die naturally

if I choose not to change my battery of my pacemaker and die naturally . How many years or months will I live.

9 Comments

Interesting question Maria

by IAN MC - 2016-03-28 07:03:10

I can only assume that you are asking the question because your quality of life with a PM is unsatisfactory.

As well as asking how long you would live without it you need to ask what your " quality of death " would be like if you did not change the battery.

To " die naturally " sounds quite pleasant , you imagine that you go to bed and die in your sleep , BUT dying naturally could be quite unpleasant without your PM giving adequate levels of oxygen throughout your body.

Breathlessness would be a certainty, frequent fainting a definite possibility , broken arms , legs and teeth from the fainting would be likely. Periods of anxiety would be guaranteed

How long would it take ? It really does depend on why you have a PM and how reliant on it you are .

Are you 100 % dependant on your PM or is it only needed occasionally ?

Assuming that your PM is preventing bradycardia you would revert to bradycardia . Your heart would have spells of beating too slowly , these would become more frequent and you would feel awful . You wouldn't be able to do the most simple exercise because you would be tired and breathless . You would wish you were dead " naturally " .

This awful feeling could occur often for many months or even years. On the other hand you may die within hours of the battery running out

Impossible question to answer really and you may die from something unrelated to the PM anyway.

Best of luck

Ian

not a good way to do it

by Tracey_E - 2016-03-28 07:03:27

Without the pacer, you will go back to how you were before you were paced. Most of us will not die from this, just be miserable. The pacer will first go into a mode that lasts approximately 3 months where it paces at a steady 60 bpm, then it will shut down and stop working completely. So, you'd be looking at a minimum of 3 months of feeling bad but the pacer keeping you safe, then who knows what.

The pacer will not keep us alive when our body is ready to shut down. All it does is send the signal to beat, it's up to the heart to respond by contracting. When we die, the pacer will keep sending signals until it's shut off, but our heart stops naturally, just like everyone else.

Hi Mariam....

by Tattoo Man - 2016-03-28 07:03:36

....in Twenty Two words you have,..in my view,..posed one of the great questions about pacemakers...

..So..just how do we work out being 'saved' by a little box that has been wedged into our shoulder..??

..Did we choose...or otherwise..get this device, regardless of choice..

..Did we get this device because..without it ..we might spent a lifetime of potential blackouts and miserable / lying on the floor episodes....??

Mariam...give us more info regarding you situation...we can help more with this info...

Tattoo Man




You call this Natural...?

by Cabg Patch - 2016-03-28 08:03:53

I had what many of you refer to as a bi-ventricular defibrillator pacemaker, which simply means I was paced 100% until a pocket infection due to a lead revision forced me to have everything removed. It's now been about 10 weeks without pacing and rest assured this is not the most pleasant way to go.

I can hardly do anything except ride the sofa and drag myself to the car so my bride can drive me to the never ending doctor visits. Any effort whatsoever results in the feeling I am drowning due to fluid build up in the lungs and heart.

The worst part is my memory is slipping. I know it but all I can do is stand by in my own mind and watch. Sometimes I slur my speech, sometimes the wrong words come out, and I know when it's happening but am helpless to do anything about it. Anytime I stand I risk licking the flooring. Even run the risk of drowning in the shower when I black out from syncope.

The very worst part is seeing the fear and pain in your loved ones eyes as they quietly try to help without you knowing. In most cases, this is a prolonged process of dying.

No my friend, this ain't a pleasant way to go. Think it through

Comfortably Numb

by monkeyman - 2016-03-29 04:03:13

Not to sound morbid, but after my initial bout with bradycardia not breathing and no heart beat for 30 seconds, while resting in the ER I recalled the unconsciousness that I experienced and it was really peaceful. Life is too precious to think of dying or even wondering how long it would take to die without a PM. My father died 2 weeks ago at 88 years old. Had a great life. Was with him all day long. Never heard him say that he wanted to die. Died after my sister and I left for a late dinner @ 21:00. Cherish life as long as you can my friend for you never know when the time clock in the sky will be punched with your card. And believe me everyone has a card. Peace

A story about how a PM wrecked their lives

by Good Dog - 2016-03-29 11:03:00

This is very relevant and an interesting read:

What Broke My Father’s Heart

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/20/magazine/20pacemaker-t.html

ladybug

by IAN MC - 2016-04-01 01:04:04

Someone on here once put it more graphically than Tracey when they said in reply to a similar question " Dead meat doesn't beat "

Ian

death

by ladybug55 - 2016-04-01 04:04:36

Can I just ask.....I know we die but do our hearts still beat with the pacer and if so how do the doctors know we are dead?

And how is it turned off?
I want to live a long tine just curious.

ladybug

by Tracey_E - 2016-04-01 12:04:32

All the pacer can do is send a signal to beat, the heart responds by contracting (beating). The pm doesn't physically make the heart beat, it only sends a signal that the heart responds to. When we die, the heart will stop responding to this signal. The pacer will be removed after death.

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