Upset

I haven't been here in quite a while. I've been trying to just live my life and pretend I don't have a bad heart. I had my pacemaker implanted on Halloween, two years ago. As far as I know everything was going well. Before the pacemaker I had two open heart surgeries to implant a porcine mitral valve. That story is way too complex to rehash here.

Anyway......I went to have my PM interrogated about two weeks ago and the EP told me that it was pacing my ventricle and apparently it isn't supposed to do that. He said it could cause dizziness and increasing fatigue. Anyway, I kind of freaked out; I don't really like this guy, I can barely understand him because he has a thick accent. I now realize I am having a lot of dizzy spells and I feel kind of nauseated. I also have been feeling a funny feeling in my throat, kind of like it is tense and "stretched." I don't know what to think, now.

Has anyone had these symptoms? I understand my valve problem and the reason I got the PM, but beyond that I am clueless. Guess I need to learn more. Can anyone help me? I have an appointment with my cardio in two weeks and I'm supposed to go back to the EP next week. I'd like to understand all this a little better before then.

Thanks in advance to anyone who responds.

Barbara

1 Comments

Adjustment

by MSPACER - 2007-10-03 10:10:27

The doctor can try to reprogram the pacemaker so that you pace as little as possible in the ventricle. Pacing in the ventricle is not a very natural heartbeat, and you will get that lump in your throat feeling. Most people are sensitive to it. I had that for a while, and the doctor reprogrammed my pacemaker to let my natural heart beat come through as much as possible. I think I pace less than 1% in the ventricle. If you are not satisfied with your doctor, seek a new one. A good tech from the pacemaker company along with an EP who understands how to program the pacemaker, can probably fix the issue.

You know you're wired when...

“Batteries not included” takes on a new meaning.

Member Quotes

Today I explained everything to my doctor, he set my lower rate back to 80 and I felt an immediate improvement.