I was supposed to run a test on my pacemaker this morning but sadly it appears the battery has given out. That surprised me that a non replaceable battery would die before three years were up. Called manufacturer and they're sending a new tester which should reach me by next Mon. or Tues.
That does seem strange. Mine does not have anything for me to run my own test, or if it does, it is in the monitor that came along with the pacemaker, and it receives information from the pacemaker, and sends it to the company. It stays plugged in, and has to set next to my bed at heart level, because it reads the pacemaker sometime during the night.
Mine is just used about every 3 months. It's always plugged in but I have to hold it on the pacemaker when I run the test.
@Yvonne Smith So much information to have to comprehend. I know of several people with pacemakers, they've stated, living with pacemakers have made their so much better. Hope your pacemaker will make your health/life much better. All the best to you with support from your @Bobby Cole, family and friends and us here. GOD will help you go forward.
Good news ! Good news ! Today I went back to the pacemaker appointment, and they said that everything is going fine, and since it has been six weeks, I am no longer on restriction about moving my left arm. I can go to the fitness center and swim again, so Bobby and I are excited about being able to go back again, starting in the morning. The transmitter that it hooks up to the pacemaker sits by my bed will be sending in the information each night, and in 3 months, it sends a full report. I do not have to go back to the doctor for a year as long as I do not have any problems. I am really glad that I had this procedure done, and it has actually also helped me not to have the a-fib and tachycardia episodes like I was having when my heart rate was in constant up and down and not in a regular rhythm. I think that maybe what was happening was my heart was “over-correcting” for the constant low heart rate, and then jumped into the tachycardia to try and get the heart rate back up again.
@Yvonne Smith That's the best, Yvonne, so happy you're happy with the implant, you'll be getting to your routines, fun and what makes your world go round soon..
Great news, Yvonne. My pulse rate is so slow at times it frightens even me. My cardiologist isn't concerned just yet, so, I try to relax and not worry.
For all this time, my problem has been the tachycardia and a-fib, where it would suddenly jump up from about 50 to around 150, and pound hard in my chest. The medication I was taking was to help keep it from doing that, and so it actually was slowing my heart down. Gradually, thanks to my Apple Watch, I was able to tell when I was in the low heart rate times (which often proceeded the tachycardia jump), and when my heart rate dropped into the low 40’s , I was starting to really get concerned. After that, it would sometimes go clear down into the 30’s when I was sleeping, or even just sitting still and reading, and at that point I started thinking that some night it might just slow down and stop altogether. That is why I went back to Dr. Tabereaux and asked him about the pacemaker, which he had said that I would probably some day need. I totally recommend getting some kind of a smart watch that will monitor your heart rate, @Lois Winters . Mine is an Apple Watch because my phone is an iPhone, but Amazon has a great selection of smart watches that will work with any kind of phone you have. Not only can you monitor your heart rate, but the smart watch will also let you answer your phone, or at least alert you that you have a phone call. There are sleep apps that show what your heart is doing while you are sleeping, as well as how deeply you are sleeping during the night. I truly believe that every senior should have a watch that helps us monitor our hearts !
@Yvonne Smith You are so totally right. Smart Watches... Excellent Device...I recently invested in one, mainly because of my hearing, so for me the vibration helps, but have been very interested in the health stats.
Oops... Forgot... Senior moment . Because i had a Fitbit gifted to me recently, it's also excellent for health stats, have learned a lot since i got it. Maybe because of a cost issue, Fitbits are much less expensive, and may be of use other than a Smart watch. Both are well worth the investment.
For some reason, my heart has gone back into a-fib. I think that the pacemaker is still working because the heart rate seem to be staying above 60, which is the bottom heart rate set by the pacemaker, but I do not know for sure. It happened suddenly, so I have no idea what caused the problem, although the possibility that we have been looking at , is that I was using my little electric cultivator in the garden that day. My heart doctor said that once it was healed, I could swim or do anything I wanted and not worry about pulling the pacemaker wires loose, but since the erratic heartbeat started right after I was rototilling, I am still wondering if maybe that was connected somehow. I called the heart doctor, and they can’t even see me until almost the middle of June , so unless things get bad enough that I have to go to the ER, I guess I am just going to have to live with this for a while. I am dizzy, hard to walk (unbalanced), and huffing and puffing just walking around the house and out to the yard. The fitness center is supposed to be opening up again this week, but my body is just NOT in any condition for me to try and swim, which is a serious bummer ! I am doubling up on my amioderone, hoping that it will load me up with enough of it to stop the fibrillation. The last time I had to go to the ER, they put me on an amioderone drip IV until it stopped the Afib, so I am hoping that just taking extra tablets will do the same thing. This is another reason why I love my Apple Watch and iPhone . I always monitor my heart rate, and the sleep app does that even at night, so I can see what my heart is doing. Since the pacemaker, it has just been a nice straight line at 60 BPM Overnight, until now, and it is once again all over the screen.
@Yvonne Smith I had amioderone prescribed; took it perhaps a month. Saw little change in A-fib. Researched risk, being in kidney failure, and learned this drug aggravates kidney function and issues. Quit taking it. Frank