Pacemaker - Year and Half ago

Hi everyone.

I'm 21 and had a pacemaker put in about a year and a half ago due to extreme complications with SVT. Basically, my heart rate would go up in the 200 beats and then I would pass out. Several ablation done thinking that would cure it, but unfortunately it did not. Several trial runs with medications, also did not work. So he thought it would just be best to go ahead and put a pacer in. Which it has done wonders! I haven't passed out! Although, my rate still gets a bit high.

Last few months we've had to change the settings a bit to find what would be best for me rate wise. Last go around really helped but now I'm still winded very easily. He said there's a possibility that the heart tissue grew up back and would need to go in and have another ablation done.

He also said today that he may want to have me go in for a stress test, without injection because there may be a chance that my heart rate is not increasing or trying to increase with activity. In that case, what happens? How do you fix that?

Little confused! Definitely don't understand my doc's lingo!

2 Comments

Rate response

by golden_snitch - 2014-08-19 02:08:05

Ablations are to treat fast arrhythmias, pacemakers treat slow. No idea why your doctor thinks that he needs to do another ablation, while at the same time he thinks that your heart rate might not be increasing with activity. Do you have episodes of tachycardia, but the rest of the time the rate is too slow? Do you feel winded because the heart rate is too fast or too slow?

If the heart rate is not increasing with activity, he can simply switch the pacemaker's rate response feature on, it will take over this job. Usually, you do not even need a stress test to find out, the heart rate profile the pacemaker shows should indicate whether your heart rate is increasing appropriatly or not.

The ablations were not successful, no drugs helped either, so you are still getting rates of 200? If the pacemaker helps with passing out, maybe you passed out because the heart rate first speeded up, but then suddenly the tachycardia stopped, and the rate dropped low?

Yes, it definitely sounds very confusing. I have had many different SVTs myself, but never heard a story like that.

Inga

fast heart rates

by ksybr10 - 2014-08-20 07:08:54

Ablations done were to treat my fast heart rate. Although, after all failed attempts he went in and burned all tissue therefore making my heart rate lay at low rate all the time and put in the pacemaker to accommodate that.

My heart rate was never slow, always fast.. too fast. Since everything, I no longer have hearts rates that high in the 200's but they are still reaching mid 130's which he is concerned about.

No exactly sure about the stress test either. No sure what that is suppose to resolve here.

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