@Yvonne Smith -- I'm sorry to hear that you are having some issues and I think Lois is right... you probably should go to the ER if this persists. Take care and keep us updated, please.
Hey there, Frank. How are you doing these days? Are you still on dialysis? I hope you're doing much better now.
I have been giving this a lot of thought, and I am thinking that my pacemaker is mal-functioning . I looked up malfunctioning pacemaker, and it looks like it causes abnormal heart rhythms, and also a-fib. One of the causes of a pacemaker malfunction can be from abnormal stimulation of the abdominal and pectoral muscles; so I think that I probably did this when I was using the rototiller, and the problem started right after I was rototilling. It is also possible that since it was an electric cultivator, that the electrical current affected the pacemaker somehow. I called and left a message on my doctor’s answering machine, so they will have the message first thing tomorrow, and it might be as simple as they have to reset the pacemaker. My chart from last night shows even more fluctuation than the last one did, and it is definitely dropping below the baseline of 60 bpm that the pacemaker is supposed to keep it above. As long as I do not try to do much of anything (I hate that ... I want to be out there gardening !), I am doing okay, and I should be hearing back from my cardiologist first thing Monday, and if not, I will call them again as soon as they open.
Yvonne, please don't do anything till you hear from the doctor. Don't change meds, nothing. Or go to the E.R., please.
I am not changing any of my meds, @Lois Winters . I called the doctor’s office and left a message for them, and intend to be there first thing in the morning, no matter what. I am hoping that it will be something simple , like re-setting the pacemaker; but if I have pulled a lead loose, then it probably means going to the hospital for another procedure to put it back in place. Unless it gets too serious, I am not going to go to the ER, because I want my own doctor to deal with this. Before, when it was out of rhythm, I didn’t have a pacemaker, and they shocked my heart back into rhythm, but I am not sure that is possible with a pacemaker, and if it is something simple, then I won’t need to go to the hospital at all. Today, I am just going to take it as easy as possible, and pray that nothing gets worse before tomorrow morning.
I once worked with an engineer who had a pacemaker. When the room was quiet and I was near him, I could actually hear it ticking! Hal
I had a heart condition called "Tachycardia" for a short time in my 30's, shortly after I got married. For no apparent reason, and at any time of day, my heart would begin "racing", scaring the hell out of me and causing panic! An analyst told me it was due to an emotional conflict between my wife and my parents, who still thought they "owned" me, even after I got married. I had to visit the analyst for awhile until I learned how to cope with the situation, which I finally did by forcibly telling my parents they no longer had any say in my life, and to stop being so domineering to my wife. After that, everything was Jake! Best Wishes to you, Yvonne! Hal
Ah yes, she is indeed a most pampered lady today. Why, I even took splitting the firewood off of her chore list yesterday and I wouldn’t dare allow her to try to plow the south 40. Besides, it rained all day and I wouldn’t want the plow and ax to get wet!
@Beth Gallagher No better, or worse. Weak in legs, inexplicably, doctors won't commit, strong upper body (relatively), so move, lift objects with hands and arms. Still on dialysis. Frank
Thanks for the update, Frank. I know dialysis is no fun to endure. Did they install a port thing in your arm? My mother was on dialysis for the last 5 years of her life and she had a port (?) in her lower arm. @Yvonne Smith -- how are you doing today? Did you get to speak with your doctor?
I left a message over the weekend, and then called the office again on Monday morning, first thing. They looked at my pacemaker charts and said it seemed to be working okay, and they didn’t think that my rototilling had caused any problem with the pace maker. My electrophysiologist was out of the office until today, so they gave me an appointment for this morning. The decision was that I have to go and get another cardioversion (where they shock your heart back into rhythm), and it is scheduled for Thursday morning. They said that just keep taking my my heart meds, and I should be fine until then. I am seriously not happy about having to do this. Every time , I worry that my heart won’t start up again when they shock it. Robin said that one time, it took them 3 tries before it worked , so it is a scary thing. The other side of that is that for the last week, my heart has literally been running a marathon, working at about 100bpm most of the time, day and night; so I know it can’t keep that up forever either.