PM 08/11/2011

My pacemaker was put in 2 days ago. I came home from the hospital yesterday evening. Have any of you been told to sleep at a 45 degree angle to keep the leads from possibly coming loose until healed? I had to do that in the hospital and have also been instructed to do this at home. Other than that and my left arm in a sling, they were very lax in explaining post op info that I needed to know. My fault for not asking.
Bren

5 Comments

Post Op sleeping

by brucecal - 2011-08-13 01:08:37

I had my pacemaker implanted July 22. The only instructions I had were to keep from raising my left arm above my shoulder for a few weeks and not to lift anything heavy. I was given no instructions regarding sleep and was given no sling for my arm.
Because of the incision on my left side I chose to sleep either on my back or on my right side. It has been three weeks this past Friday since the implant and last night I slept on my left side without thinking about it and experienced no problem.
I like others reading these posts have become a bit paranoid regarding the possibility of a lead coming loose. If you do a search on the subject you'll find that while there is a possibility of this happening it is fairly low if you follow good sense and not use your left arm very much until your doctor gives you clearance.when I queried my Dr. about this the last visit he assured me that the leads were well anchored in my heart and that if I refrain from using my left arm to lift heavy weights and kept my left elbow below my shoulder I shouldn't have any problem. My Dr. has done countless pacemaker implants and I'm confident that he knows what he's talking about.
I go for a check up this coming Monday and am optimistic that my recovery will continue uneventfully and I'll be back to a new self shortly.
Best wishes,
Bruce

Healing

by EH - 2011-08-13 03:08:20

I had mine placed 8/2 & have minimal soreness @ the insertion site. I get up in the morning & take some Tylenol & then again in the afternoon. I was only instructed to sleep w/ my arm immobilizer so I don't raise my left arm too high & not to lift more than 5 pounds. Can't say that I've had any problems & pain gets better every day. I hardly notice the pacemaker unless I'm moving around alot.

Liz

Never heard of the 45 degree thing

by ElectricFrank - 2011-08-13 07:08:56

If you are having any problem sleeping try sleeping on the right side with a pillow in front of you to support the left arm. This keeps your left arm from dropping down in front of you and squeezing on the incision.

frank

sleeping

by QDottie - 2011-08-14 04:08:54

Hey, my PM was implanted the same day as yours! We're PM soul mates!

I wasn’t given instructions concerning sleeping, just the usual don't lift your left arm, and don't lift more than 10 pounds. My incision site is sore but certainly manageable.

Overall, I feel incredibly good - like I've been given a new lease on life. I'm 54 and thought I'd be tired the rest of my life: turned out I had a low heart rate. The morning of the implant, it was 42: now it's a strong, steady 60. I feel like a kid again!

Good luck to you, Bren.
Pattie

I to have never heard of the

by walkerd - 2011-08-14 07:08:09

45 deg thing. I was told I could wear a sling while sleeping to aid in not raising arm above your head, I also wore it when I went shopping with my wife as maybe people seeing a person wearing a sling wouldnt do the normal rude thing of bumping into a person like they are the only ones in a store. But I had also went thru bypass a month earlier before my implantation of pm/defib.
They told me only try not to raise arms above head, no lifting of over 10 lbs and no driving for 6 weeks, but you can use your arm as normal with those to restrictions, if you dont use it you can get frozen shoulder.

dave

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