All a flutter

No pacemaker works "too much"

by Gotrhythm - 2018-05-14 13:18:55

Feeling the odd little skip, palpitations, or even a fast pulse for a few seconds is common. It can be a little uncomfortable--especially if you've never had palpitaions before. Usually it's not a sign that anything is wrong. It's also not uncommon for our condtion to change and require some fine tuning of the pacemaker.

But here's the thing. No matter what adjustments they do, the pacemaker won't fix palpitations. It won't stop your heart from going too fast. All the pacemaker can do is add beats when your heart is going too slow.

I really didn't understand "the pacemaker is working too much-because you normal heart rate is too low."   Pacemakers can't work too much. They work precisely as much as needed. If your heart rate is very low, like mine is, even 100% isn't too much.

I also didn't understand "reduced it to 40." I hope TraceyE will drop in. She knows much more than I do about pacemaker settings.

extra beats

by Tracey_E - 2018-05-14 13:19:56

How do you feel with the lower rate? If it's keeping you feeling good, it's not pacing too much. We get the pacer because our normal resting rate is too low. I'm no doctor, but it seems counter-productive to me to give you back your rate that was low enough to warrant a pacer. 

Did they mention PAC or PVC? Premature atrial or ventricular contractions. They are extra little half beats between the full beats. They feel weird but are harmless and there isn't really a way to stop them. All the pacer can do is add beats. When the heart goes on its own, it can only watch. 

Have you noticed any dietary triggers? Sometimes caffeine or dehyrration can trigger pvc's. 

hee hee

by Tracey_E - 2018-05-14 13:21:25

Chuckling over Gotrhythm's comment. We were typing at the same time. 

Why did you get the pacer in the first place? 

Copy of PM report

by marylandpm - 2018-05-14 15:00:00

  If you can get a copy of your PM report each time its looked at and changed you could educate yourself on the different settings. The report should have a record of PCVs and Afib etc.  The most immediate concern would be The need for blood thinners if you have Afib. 

Thank you

by PD62 - 2018-05-14 16:01:36

i really don't know very much about what the techs actually do.  I was given a pacemaker because it would appear that I was missing some beats, the node would fire but no beat.....if that makes sense.  I also had palpatations.    This morning, I didn't drink any coffee and at lunchtime the feeling was back, it makes me feel like I want to take deep breaths to try and make it stop.  I know what palpatations feel like and this is not palpatations.  I am booked in on Wednesday to have a stress test.  Maybe that will show up something.  The tech said my pacemaker was set to pace if my beats went below 50.  She turned that down to 40 and my upper to 130.  As I said, I really don't understand too much about what exactly they are doing, I just know that this is a new feeling, and it's not a nice one. My pacemaker is a dual lead  Metronic.  Since the adjustment I'd say I'm sleeping better but feeling tired and yawning quite a lot.  Apart from that I am healthy and active.  I suppose a question that is haunting me is......has the pacemaker/can the pacemaker cause problems???

Most likely not the pacemaker

by Gotrhythm - 2018-05-15 12:48:13

A base rate of 40 is really, really low. Anything under 60 is considered bradycardia. I'm not surprised you're feeling tired.

I understand your worry that something is wrong with the pacemaker, but after a year of it working okay, that's not likely. What is more likely is that your condition has changed. There are many kinds of palpitations.You could be having a kind of palpitation you never had before. That happens. It's a fact that rhythm problems don't get better on their own, and in fact, over time they generally get worse. In six years I have added two rhythm issues to the one I started with. 

As long as everything is fine, you don't have any need to communicate with the techs. Frequentlly, a cookbook aprroach works. When there is no exact recipe to follow, getting the settings right is an art as much as a science. As you are finding out, when everything is not fine, being able to communicate what is happening and understand what they tell you about your settings begins to matter.

If you don't learn anything helpful from the stress test, you might want to ask for a Holter monitor test. That is more likely to reveal if some new glitches in your heart rhythm have shown up.

Thanks again

by PD62 - 2018-05-15 14:09:58

i am due to wear an event monitor for 6 days next week and a 24hr Holter the following week.  So fingers crossed