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AFIB and ICD/Pacemaker
I have had Atrial Fibrillation now for about six years non stop. In January of this year I was placed on a anti arrhythmic medication in addition to the beta blocker that I was already on. My EF ranges from 25 to 30. After wearing a holter monitor for 24 hours my heart rate was slightly over 100bpm. I went out of AFIB following a conversion after being on the anti arrhythmic meds but only stayed in sinus rhythm for about four days. About four days later I went back into normal sinus and have been flipping back and forth from being in sinus rhythm to being out of sinus since. My Cardiologist had me get a Medtronic ICD/Pacermaker with two leads installed. It has been about 2.5 weeks since the implantation and I seem to be doing fine in the surgery recovery arena. The question I have now is dual in nature.
1. Will the pacemaker influence my AFIB one way or another or not at all.
2. How long from the time of my surgery should I await until I return to the gym to continue working out again and when I do return should I be worried about pulling a lead out as well as being paranoid about getting a huge shock while working out. Any feedback to my inquiry would be immensely appreciated.
3 Comments
Depends upon several things
by Theknotguy - 2016-03-05 01:03:34
Sorry to hear about your afib. Know how you feel.
Depending upon the type of afib you have, depending upon the type of Medtronic unit you have, you may have a lot of changes. Then again, they may not be able to do too much for you as far as the pacemaker is concerned.
I have the Medtronic Advisa unit. It may be similar to yours. In addition to being a pacemaker it has two software programs. First program is APP (Atrial Preference Pacing). The second program is Minerva. Minerva has three subroutines. I know what the one subroutine does. Am still trying to learn what the other two do.
APP is a simplex program. It watches to see if you go into afib. When you do, it raises your heartbeat rate. Sometimes that will throw you out of afib. However it only runs for a short time and it can't adjust to varying rates of afib. APP worked for me about 30% of the time. I had my EP turn on APP five months after I had my pacemaker.
The second program, Minerva has three subroutines. The first subroutine watches for you to go into afib. For some people, after they've been in afib for a while, the afib will start to repeat a pattern. The first subroutine watches for the repeating pattern. When it sees the pattern it instigates a heartbeat pattern that will throw you out of afib. This subroutine works for about 30% of the people who have it.
APP was a great help above and beyond the heart meds I have to take. Minerva was a game changer. Even with the heart meds and APP running I was still going into afib quite a lot. My pacemaker reports showed over 1200 episodes of afib in a three month period. Most I wouldn't even know I had them because they lasted for less than three minutes. It seemed like I was feeling an afib flip every day with me going into afib sessions lasting more than 24 hours at least every three weeks - sometimes more.
I went into two afib sessions, one lasting 25 hours, another lasting 42 hours. I called my EP, he got some reports, then called me in for a pacemaker reading. The tech pulled some data from my pacemaker. Then with my EP's approval turned on Minerva. This was done two years after I received my pacemaker.
I haven't gotten any statistical reports from my pacemaker since they turned on Minerva. But I've almost completely quit having afib sessions. Instead of feeling an afib "flip" every day, I'll only have an afib "flip" about once every three weeks. Please note, this is how I feel, I don't have any reports from my pacemaker to back it up.
Things for you to consider. You may not have APP or Minerva on your pacemaker. You'll have to ask. If you do have it, your EP may not want to turn on APP or Minerva at first. He/she may want to do a wait-and-see because he/she will want to see how your heart reacts to just the pacemaker itself. Even if you do have APP or Minerva on your pacemaker, there is no guarantee you'll have the same results as I have had.
In your place, I'd suggest you have a conversation with your EP to find out what you have and what options are being considered. Please remember that heart problems can be a moving target. What you have today may change. Also remember you may not have the same results as I did.
I hope this gives you some insight into what may be available for afib for you. I hope all of these options are available for you and more. I also hope it will help improve your life. My best wishes go out for you.
AFIB and Medtronic insight
by Strider - 2016-03-05 08:03:36
Thanks to 'theknotguy" for the outstanding information about the possible programs on my Medtronic Unit. I'll further research the type of Medtronic Unit that I have installed as well as the programs that are running and those that are not running but are available. You have been a wealth of information and I'm certain that you as well as this website will enable me to utilize my unit to the best programs and setting for me.
Thanks again,
Strider
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AFIB
by BillH - 2016-03-04 11:03:39
"1. Will the pacemaker influence my AFIB one way or another or not at all."
It depends on the trigger and the pattern of the AFIB. But there is a possibility that will help reduce the situations that trigger your AFIB.
" well as being paranoid about getting a huge shock while working out."
High rate from exercise will not trigger a shock. It looks for out of control rhythms and wait for short period of time to see if recovers naturally before shocking. Some can also pace in a pattern that tries to revert the the rhythm before shocking.