Pacemaker Surgery 12/10/08

Hello,

I had a dual chamber St Jude device installed on 12/10/08.
The surgery and recovery have been extremley easy, 10x better than I thought it would be! Anyway, I had a follow-up appointment today. My Doc stated that upper chamber was being paced 38%, lower 1%, My question is, 38% seems high, will it kill my battery working so much? I mean, the surgery went great, but I don't want to have it too often...

Thanks,
Steve

7 Comments

Thanks!

by mean18 - 2008-12-30 02:12:11

Misa,

I'm not afraid! (and being a man, wouldn't admit it if I was...) I was just suprised that it was working so much. Thanks for your input, I feel better ;)


Take care,
Steve

Don´t be afraid of it ;-)

by mikki14 - 2008-12-30 02:12:24

Hi Steve, don´t be afraid of it. 38% is not too much, a lot of people have a pacemaker which stimulate the heart 90 - 100% (me too) and the battery could work for 6 - 10 years, if you are paced that much (I mean nearly 100%).

Have a nice time!

Misa

Pacing

by PeggyR - 2008-12-30 02:12:31

I agee with Misa, not to worry. My lower chamber paces 100% of the time and upper 18% of the time, have no idea how long it will last implant was 9/5/08 so still a newborn so to speak. Figure technology will have better than now in 5-10 years, assuming battery will last that long. Good luck

Peggy

doesn't really matter

by Tracey_E - 2008-12-30 03:12:11

It is what it is! Battery replacements are super easy so don't stress about whether it'll happen in 5 or 7 or 10 years. I pace 100% and still got 7 years out of a battery that was supposed to last 5-6. When you go for your checkup, they can tell you projected battery life.

%

by Pookie - 2008-12-30 05:12:53

I have had my pacemaker for 4 years now and get it checked every 6 months. I have gone from 27% up to 72% and everywhere in between too! I use the ventricle less than 1%. Try and not get too hooked on the % #. Some people here pace 100% of the time and then there are some that pace less than 10% of the time.

Don't be too surprised that yours doesnt go up OR down on your 6th month check.

I had my pacemaker in November of 2004 and 2 months ago my tech told me that I still have between 6.5 - 8.5 years left on my present battery.

So many factors can influence the %, I found I was more active in the summer, hence the lower % #.

Good luck & keep us posted.

Pookie

safety margins and other factors

by Tracey_E - 2008-12-30 08:12:43

Frank or one of the other technical gurus can probably add more to this, but there is more involved in how long your battery lasts than just how often you use it. They have safety margins that eat up a lot of juice. If your usage is erratic, they have to set those margins fairly high. If your usage is consistent and you have a very stable condition, they can cut back on those margins and squeeze more life out of your battery. That's how I pace 100% and still got more than the expected amount of life out of my first battery.

Now, I have the opposite problem! I have an impeded lead so the voltage on it had to be turned way up to get the signal through. I'm still pacing the same amount, I still have the same fairly small safety margins, but I'll be getting 4-5 years out of my 8-10 year battery this time due to the bad lead. (I'm on my 4th device, I've been through it all, lol)

% and Battery

by BriBoy01 - 2009-01-24 09:01:46

As others here have stated the % really doesnt have as large an impact on battery life as you would think. My dual PM paced 78% top and 12% bottom three months ago, the battery was estimated to last 7 years. On that visit they had to raise the power to my leads. Now my %'s are coming down into 55% top and 8% lower but they keep raising the power on my leads and the battery life is now 5 years so a few years difference in a few months of tinkering. Your mileage will vary.

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I'm 35 and got my pacemaker a little over a year ago. It definitely is not a burden to me. In fact, I have more energy (which my husband enjoys), can do more things with my kids and have weight because of having the energy.