strange wave through upper torso

Hello all,

My husband recieved his Medtronic 3 lead pacemaker last April after he had a full electrical failure. He also has a 31 year old mechanical aortic valve that is working without complications. He takes coumadin to prevent clots with his mechanical valve. 

 

He has had 3 instances of a sensation of a mild stimulating wave across his upper torso. They only last a few seconds. He had 2 today, and felt his brain was a little disconnected for a moment. The 1st one started with a low level buzzing with electricity on his front left side chest area near his lower heart and about 5 minutes later one went across from his right nipple and flowed quickly up till he had high pitched buzz in right ear. It came on quickly and was over quickly. His phone with his monitoring app was not in the room with him when these happened.

 

The 1st one was about 2 weeks ago. He is not having any noticable residual effects. I am concerned it could be mini TIAs' or something with his pacemaker. He does not have a history of stroke. He does have Parkinson's along with occasional hypotension, but was not having that issue when he had this strange feeling.

 

Thanks for any insights anyone may have.

 

1 Comments

The Tingles

by MinimeJer05 - 2022-02-06 08:32:08

Hello,

First off let me say welcome and thank you for posting on behalf of your husband. Living with a pacemaker (or someone with one) can present a unique set of challenges at times and I applaud you both for your courage and strength!

As for the strange sensations -- I can say that immediately after my implant, I noticed that while sleeping on my left side (pm side) or leaning/applying pressure to my left side could cause a strange tingle sensation that would sometimes almost make me feel like my entire chest was numb. This was very intense for the first few weeks and seemed to freak me out as I feel like have been super sensitive to my body in general, but it never became alarming. 
 

I went to ER the first time and they chalked it up to damaged nerves while implanting. I notice now (5 months later) that if I sleep on my left side, the next day I'm bound to experience the tingles at some point in time (now usually isolated to left side) or I'll just feel super sore on my left arm, left side and even my left nipple area or shoulder. 
 

This discomfort usually goes away and never gets worse in terms of pain. 
 

Could this be similar to what your husband is feeling? Absolutely. Could it be something else entirely? Definitely. 
 

First thing is first -- try to remain calm and not stress you or him out. Secondly, try to see if anything had changed in his physical activity for the day/week. Has he noticed any other signs before or after?

Wouldnt hurt to place a call or message to the cardiologist or general doctor. Do go to ER if chest pains, tightness, shortness of breath or any other discomfort is noticed and if the feeling doesn't go away. 

Take care 

Jer

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