Shortness of breath after pm implant

I am on my 3rd day post pm implant and I have encountered an unexpected complication. I had the pm installed because I have had sinus bradycardia (37-47 bpm) over the past 4 years after I was put on a low dose Sotalol regimen a few months after a failed PVI ablation. The Sotalol had stopped my afib/aflutter, but with the side affect of getting easily fatigued and feeling tired all of the time. My EP suggested that I could either try another ablation or have a pm installed, so I decided to go the pm route. So, anyhow I had the pm implanted on 4/30/2014 and the procedure seemed to go without complication, and my post-op x-ray showed the pm and leads were OK and my at rest heart rate has been at a steady 70-72 bpm. The problem that I am having is that when I stand up to take a 'sink bath' I start getting really short of breath and experience some light-headedness. I never had any problem like this prior to the pm. I was wondering if anyone else has had the same or similar experience?

Me: 76 year old male. PM - Boston Scientific model 174.

1 Comments

Sounds Like My Husband's Complaints

by BillRussell - 2014-05-03 01:05:53

My 85-year-old dear husband had a Medtronic 2-lead PM on January 3, 2014, for sick sinus syndrome. He had problems from the very first, some minor, some major. He had shortness of breath even with brushing his teeth which continued for several weeks. He had dizziness on arising from a sitting position before implantation of the PM and still has it occasionally. He walks around our neighborhood two or three times a day and has increased his endurance very slowly. His attitude has improved daily, he seems happy now with his PM after having been depressed for several weeks because he could not see much improvement. He seems to have improved quite a bit in one area and that is that he stays warmer than he did before the implantation. His pulse stays at around 72 BPM whereas before it got down in the 30's quite often. His electrophysiologist does not seem concerned about the dizziness or lightheadedness, thinks it might possibly be due to the medication Xarelto which was prescribed after he developed a blood clot in the left arm after surgery. He has about another 6 weeks being on the medication and hopefully his dizziness will subside. Overall I can see a big improvement in him, and I have great hopes that he will live many more years in good health. Hopefully your lightheadedness and shortness of breath will improve with time, too. Just keep us posted on your condition because you can get some great advice from this group--it certainly helped me get through some tough times.
Anna

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