Defib cause shortage of breath?

I had a biventricular defibillator/pacemaker implanted on Aug. 1st and have healed rapidly with no problem. I exercise at the gym regularly (recumbant bike and treadmill) and have no problem with losing the weight that I have lost (over 20 lb). The past two days I have had shortage of breath (like I did before the implant) and thought it was because of having excess fluid in my stomach and ankles. I take Furosemide (Lasix) to help with the removal of the fluid. I wonder if anyone has experienced anything like this or if I should be concerned as it does not happen on a regular basis. Overall, I feel wonderful.

1 Comments

Why

by SMITTY - 2012-09-19 09:09:29

Hey Richard,

I have had a dual lead PM since 2000 and I occasionally go through the SOB routine. However, I have never found mine to be connected with my PM. There are a hundred+ things that can cause SOB. One thing about your diuretic is I have been taking it for a bunch of years. I can usually tell when I am accumulating excess fluid by looking at my feet and ankles as they will get puffy. Another thing I do is weigh each day as my excess fluid will show up as a weight increase of a couple+ of lbs. Of course since I'm 83 so my reaction to fluid retention or SOB may be different from yours.

I can say mine is not on a regular basis, but if it lasts more than three or four days I give the dr a call. Excessive fluid can cause a lot of things you don't want and SOB is one of them. Also it may cause you to start coughing. But rather than my try diagnose your problem, if you have one, I suggest you leave that to the experts like the Drs.

Good luck,

Smitty


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In fact after the final "tweaks" of my pacemaker programming at the one year check up it is working so well that I forget I have it.