Feeling faint again

Hi all, I'm coming up on 2 years with my PM and have another checkup this week. Just within the past 2-4 months I've been getting that same faint feeling that was the original sign of my heart issue (bad AV node - complete heart block). It actually happened earlier last year and the doctor said all was fine with the PM and I was probably dehydrated. Have any of you experienced recurring faint feelings even after your doctor has said the PM is working fine? I want to make sure I ask the doctor the right questions about this issue just in case it's not just dehydration.

4 Comments

times

by Tracey_E - 2015-03-09 01:03:26

Another thing to do is write down the times it happens. They can check the interrogation report and see if anything was going on at the time.

av block

by Tracey_E - 2015-03-09 01:03:57

AV block is pretty simple. The atria beats normally but the signal doesn't make it to the ventricles. The pm watches and paces when the ventricles don't beat in sync with the atria. When they say the pm is fine, that just means it's pacing as it should. It doesn't mean there isn't something in the settings that could be causing you to feel faint, it doesn't mean your heart is responding as it should and it doesn't rule out any of the dozens of other things that can cause dizziness.

If it's just occasionally and you feel otherwise well, you can rule out #2 pretty easily.

If you have something else going on with your heart, you may need the settings tweaked. Does it happen at random or on exertion? It happened to me on exertion. Turned out I had a second problem, sometimes my atrial rate would nosedive for a few seconds. They reset the pm to kick in if it dropped too quickly. Another time I got faint at the gym also, turned out my atrial rate was getting higher than the pm was set to pace the ventricles. They turned up my upper limit that time.

If you've ruled out anything else going on with your heart, it's time to check with your GP and see what else is going on. Dehydration, skipping meals, blood sugar, inner ear problems- lots of things can cause faintness.

Thank u!!!

by Jun - 2015-03-11 03:03:34

Thank u both for your input. I love the members here. I will definitely be more aggressive with my concerns about my recurring feelings of faintness.
To answer TraceyE's question, I feel faint when I get up from crouching and sitting. Same as pre PM. Oddly enough, never at the gym or while running/swimming. And I train hard in the gym.
Sunshinewishes, I just received my yearly physical with my GP and everything was normal. No diuretics and no recent illness.I will discuss new settings again with the doctor. Thanks so much!

tilt test

by Tracey_E - 2015-03-11 08:03:23

Have you had a tilt table test? If it's positional, it could be blood pressure dropping. It's not uncommon for this to happen in conjunction with heart rate drops. The pacer only fixes half the problem, if that's what's going on.

You know you're wired when...

You fondly named your implanted buddy.

Member Quotes

It's much better to live with a pacemaker than to risk your life without one.