Pacemaker pain

pacmaker pain

by new to pace.... - 2019-10-05 07:33:33

What you are expierenceing is quite normal.  Remember you have been cut on that side.  It has to heal.  Let the left arm move freely on its own.  One day it will get to the other side of your body.   

   Do not lift anything heavy with the left arm , i was told like a milk jug or 10 pounds which i though was heavy.  i just did not leave much  as soon as i did the pain came.

  I have been taking a Turmeric supplement for the pain.  If you are taking prescripted medication do check with a medical person before takeing.  I did not use the one that was prescribed by the medical doctor only the antibiotic. 

    I am now at 6 weeks and this morning had a little pain around the inside of the left armpit and lifting the arm up. 

  My glue finally came off at 5 weeks, has left me with a itching rash, use the turmeric for the itch, works.

  My sister gave me a gadget that fits over the seat belt so it does not lay on  the pacemaker..  Put it on so  was raised over the pacemaker.  Now do not use as the seatbelt crosses on my neck and not near.

mary

normal

by dwelch - 2019-10-14 00:07:45

The physical recovery, esp from the first one as you are not yet experienced yet, has different phases.  Some things you can start doing within days, like sleeping for more than an hour at a time.  by second or nth pacer driving to work by day two or three or five is not unusual at least for myself and others that have posted about that.  using that arm to help wash your hair, that takes a bit longer.  Sleeping on that side.  and so on a laundry list of day to day things.  Some of them you can get back without pain or with tolerable pain sooner than others.

32+ years with pacers, the seatbelt is still a problem.  tried various solutions, a fuzzy thing that wraps around the belt is what I generally fall back on.    first few weeks put something soft like a folded over glove (have a pair handy in the car usually)  folded over sock, hand towel, etc.  Place it either above the device or below such that neither the pad nor the belt are touching the site, basically use it like a bridge support to keep the belt off the device completely.  weeks later you can start trying fuzzy belt pads or other solutions.

Crossing your arm over your body, that puts a lot of pressure on the area in general and that will take a long time to not hurt.  Even after it is fully recovered you do that right and you can pinch the device in the pocket and cause some discomfort (wont hurt anything).

Another problem is that you can keep your body/arm/shoulder stiff to avoid the pain that comes from moving which moves the skin and causes pain on the incision.  Which can cause the muscles to ache.   

At the end of the day though no reason why you cant call the doc, you will probably get a nurse first then maybe a doctors visit if there is a real problem.  They should have a list of symptoms they are looking for and questions they will ask to rule these things out.  Sounds very normal though, and you are only three weeks in.  You should be close to the first visit back to the doc post surgery, can ask them then if you can wait that long.