Shortness of breath and sweating

Hello this group has answered many questions I've had after getting a pacemaker. For about 2 months now I've been going back and forth to my cardiologist because I had ablation back in October and have gone back in to afib. My cardiologist suggested to shock my heart to maybe get me out of afib. Two days later the afib was back. My cardiologist tried speeding up my PM during a visit maybe to get me out of afib. It didn't work. All I got from that was a sharp pain in-between my ribs ever other heart beat for a day and half. While in there I asked the cardiologist why I'm still sweating up a storm when walking on a treadmill and doing household chores. So my cardiologist adjusted the PM to speed up when I move but that made me feel that my heart was racing. So the next visit my cardiologist adjusted PM to slowly speed up. That had me feeling shortness of breath and caused me to go ER feeling as though my heart was about to stop. All the tests at the hospital came back saying everything is working fine. A week later my cardiologist suggested another ablation because now the futter was on the left side of my heart. I have the ablation the next day. The futter came back 5 days later. Now I'm more short of breath and have beating sensation in my throat all the time. Now my cardiologist is suggested that it my be a lung issue. The earliest I can get in to seeing a pulmonary doctor is September. Has ANYONE else gone through this. Or is it time to find another cardiologist because I'm starting to feel like I was just a test dummy all this time.

2 Comments

I can relate

by TLee - 2021-06-07 16:05:48

Just got back from a long weekend visit with my daughter. We were out & about, visiting a zoo & sightseeing, and it was probably the hottest weekend yet. I had been doing pretty well--a-fib being addressed with medication & pacemaker to keep me from slow/paused heart rate. I think (hope) it was the extra activity, along with the heat, that made me feel some pretty unpleasant symptoms. I would feel an odd heaviness to my limbs, and a sensation almost like I could lose my balance. Also shortness of breath, which I had not been severe for some time--I do have COPD, and both allergies & heat can make breathing difficult, but a couple of times I was almost gasping. I was able to recover pretty quickly by cooling off & resting--duh, right? I was just disappointed that I am not as young & energetic as I feel I should be!

I know that you will understand when I say that I am a work in progress--I'm sure you feel that way too. A-fib is something that I will probably always have. Cardioversion (shock) & abaltion did not work for me either. Medication has made a difference, but it will need some tweaking. The beta blocker I take can lower my blood pressure, which could have been part of the issue this weekend (I don't know, as I left town without my bp monitor!). I do feel safer knowing that at least the pacemaker will keep my heart rate from going too low, so there is that, and that is really the only thing the pacemaker does. If your Dr is trying to adjust your pacemaker to treat a-fib, that may be part of the problem. Speeding up your heart rate when a-fib is already giving you a rapid rate seems not right, but I am not a Dr. I might suggest getting another opinion though. Good luck to you!.

Cardiologist

by AgentX86 - 2021-06-07 16:33:40

Your cardiologist may be very good but he's out of his league. You need to see an electrophysiologist, now.  Cardiologists are good at physical problems with the heart (valves, blocked arteries, etc.).  They're the "plumbers".  Electrophysiologists (EPs) are cardiologists who have two years more residency on the electrical systems of the heart adn deal with Afib, Aflutter, heat block, etc.  They're the "electricians".  If your lights blink, you don't call a plumber.

DCCV (DC Current Cardio-Version) usually doesn't work but it's cheap so is a good first step.  I'm one of the lucky ones.  After my first, I was in NSR for seven years.  Of course, all hell broke lose after that seven years.  They were useless after that.  Ablations are more effective but not perfect by any means.  A single ablation has something like 60-70% success rate.  A second can push that up closer to 90%.  After that and things don't get a lot better.  Of course the better the EP the higher success rate.  There are only a few top-notch ablationists in the country.

I went through all that, and drugs, and finally gave up and went all-in for the AV ablation.  Not recommended unless all else fails and you just can't stand the arrhythmia.  It's a quality of life thing at that point.

Back to your cardiologist.  He's at the end (or past) his competency.  Find a good EP.

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