants anyway. Doing the shampoo with my right arm was fine - as long as my hair was clean, I was good. I haven't gone out much due to the winter this year and I trimmed my own hair (fairly long) and noone really noticed. I find that we are more self aware than others are and I also found that they cared how I was doing and not my hair. Maybe a friend can help you for a couple of weeks till you adjust.

28-32 beats per min. is rather slow. I was between 30-35 or so and I waited about 20 days to have mine put in and I could have waited alittle longer but I was going to Vegas and I wanted to run around there. Eight days aftter the pm, I ran around Florida and Vegas - leggs were working just fine.

Good luck to you and other dr. opinions are important and will most likely confirm what is going on.
Sugar/Patty

pacemaker

by 39anddisabled - 2011-04-06 08:04:26

i hear people still exercising walking jogging riding a bike climbing mountains if thats all there going to do is put in a pacemaker all the pacemakers going to do is regulate your heart beat after first first implanted you cat take shower or bath for a week songe bath your cardiologist will warn you you you cant raise your arm for a month i also read 6 weeks you can drive if you cant control your car with one arm your not supposed to drive a car as soon as the wound heals you should be good takes about 2 weeks ther used strips on me and stitches they put a difibulator in my chest depends what hand you are depends the side of the chest they piut the pacemaker in your bpm is to low your bpm should be alot higer than what it is i would be concerned just advice

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Try to concentrate on how you’re able to be active again and feel normal, rather than on having a machine stuck in your body.