still feel pauses

Hi everyone

I have a on demand pacemaker which I think means it kicks in if my heart rate drops below 50 beats per minute, at my last check up I was told I had used it less than 1% of the time - however I am still feeling pauses periodically and am wondering why when the pacemaker is supposed to have stopped this feeling . does this happen to anyone else.

any feedback appreciated

5 Comments

settings

by Tracey_E - 2009-03-01 03:03:04

Sometimes it feels like a pause but there is a beat in there that you don't feel. Sometimes they can change the delay on your settings so the pm steps in faster when there is a pause.

Irregular Heart Beat

by SMITTY - 2009-03-01 03:03:42

Hello Chris,

Of course I'm only guessing about what is going on for you, and your doctor is the one with the answers, maybe. But I have a pacemaker that is supposed to kick in when my heart rate drops below 70, yet I frequently find my HR anywhere from 45 up to 70. Most often it is in the 50 to 65 range. While I've had my PM since 2000 this has been a regular issue since February 2007.

I can tell you what I have been told, but I don't guarantee it is all fact. But it is what I was told to get me to shut up, probably. It seems that my hearts natural pacemaker is faking out my man made pacemaker. The way this can happen is our pacemakers monitor our heart beat and if the heart's natural PM is not going to make the heart beat, the man made job sends the necessary electrical impulse to do the job. Some of those impulses form the heart's PM are not strong enough to make the heart beat but they are strong enough for the man made PM to detect and do nothing because it thinks the heart is taking care of things for this beat.

Often times we can take our fingers and feel the partial or weak heart beat by the hearts PM. I call these PVC, PAC or skip beats. While these are not all the same thing, I cannot tell the difference in them To me it doesn't matter that I may name them incorrectly because they all mean that I'm not going to have a smooth heart rhythm, in spite of having a PM.

A good doctor or PM technician can sometimes fine tune our PM so that it is not fooled by the incomplete heart beats caused the heart's PM, but not always. Judging from my experience, it is something many us will have to live with.

Another thing that my doctor has tried is to have me take enough medicine (in my case a beta blocker) to slow my heart beat as provided by my hearts natural PM to the point that the man made PM will have to provide the needed impulse. This apparently works for some people but in my case it compounded my problem in addition to causing a number of bad side effects and I had to stop the medicines.

I wish you good luck.

Smitty

Like Tracey said plus

by BillMFl - 2009-03-01 06:03:06

The voltage can also be increased. A little fine tuning may take care of things. Also, a run of more than a few beats should be recorded in your PM history. Your next PM check may answer your questions. If the problem becomes more than a nuisance you should call and get the PM checked right away.

demand

by Tracey_E - 2009-03-01 08:03:01

all pm's are demand. They always give our hearts a chance to do its thing first. When it doesn't beat fast enough, the pm steps in and helps out. Just thought i'd toss that in there ;o)

Thanks

by chrisw - 2009-03-02 10:03:07

I feel a bit better now after all your informative comments, my next check up is not until Nov if I last that long I will mention it to the technician lo.

Thanks

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