How many years

How long?

by AgentX86 - 2022-01-24 22:31:31

ar_vin is right.  You need to understand more.  The pacemaker won't shorten your lifespan, rather the opposite.  Its job is to let you live a normal life, measured both in longevity and quality. The underlying reason that you need the pacemaker is where you need to look. The pacemaker's job is to make your life a normal as possible.

Years

by doublehorn48 - 2022-01-25 12:31:25

There are quite a few on this board that have had pm's for around 30 years. I used to drive a truck and every year I had to get a new medical card. The MD, and that's  being kind, wanted my cardiologist to write a note as to how long I would live with my pm. My cardiologist wrote, "only God knows for sure." I've told this before but it still holds true.

How many years

by TAC - 2022-01-25 13:28:17

Really, this is something nobody knows. There are millions of things that can kill anyone, with or without a pacemaker. Focus on how to deal with the present.

New pacemaker

by Theknotguy - 2022-01-25 15:14:18

Right after you get the pacemaker, and for some people, the mind goes into overdrive and you have what seems like millions of questions.  Eventually the mind settles down and things get back to normal but during that overactive phase it's really hard to concentrate on just a few things.  And, of course, one of the questions that comes up is if the pacemaker extends or shortens life.  

As others have said, we don't know.  It depends upon what other medical problems you have, what is expected from your genetic makeup, your lifestyle, and a whole host of other things.  Best that I've heard is that, with the pacemaker, you can expect to lead a "normal" life with "normal" longevity.  At the very least, the pacemaker doesn't seem to shorten life.  As for me, I'd have to say it extends it as I'd be dead without it.  

I always suggest that, as soon as you are able, to go out and lead as much of a "normal" life as you can.  With the pacemaker I'm limited to not getting a private pilot's license, deep sea scuba diving, and climbing Mount Everest.  Everything else is open.  So I've got a wide latitude as to what "normal" happens to be.  I can still get a private pilot's license but the hassle you have to go through to get it isn't, for me, worth the effort.

I've gotten into the, "what they didn't tell you", part of having the pacemaker.  Like, they didn't tell me about vibration interacting with my pacemaker.  Then there's the misinformation that gets repeated over and over.  I just usually give the people telling me the misinformation the "look" and go on with my life.  It isn't worth the effort to explain and they won't change their mind anyway.

Otherwise I hope your adjustment to the pacemaker goes well and that you can quickly get back to a "normal" life.
 

How long?

by Gotrhythm - 2022-01-25 15:47:15

Right question or not, how the pacemaker might affect longevity was something I wondered about when I first got mine. So I did some research. It turns out that people with pacemakers have about the same life span as people without.

If a life span of 75-80 years was realistic before you got a pacemaker, there's no reason to think a pacemaker has shortened it.

As for living a regular life--good heavens yes! Deep sea divers, commercial pilots, and welders run into some restrictions, but the rest of us go on living pretty much as we did before, except that since we feel better now, all we do is more enjoyable.

I remember well how shocking the idea of needing a pacemaker was. But I found out as you will that a pacemaker is not the end of the road. It doesn't signal that you have one foot in the grave. As you have time to absorb the reality and implications of your diagnosis, whatever that is, you will come to see that a pacemaker is making you more likely to see 75-80 rather than less.

Thanks

by godrew - 2022-01-25 15:51:18

Thank you doublehorn48 and Theknotguy.  That is essentially what I was asking.  I have asked my team of doctors everything that I can think of to ask medically, and they are able to answer.  I like to actually get responses from the people that are living to the implant.  I was diagnosed with HCM with obstruction at 14, I did fine until I was around 30.  At that point I developed Afib, cardioverted for the first time that year.  Afib was held at bay for 9 years.  Afib came back and tried to cardiovert, but just never held me in sinus rhythm.  Eventually it was decided that a myectomy surgery was my best option for me to resume living without the brutal symptoms of Afib.  I had surgey in 2011 and it was discussed at that point to implant a device during surgery, the cardiologist decided against it.   all was well until 2020.  Afib came back, I had an ablation for the Afib in 2021.  I feel well now, but my pumping is not where it should be.  
    History of Afib and less pumping is the reason for the implant.  I believe I have a good mindset going into the procedure and realistic with the pro and cons.  I just find that getting the peoples opinion on life after procedure is helpful to me.  
it clearly doesn't work for all people, but I find it settles my nerves heading into a procedure hearing the people that are actually living and doing after the procedure is finished.  
thanks

1-Year and Counting

by Stache - 2022-01-25 17:07:50

I think you have asked a fair question, right after I had a cardiac arrest with two stents and a dual-chamber pager 100% pacing implanted I was searching for the answer to the same question.  Still searching as I am not satisfied with the opinions I have been given.

Each of us is different I am 68 extremely good health except me my sinus node stopped working altogether as to why the dual-chamber implant.

I have researched an extremely large amount of medical books and studies and have come up with it all depends on the individual physical condition and why the pacer was implanted.  I still wonder how long I will live as well but it is not a priority anymore like it was early on.  I put all my life goals on hold until I came up with it depends on my attitude.  I am now planning life goals once again but I will always have that thought bouncing around in my head how long?

Having a pacer is all about attitude as I am reminded everyday by the little things my body tells me.  The pasted months I have accepted I am living with my pacer for life and finding my own way of accepting it.  Like others no one knows for sure how long we will live, just make the most of it while we can.  I have big plans and the will to survive.  Acceptance is the key, the pacer is not going away.

keep on truckin'

by dwelch - 2022-02-01 16:16:19

34 years with pacemakers, on device number 5.  Started at 19 years old.  Switched from a two lead to a biventrical with device number five.  When talking about what if there isnt room for the other lead we talked about using the other side.  The doc would prefer to "save the other side for the future".  I am 54. 34 years with pacers, and saving the other side for decades more pacers.   

Pacers themselves do not shorten your life. They attempt to normalize. I have heart block which is trival to fix with a pacer, so my pacer makes me normal so I can live a normal life, lifespan...I would be dead now without it, no question.  And that is the key.

It is not the pacer that is the problem but whatever is wrong with you that is the problem.  If you need a pacer, get a pacer, as soon as humany possible.  

Not matter how much you research the first several months to a year, there will be a mental aspect to it.  The physical is weeks to months.  The mental, wait, can I use my microwave, I forgot to ask.  What about my phone.  My seat belt, etc etc etc.   (you need to worry about none of those things BTW, yet you will).  But YOU WILL get to a point were your pacer is just a part of you like a middle toe or a belly button.  You know you have one but you never think about it.  Unless you bump it into something, then you forget a few minutes/seconds later.

In my case the doc waited until my heart got to a critical size, perhaps he was trying to get me out of childhood into adulthood. I dont know, I was a child, the adults were taking care of things.  So by the time I got my device I could literally hear and feel every heart beat. And the pacer fixed that instantly. So I had an emptyness inside that took a long time to get used to.  And this predated the public internet by 10 years and sites like this by 20, so I had nobody to talk to about these things.   

Find a doc you trust and trust the doc you find (if they say pacer, then you say how soon, if they say pill you say how many).  Ignore all the crap on TV and the movies about pacers, it is all written by folks that dont have a clue.  If you have bad vision are glasses going to shorten your life or extend it (I would say extend as you would eventually step/fall into a road, off a cliff or down some stairs).  Same thing here.  Now your condition may not be completely fixed with a device, nor a pill, but at least it will be better not worse.  And you can still get hit by a bus, no matter how healthy or how many pills or devices you have.