Shortness of breath

My husband had a pacemaker fitted three weeks ago for total heart block. He is at this moment in hospital having tests for his onset of breathlessness and heartburn-like pain since having the PM fitted. So far all tests have resulted as all ok ((blood chest ct scan PM check etc). They don't know what is wrong but this forum is full,of people with same complaint so what is going on. The doctors are behaving like they have never seen this before and I am worried about further unecessary intrusive tests being done on him. Has anyone found out yet what the problem is.

6 Comments

onset

by Tracey_E - 2014-10-30 10:10:09

When does it happen? If it's on exertion, it could be the upper limit. Is he on any meds?

Shortness of breath

by Od41 - 2014-10-31 11:10:50

Yes it is on exertion. The good news is that he has just been discharged from hospital. All the tests have come back clear, no problems. The consultant appeared this morning and told us that in his experience and because all the tests were clear, 5 % of new PM patients experience these sort of symptoms and it is just the heart and body getting used to the more efficient performance of the new PM and that it could take about two months for him to get used to it. HOWEVER he emphasised he could only come to that conclusion because ALL THE TESTS HAD TO BE DONE FIRST TO RULE OUT SERIOUS PROBLEMS LIKE HEART DESEASE, BLOOD CLOTS ETC and only then could he arrive at that conclusion. I would recommend anyone having these post PM problems, YOU MUST GO TO YOUR DOCTOR and get the tests done straight away. Hope this helps.

Guess it's time now to try and relax a bit

by Shaun - 2014-10-31 12:10:45

Hearrburn and breathlessness are 2 symptoms I sometimes feel (I've had a PM now for 4 weeks). They are not severe so I was happy just to receive reassurance from my family doctor. Also, I accepted very quickly that I was going to have to re-calibrate what constitutes normal feelings after receiving the PM.

A few times recently when I felt breathless I tried to focus on what exactly it was that I was feeling and I realised that it was more an awareness of my own heartbeat which I think was panicking me a bit and causing me to breath more shallowly. I few deep breaths seems to solve that problem. Other times I think it's internal twinges that are causing the shallow breathing where sub consciously I'm not wanting to expand the lungs too much in case the twing punctures something or causes a lead to fall off. It's all daft I know, but I think the mind plays funny tricks like this when you suddenly find yourself implanted with a piece of technology.

PM. shortness of Breath

by Od41 - 2014-11-02 03:11:14

Thanks for all your comments, we are going for his post op PM check in a few weeks and we will certainly ask if it needs any adjustments particularly on the upper limit. It makes sense that we are all different and might therefore require individually tailored performances from our PMs.

Also remember

by KAG - 2014-11-02 11:11:46

that when they tell you that your PM is working fine, or great, or perfect; what they are saying is that your PM is doing EXACTLY what it is programmed to do. Whether that programming is optimized for you is entirely another question.

Once you've healed and your body, and mind, have started to adjust to your little buddy then you need to see how you feel. If you feel fine, great, get on with your life. If you don't feel fine, especially when exerting, then you may need tweaks to your programming. As Tracey said the upper limit is the first one to look at. Most of the time they send you out with this parameter set to low if you're active, and you won't be able to do things and probably will get SOB and maybe feel like s@#t.

If this happens, make note of when and what you're doing when it happens. Then take this info to who ever tweaks your PM. In my case it was the PM tech. It's very simple for them to make an adjustment. Then go for a "test drive" to check out the change.

Keep doing this until your PM programming is optimized for you. Yes sometimes it can take time.

Then get on with your life.
Kathy

Breathlessness

by Od41 - 2015-02-02 07:02:35

Just a quick update on my husband. It is now three months since the pacemaker was fitted and he is fully recovered from the op. All the dizziness, breathlessness etc symptoms have gone and he is fine. It seems the consultant was correct and it was just a case of his body getting used to the pacemaker.

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