Icd

Vibration alarm

by Benjijohn - 2019-01-29 16:50:00

I had one of these st judes crt-d. It gave vibration alarm(every 12 hours or so) suggesting that sonething was wrong after 6 years. The bibration was exactly like a cell phone vibrating

My doctor examined the device and said that battery was dying and this was the cause of the vibration. Because of the possible defect you are refering to, they replaced it within 2 days

My doctor told me that there is about 3/6 months battery life left after the vibration alert. But he did not want to take any chances beacuse of the possible defect and replaced it immediately

hope this helps

Ask the doctor some questions

by Gotrhythm - 2019-01-30 16:38:01

You are right in thinking that what you understand of what you have been told does not compute. I'm not surprised you're anxious.

It might be a simple misunderstanding on your part, or it might be a mistake on the doctor's part. Regardless, what you need are some answers. Not from me--from whatever doctor is following your pacemaker. Give them a call. 

Take someone with you to the appointment to be another pair of ears and also to ask questions you might not think of.

If the doctor won't give you an explanation that makes sense to you, and that takes into account your wishes and feelings, go to someone else.

Your question says that right now, you're not sure whether to trust your doctor (with reason, IMHO) Above all you need a doctor you can talk to and one you can trust to know what they are doing and to have your best interests at heart.

Icd

by Debibob - 2019-01-30 20:04:42

Thanks for the replies! It is St.Jude that is refusing to pay for a new one early- it was their decision when this battery thing came to light. I totally trust my doctor. I will ask her the next time i see her if she thinks insurance would cover it early. I am a nurse practitioner so i ask tons of ? And feel i have a great understanding of things. I got this info from St.Jude about the battery. 

Just went through this

by Jmiller - 2019-02-22 13:49:00

I had one of those protential rapid battery failure ICDs.    At about 2 weeks before ERI my cardiac surgeon decided to replace my ICD.   He said it was close enough to the end and insurance would cover replacement even though I had not reached ERI.     Three days before my scheduled surgery the ERI alarm went off.    Have to admit I was a little nevous until surgery that something might happen.  All went well.

I was told that the ones that have failed early were in the first 1/3 of their battery life.   The fact that mine went to the end at an expected rate there was little worry.

icd

by Debibob - 2019-02-22 19:52:34

Thanks for your info! Mine is 5 years old so well over the first 1/3! This has been encouraging so thanks somuch!