New pacemaker...

Hi everybody! I am 20 years old and just had a pacemaker put in last Friday. I was just wondering if it is normal to constantly feel it pacing. I'm not sure if it's just me being really sensitive or if I should get it checked out.

I am really happy I found this website! Have a great day!

5 Comments

Pacing

by ela-girl - 2007-06-24 02:06:52

Hi, lilsump!

I am not sure what kind of pm you have, but I have a dual chamber. If you are going to feel any pacing at all, it tends to be the ventricular pacing as it is the stronger of the 'heartbeats'. I only feel mine from time to time and it usually is like, "Whoa! I'm being paced." That's how strong I feel my ventricular pacing sometimes. It doesn't hurt, it's just a strong heartbeat.

If you feel yourself being paced constantly, I would mention it to your doctor because you never know. You may need it tweaked. I'm 29 and got my pm almost 9 months ago. In the beginning, I felt my pacer kick in A LOT. Now I don't really anymore. I think I was just so hyper-focused on my heart because I had something new in my chest. Does that make sense? Anyways...check with your doctor if it is bothersome. That's his/her job!

Happy pacing,
ela-girl

new

by lana - 2007-06-24 02:06:56

I had mine put in June 6th. I have never felt it pace and the Dr. said I wouldn't. I know when we lay down we can feel our heart beat more. It maybe beating stronger and you hear it more.

Pacing

by hooimom - 2007-06-24 03:06:54

Welcome to the Club! I thought I could feel mine pacing alot in the beginning. The interrogation showed that I wasn't being paced as often as I thought I was so I think some of mine was just an awareness and sensitivity to my heartbeat and rate. I got my PM last July at 42 years of age. It took me a few weeks to begin feeling comfortable with my new "part" but within a few months I felt better than I had felt in a long time and totally comfortable with my PM. Talk to your doctor about it just to be sure but you might be like I was and just very tuned in to your heart beat.

It gets easier!
Michelle

Strong Heartbeats

by SMITTY - 2007-06-24 04:06:41

Hello,

Welcome.

You have gotten some good advice and I'll contribute mine for what it may be worth.

To be blunt, you should not feel your pacemaker as it helps maintain your heart rhythm.

A pacemaker has no moving parts. Using power from the internal battery, it sends an electrical impulse to the chambers of you heart to make them contract. If you are feeling your heartbeat, it can be caused by many things. One is the power setting could be too high. This setting is adjustable as some hearts take a little stronger goosing than others to make them contract. Also, as the leads age their resistance increases and power settings must be increased to overcome the increase in resistance, but this is not likely to be a problem for you yet.

Or what you feel could be part of an impulse that is being misdirected to an area in where it stimulates a nerve giving the impression of a heart beat. If this happens (it did happen to me and that is why I know about it) these impulses will be in perfect sync with your heart beat and it can be very difficult to distinguish between a heart beat and the nerve reaction to the stimulation. Of course in my case it was easy to tell it was not actually a heart beat as the nerve stimulation felt like a bee sting. The list of possibilities goes on and on and the only way to get it corrected is to let your doctor take a look.

When a pacemaker is implanted, a “factory setting” is usually used. Sometimes, based on the doctor’s knowledge of the patient, some slight changes in the factory settings will be made. More often than not, it takes several checkups to get a pacemaker properly mated to a particular patient. However, a properly mated pacemaker should not be felt. But it does sometimes take several visits to the doctor to corect the problems that can crop up..

One final comment. Pacemaker problems seldom, I repeat seldom, correct themselves. So if you can feel yours see your doctor because a pacemaker should no more be felt than a digital watch you may be wearing.

Good luck,

Smitty

Welcome!

by tcrabtree85 - 2007-06-24 09:06:04

Hi I just wanted to say welcome to the club. Everyone seems to have answered your question. I am 21 and have had my pm for awhile now not too long but long enough to have learned some things. Because your pm is so knew I think that you are possibly feeling more spasms than the pm it self. Also you are young and when you are young you feel a lot more things. How soon is your first check up? I assume that you are on a high voltage also right now. I know my first visit was a week after I got my pm and they said that I was feeling more b/c of my voltage being high so that could also be your problem. It doesn't hurt to contact a nurse and explain what you feel to them and ask them if it is normal feelings. Every person is different but if your in pain don't let it go contact the office.
I wish you the best of luck on your recovery remember to take it easy and relax. If you need somebody to talk to just hit up a private message. Take care of yourself!
Blessings,
Tammy

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