Pulsing in arm / chest next to pacemaker

Hi all 

I hope you are all well.

i had a pacemaker fitted right side in Feb this year with 2 leads, over the last 6 weeks i have experienced pulsing in my right arm / chest next to the pacemaker.

I visited hospital yesterday regarding this and whilst doing the test to the top lead in the right chamber, my chest started pulsing.

The Physiologist turned a setting off to prevent this happening as they said it is safe to do so.

I have woke this morning to find an ache in my neck and what i can describe as something digging into my neck? The pulsisng has also returned.

Any ideas?

 

Regards 

 

Adam

2 Comments

Pulsing/twitching

by piglet22 - 2024-06-25 10:44:10

You are describing the same symptoms as I had in January 2016.

I had "twitching" in the left pectoral muscle and eventually the whole left arm.

I was on a 3-monthly watch as my old pacemaker (Medtronic dual lead, dual chamber), was on it's last legs and the battery voltage was getting low.

The twitching was in time with my pulse so not hard to figure what was causing it.

I called the emergency ambulance. Don't believe paramedics that say that a pacemaker output isn't strong enough to pulse arm muscles.

A cardiac technician came in around midnight and downloaded the PM data.

The PM battery had gone down so low that the PM had changed mode. With a bipolar lead as fitted, the flow and return current is through the two conductors in the lead. Changing mode to umipolar, puts the flow current down one conductor, and the return path back to the generator (pacemaker) is through your nearest muscles.

I have read that in early pacemakers, this mode change was used as an EOL alarm.

The technician changed a setting to give me some relief and the generator was changed next morning.

You say yours was fitted in February, so low battery shouldn't be a problem, but needs checking. If the twitching is proven to be associated with the generator then it needs attention and an explanation given.

As I said before with bipolar operatinn, the flow and return current is within the lead. If a bipolar lead is damaged, or the connector leaks, then a full or partial return external path might be formed.

I can't speak for the stiff neck.

Pulsing / Twitching

by Gatsey - 2024-07-15 11:22:07

Thank you very much for your comment, i will speak to my consultant.

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