newbie has questions

Well, it is hard to believe, but I now have a pacemaker. For years, had bradycardia, with pulse rest at or near 50, but wearing holter monitor recently, we saw that I dipped into 30's during sleep.

At 53 years old and in much better shape than most my age, this came as quite a shock to me. Often had feelings of lightheadedness and feeling about to faint, but until recently these were very brief.

Diagnosed with sick sinus syndrome, I have Medtronic MRI SureScan unit.

My lightheadedness feelings have not gone away after 3 days and my first follow up is in another 4 days. This tends to add some credence to my thoughts that my lightheadedness is caused by other anxiety / stress issues and not my bradycardia.

I still have some fear that this was not necessary, but want to make sure I ask all the right questions at my first follow up and make the most of all of the features and setting options of this device. Current low setting at 50.

Any suggestions for me appointment would be appreciated.

7 Comments

symptoms

by Tracey_E - 2012-09-10 03:09:43

Whether you had symptoms or not, your hr was low enough to do damage to your organs and the pm was a good idea. It's only been a few days so it's way too early to know how you are going to feel in the end, don't waste energy second guessing your decision. Several things can be causing you to still feel lightheaded.

What kind of anesthesia did you have? Some stick with us longer than others.

Are you still on pain meds or other heart meds? They'll also cause problems.

And last, the settings they send us home with are often not where we end up ultimately. Sometimes it's factory standards, sometimes it's a good guess, depending on who did the programming in the hospital. Either way, it's common to take a few tries to get it just right for us. Sometimes they tweak the lower setting, maybe you'd feel better at 55 or 60 than 50. If you have SSS, you are likely using rate response, which is when the pm senses you are moving then raises your hr for you. RR has a number of sensitivity settings, it can take some time to find the balance between going up when needed to support your activity but not shooting your rate up every time you sneeze.

If you get the feeling you are going to pass out, jot down the date/time. They can look on the pm report and sometimes see what was going on when it happened.

I had the same thoughts

by Good Hearted Mary - 2012-09-10 04:09:26

I have the same kind of pacemaker as you received! I got mine on July 16 of this year and also for a diagnosis of sick sinus syndrome. I too was having doubts about whether or not I needed and of course thought that they maybe had over-corrected! But I had low heart rate and also was having some pauses where the heart actually stopped for up to 8 seconds at a time. I was never light headed nor did I pass out. Like you, a halter monitor picked up the pauses and low heart rate. I feel so much better now that I had my follow-up appointments and the settings were adjusted to fit my needs. I am 62 and they set my low at 60. It takes some adjustment both physically and emotionally in accepting this new change but this is a great website to get the support we need! I wish you the best of luck and let us know how your follow-up goes! Hang in there.

still dizzy

by bottle - 2012-09-10 05:09:16

I had my pm nearly 3 weeks ago but i am still very dizzy and tired so am on medication for a middle ear problem and seeing a consultant on the 26th of sept Im hoping this can be put right as i had the pm because of blocked heart causing low heart rate and i was passing out since coming out of hospital ive had a water infection treated with antibiotics i guess the months of being really run down have left me debilitated but overcoming all the issues and fighting for good health so not everything is down to pm good luck.

Stress/anxiety Post op

by donr - 2012-09-10 10:09:28

Jan: One piece of advice! Do NOT mention anxiety/stress to a cardio. Ever see a bass lunge after a frog? Or a plug? That is slower than a Cardio latching on to another reason for you having lightheadedness! They would just LOVE to be able to shift it onto stress. Keep that one to yourself. Force them to address physical reasons first & rule them all out, such that anxiety/stress is the only thing left to explain it.

How long have you been having the lightheaded feeling? Long time? It could very easily be inner ear/balance issues. Try an EENT specialist for an explanation before going for the Stress/anxiety issue.

When it happens do you just feel like the world is going all gauzie & just closing in on you; OR, does the world seem to be rotating & you feel unbalanced /dizzy? Is there perhaps a feeling that you want to lurch to one side? If it happens while you are walking, do you feel like you want to wander off to one side? And - is it always the same side?

All except the gauzie part are usually inner ear issues.

Good luck.

Don

stress/anxiety

by Hope - 2012-09-10 10:09:57

Hi! I so agree with Don to always let your medical care rule out other causes of medical issues. Your medical care will jump there when you truly have no other cause or they can't find the cause. Take care. Hopeful Heart

I am a newbie too

by wrg - 2012-09-11 06:09:01

Having a rough time making friends with this PM, SSS was reason for PM. No heart block. I am 50 years old and acting like a crybaby with the facts I have a PM now, Doctor told me today that I needed to become friends with my PM or I would never feel better. Anxiety is my biggest problems at this time with PM.

Motion sensor

by wrg - 2012-09-11 06:09:31

I had my motion sensor turned off and it made a world of differents for me. I couldn't handle those bloating, fluttering feelings all the time in my chest. Scared the crap out of me.

william

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