low battery problems

Having just had my pacemaker replaced, I notice I am more alert and less tired now. I have even slept better. Could it be that the old pacemaker was not doing it's job? It's battery was getting low for months then was in need of replacement very fast.

5 Comments

maybe

by Tracey_E - 2010-05-10 07:05:34

Glad to hear you're feeling so good! There are two modes that the battery goes into before it totally stops working.

ERI is elective replacement. In ERI, you have full function, think of it as the gas light on in your car. The car is still running normally but you're running out of juice fast.

Next is EOL, end of life. In EOL, you have limited function, think of it as windows safe mode. It will keep you alive and safe but you will not feel good because a lot of the extra functions have been turned off to conserve battery power.

Some insurance requires it to be in EOL before it can be replaced. Sometimes they intend to replace it when it's still ERI but EOL sneaks up on you. Sometimes the new one has additional features the old one didn't that can help you feel better. If you ask, they should be able to tell you what mode it was in.

I'd like to apologize for my share of the additional posts on your other question. Bickering is not my style and it was unfair to you.

New PM & Feeling Better

by SMITTY - 2010-05-10 08:05:57

Hi Rick,

It is good to see someone giving the pacemaker credit for their feeling better.

I agree with what you have been told, it is difficult to say just what happened. A pacemaker battery does not slowly fade away (so I'm told) like a flashlight battery. At least mine didn't. It perking along fine one day and the next day my heart rate dropped from 80 to 65 and the pacemaker went from pacing the atrial about 90% of the time to pacing it zero %. It then started pacing the ventricle 100% of the time where it had been about 3% for the ventricle. I went from feeling reasonably well to feeling death warmed over until I could get a replacement

Based on my experience I am inclined to guess that the settings on the new pacemaker are more in tune to your needs which has resulted in your feeling better.

Hope your good feeling continues.

Smitty

Could be

by ElectricFrank - 2010-05-11 01:05:32

My Medtronic was replaced before it went into elective replacement so it shouldn't have made a difference, but I noticed an immediate change.

By immediate I mean in seconds. I chose to have the replacement done with no sedatives so I was wide awake and aware of what was happening. When the cardiologist removed the ventricular lead from the old pacer and plugged in into the new one the pacing felt noticeably different. The new pacer was pre-programmed to the same settings.

As an electronic engineer I wonder if the low battery affects the characteristics of the pacer stimulating pulse even if it isn't low enough to trip the ERI.

glad it's working better for whatever reason!

frank

YESYESYES

by pete - 2010-05-11 03:05:05

Yes it happened to a neighbour whose battery was running low.

Out of breath & energy

by Ping - 2013-09-04 03:09:12

Feeling very tired with supposedly 5 months left on battery but medicare won't pay until it gets lower, perhaps 2 or 3 months. Does anyone know how to get around this problem. Can the MD indicate it is medically necessary to get authorization? Pina

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