THE MONSTER IN MY CHEST!

I AM SO BEGINNING TO HATE THIS THIS MONSTER IN MY CHEST!!!
I have had 5 devices in 11 years. One was defective, the rest the battery ran down within 3.7 years each. My last one they replaced bad wires after shocking me 8 times in 9 minutes and then weeks later shocking me 9 in 9 minutes Christmas morning no less. And they did a ablation.
So after a year of no problems no shocks and heart seemily going great I get shocked twice last friday. I do the call to the doc and heard nothing. So I call today.
The echo reader tells me I had inappropriate shocks. My device worked to get my heart paced again, which I feel real light headed when it does. I thought I best sit down when WHAMO. She said my device thought I was in V-tach so it shocked me when I was actually in A-fib.
I still dont understand the difference except that V-tach it bad bad. is a-fib bad too? Why is this thing shocking me when its not supposed to? Do I have another defective Boston Scientific?
I am to the point to tell them turn me off and now! I hate these shocks! I keep asking for the records to tell me how many inappropriate shocks i have had and don't get any where. Is it because I am on medicare and medicaid that we get the crappy ones or what?
And what does it really mean when we get inappropriate shocks?

2 Comments

V-Tach vs AFIB

by BillH - 2016-03-10 04:03:24

Neither is ideal.

The atria is the top chamber of the heart. It receives the incoming blood and is used to "prime" the flow into the bottom chamber, the ventricle.

The ventricle is the main chamber that forces blood out into the body.

With AFIB the atria fires randomly at a very high rate. In this condition the atria does not efficiently pump blood and the it can stagnate and form clogs that lead to a stroke. Thus blood thinners are often prescribed.

The ventricle can not fire that fast so it beats at much lower rate. In some people there are no symptoms, in others there is fatique and shortness of breath.

But it is not life threatening.

With V-Tach there is a feedback in the ventricles that can lead to a high heart rate that is independent of the heart load. Likewise it can cause fatique, shortness of breath, and lead to heart failure.

While it is not immediately life threatening it can lead to V-FIB where the ventrile beats at a very high rate and basically just vibrates without pumping any blood.

ICD's do have some adjustment in what it detects as vtack, vfib. And also the time that takes after it makes a detection before the ICD "shocks", because they are often brief before they stop on their own.

There are also settings in some when it detect vtach that the ICD will speed of the heart in an attempt to pace out of it.

You need to talk to your doctor about the setting. And have explain who each are set and if they are optimum for you.

That Monster

by Ladyfish - 2016-03-22 04:03:02

That Monster might turn into a blessing. I agree with BillH and you need to speak with your Electrophysiologist about the device.

You also have the right to get your medical records including a copy of all the reports from your device. My EP's office is so used to me asking for them that they have them ready for me. Don't let them deny you again. Put it in writing and request all records for your device from xx date to xx date. And, if they don't comply, escalate!

At first I didn't know what some of the data meant; but between the internet and my EP I can now look at it and understand what's going on. That's a whole lot better than not knowing what to expect.

Dianne

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