Soreness around Pacemaker area

I have had my CRT-d for 7 years now and knock on wood nothing had happened since. Until now. about a week ago I started feeling soreness and like heaviness in that area. I sort of played it off as I might have pulled a muscle in that area. After a week I emailed my cardioligist and was told to make an appointment. So I take this that it is not a sort of emergency which is good. But my question to anyone is this . Has anyone else had a heaviness/soreness in that area many years later and if so what was it.   I know that I have about a year left on the battery but another concern is that it is a ST.JUDE that has been recalled.  Helpful advice please ????

2 Comments

Device in end of life mode?

by LondonAndy - 2018-05-09 01:35:31

This might be completely wrong, as I have a Medtronics pacemaker, not a St Jude CRT-D, but when I went for my first checkup I asked the technician how would I know if the battery was at the end of its life?  I know that they increase the frequency of checkups, but I had read that some devices buzz when at this point, and wondered if mine did.  He temporarily programmed my device into EOL mode, and told me to walk carefully down the corridor.  What I felt was my heart feeling noticeably heavy.  No buzzing or anything.  The device continues to work in EOL mode, but things like rate response were off, so not an emergency but only basic operation.

Pain

by EilishBow - 2018-06-04 14:07:10

Hey! 

I am on my second pacemaker and have had it for just over 2 years now. In the last few months I have been getting discomfort. It’s made worse by if I lay in a funny position. I can feel around the edges of my pacemaker and feel it’s the muscle that’s around it that is sore. Some of my wires are very superficial as well as I can feel them and sometimes they rub. But I’ve been to pacing and spoken to a cardiologist and consultant about this and they said it’s nothing to worry about. As long as there’s no redness, heat, discharge etc like an infection I wouldn’t bet too worried. I think unfortunatly due to scar tissue and placement pacemakers are sometimes just a bit uncomfortable. 

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