Sick sinus syndrome from covid

Covid and the heart

by Selwyn - 2022-02-20 10:24:13

Welcome to the Club JG6. Best wishes for a perfect recovery. 

You will find information about pain and pacemakers in recent postings and the results of our own  survey with regard to this. Make sure you get proper pain relief. 

To know a little more about Covid-19  and the heart ( I had atrial flutter for a month after Covid-19), see the latest study ( cut and paste into your upper browser bar):

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-022-01689-3?utm_source=Sailthru%20Email&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=newsAlerts&utm_term=coronavirus&utm_content=2022-02-17&apid=32250905&rvid=a64266a113c9518aea099eab55cf61c7b4292f811bec1093be4beb4136660d60

This looked at nearly 154 000 post-Covid USA citizens, providing evidence that the risk and 1-year burden of cardiovascular disease in survivors of acute COVID-19 are substantial.

You are not alone!

healing

by new to pace.... - 2022-02-20 12:10:03

do make sure you move your shoulder so you do not get a frozen shoulder.  No heavy lifting such as a gallon of milk.  I slept on my back in a recliner  for 6 weeks.  As i did not want to roll over onto my left side.

Do go back and read some of the other posts about healing. 

new to pace

Welcome to the Club!

by MinimeJer05 - 2022-02-20 23:06:56

Hello,

I'm sorry to hear that you have to join us, but know that we are friendly and helpful. COVID is scary in how it can seem to affect people after the fact in areas unrelated to the initial infection. It's also so scary because we know very little about it and are still learning on the fly. 
 

Know that you will heal and get better in no time. Just keep a focus on getting lots of rest, eating a balanced diet and trying not to stress yourself out too much. As others have said, try to move your arm a little as you don't want it to lock up. 
 

Rest, allow yourself time to heal, while also remaining a little active in order to not set yourself back too much. 
 

Take care 

Jer

Same boat

by DutchyDawg - 2022-03-11 21:31:44

I just received my dual chamber pacemaker on 3/7/2022. Same thing for me.  I was very sick in January 2020 after flying to Herndon, VA (Dulles airport) with Covid like symptoms.  Doctors have backed into a Covid diagnosis despite no testing back then.  I spent a lot of time and money at the doctor trying to determine why my resting heart rate was in the low 40's.  The cardiologist told me I was fine.  The doctors were all stumped and told me I had autonomic dysfunction.  I refused to believe them.  
 

One of my coworkers told me of a friend who had a pacemaker.  I did the research and self diagnosed myself with Sick Sinus Syndrome with symptomatic bradycardia.  A week later I went to the ER as I was very symptomatic and worried about fainting.  Within 10 minutes the ER doctor informed me that I had SSS with symptomatic bradycardia.  She recoiled when saying that expecting me to freak out as I said nothing because I wanted them to tell me what was wrong. I would have been hospitalized but they had no beds so they discharged me with instructions to follow up with the cardiologist.

The next day I made the appointment with the cardiologist and when I went in he looked at me and said "your heart is fine, you have autonomic dysfunction".  I coulda cried because I've gone through two years of this.

I ended up going to the cardiologist that I saw in 2020 and he, too, said I was fine.  I said "no, I have symptoms of SSS" and he said it was autonomic dysfunction.  However, he did refer me to the EP. I was also sent to the Long Covid specialist.  She said I did NOT have autonomic dysfunction! Hallelujah!!

When I saw the EP he immediately said I had SSS and I needed a pacemaker and scheduled me for first availability. I asked if it could be autonomic dysfunction and he said no, it is SSS.

I am now being paced at a minimum of 60 and feel so much better.  I am not out of the woods as I still have some lightheaded feelings and just probably need a tweak. Will get that on 3/15/22.

One other wonderful thing I got out of this was sleep apnea and I use a CPAP.  I am very active but to look at my chart you'd think I'm dying, LOL!

I found a solution other than a sling. I have a strap that I put around my waist and then another strap around my elbow and attached it with just enough slack to let me move my arm enough to be comfortable but not too much that it goes past shoulder height. This way I could at least lie on my right side and hug a pillow.  With a CPAP on my face and a dog that sleeps on me the last thing I wanted was my arm bound to my side.

Good luck to you! You're 15 days ahead of me so you're almost out of the woods.