Pacemaker to the rescue

[Elefantino]

I've always had a low resting heart rate, in the low to mid 40s, for as long as I can remember. Recently, I've been feeling occasionally light-headed, which I've attributed to not eating full lunches etc.

But Tuesday, scarily, I started to feel downright dizzy. It cleared up somewhat Wednesday morning but driving into the shop I was suddenly Joseph Gordon-Levitt in "Inception." The road was tilting. Yes, tilting. Fortunately, I was just around the corner from the shop and made it there, only to get out of the car and dry heave. Several times. Then the shop starting Inception-ing and I fell over. Went to my doctor, who measured my rate at 34 bpm and, long story short(er), I was rushed to the hospital, went through lots of tests and now have a pacemaker.

Apparently it's something called "sick sinus syndrome" and there's really no way around it. So they shoved a titanium device in my chest (planes better than carbon, I'm told), set it to a minimum of 50 bpm (no max) and I feel fine. The battery should last me between 10 an 13 years.

I am two months shy of my 60th birthday. Other than numerous accidents I've been as healthy as a stableful of horses. Hopefully with my new whiz-bang beater I'll stay that way.

The docs all say I should be fine for Belgium in April. Fingers crossed.

[FlashUNC]

Nothing like a couple extra ounces of hardware. Good to hear all's well that ends well.

[ultraman6970]

I know another forumite that has a pacemaker in the ticker, and he is fine, but his problem was different tho. Anyways... happy you are ok, life is short after all and sure this changed your philosophical to see things, so enjoy belgium :D

[weisan]

Elephant pal, glad to hear about your recent upgrade.

[soulspinner]

Glad you are OK.:hello:

[Peter P.]

I'm 57, and had a pacemaker implanted just over a year ago, a Medtronic Advisa dual lead.

The only time I experienced symptoms was exercising (read: bike riding). Total 'effin' meltdowns.

Despite the pacemaker, I was still cratering on the bike after 20 minutes. It took almost a year, and a bunch of tests, adjustments, and procedures, until the doctor's figured out what was wrong.

It was one lousy checkbox in the software!

Moral: If you continue to experience symptoms or find your cycling is affected, keep bugging the electrophysiologist.

Also if you're so inclined, search on the internet for the Clinician's and Technician's manuals. Be as knowledgeable about your pacemaker as about your bikes.

There's a pacemaker forum (https://www.pacemakerclub.com/) too, which is great for posting questions with like-equipped people.

[rePhil]

Wow, scary, Glad to hear you are sticking around!

[oldpotatoe]

I've always had a low resting heart rate, in the low to mid 40s, for as long as I can remember. Recently, I've been feeling occasionally light-headed, which I've attributed to not eating full lunches etc.

But Tuesday, scarily, I started to feel downright dizzy. It cleared up somewhat Wednesday morning but driving into the shop I was suddenly Joseph Gordon-Levitt in "Inception." The road was tilting. Yes, tilting. Fortunately, I was just around the corner from the shop and made it there, only to get out of the car and dry heave. Several times. Then the shop starting Inception-ing and I fell over. Went to my doctor, who measured my rate at 34 bpm and, long story short(er), I was rushed to the hospital, went through lots of tests and now have a pacemaker.

Apparently it's something called "sick sinus syndrome" and there's really no way around it. So they shoved a titanium device in my chest (planes better than carbon, I'm told), set it to a minimum of 50 bpm (no max) and I feel fine. The battery should last me between 10 an 13 years.

I am two months shy of my 60th birthday. Other than numerous accidents I've been as healthy as a stableful of horses. Hopefully with my new whiz-bang beater I'll stay that way.

The docs all say I should be fine for Belgium in April. Fingers crossed.

Huzzah!! As a guy who has a few heart 'scares' and issues, glad yours had a quick diagnosis and successful treatment. My Dad had a pacemaker for 2 decades and it was never an issue..and his technology was 30 years old..

BUT is it Campagnolo compatible??

[2LeftCleats]

Hope you didn't get the AMC Pacer. That won't make anyone's heart race.

[sailorboy]

Good you survived this 'scare'. Consider it a little extra ballast to get you UCI-legal! :hello:

[AngryScientist]

went with the wireless i assume?

can you turn it up for those belguim cobbles?

seriously though, i'm glad to hear you were able to catch this before anything bad happened, and i'm also thankful for the wonders of modern medicine and that we can go on to do the things we like to do even after some heart hiccups. cheers!

[cmbicycles]

As neat as some of the bike tech is, medical tech is really impressive with what can be done. Can they upgrade you to the internal motor power unit for extra watts on the hills? ;)
Glad all went well.

[OtayBW]

Congratulations on a good fix, but unfortunately, I suspect that Strava will now be tracking your movements!

[Lewis Moon]

E-Man, take care, get well and knock it out of the park.

[AngryScientist]

maybe we switch your user name to :

e-Elefantino

:banana:

[NHAero]

Astounding - Wednesday is the incident and you're posting today! Very glad to hear you got it in time, you're over it, and you're riding is unaffected.
Did they install a motor too?

[bigbill]

I've had concerns about this myself. I've had arrhythmia issues in the past, especially after a clot induced MI in 2011. Since retiring from the military in 2012 and having a consistent workout routine for the past 6 years, my heartrate is normal but I have a naturally low HR, usually in the upper 40's in the am and resting HR during the day usually settles around 50. My aunt (my mom's identical twin) has had a pacemaker for about ten years. My mom doesn't have one but her HR is in the low 40's most of the time. The low HR is why my aunt got one. Makes me wonder if I'm heading down that path too.

[charliedid]

Be well.

I'm 54 and had heart surgery as a child. You will be fine!

What a world, where this is possible.

[simplemind]

Short story: a friend who is an accomplished triathlete (60 yrs) had a history of a slow HR. No other signs, such as arrhythmia and had been for a checkup not three months earlier. One morning after arriving at work, went into full cardiac arrest. The office happened to have a defib unit, and staff that knew how to use it, basically saved his life.
A PM w/ defib was installed and he was back on the bike in less than a month. It was all electrical with zero physical issues. He's back on the tri circuit and doing well.
Makes one wonder if prophylactic use of a PM might be in order for some of us.

eMan, glad your story is a good one!

[HenryA]

Be well.
Snipped

What a world, where this is possible.

Indeed what a world.
Good to hear your bad news having a hopeful outcome.
Get well soon.

[Shoeman]

I've had a Defibrillator since 2007 for a bad pump side due to a severe Heart Attack. First battery lasted 9 years it never went off, don't know it is there except when I look in the mirror. I've have to watch out for Microwaves, Electric Motors & Generators.

[gasman]

Glad to hear of a good ending to the story.

Pacer technology is amazing these days, glad yours is a simple problem.

[Epicus07]

I'm 57, and had a pacemaker implanted just over a year ago, a Medtronic Advisa dual lead.

The only time I experienced symptoms was exercising (read: bike riding). Total 'effin' meltdowns.

Despite the pacemaker, I was still cratering on the bike after 20 minutes. It took almost a year, and a bunch of tests, adjustments, and procedures, until the doctor's figured out what was wrong.

It was one lousy checkbox in the software!

Moral: If you continue to experience symptoms or find your cycling is affected, keep bugging the electrophysiologist.

Also if you're so inclined, search on the internet for the Clinician's and Technician's manuals. Be as knowledgeable about your pacemaker as about your bikes.

There's a pacemaker forum (https://www.pacemakerclub.com/) too, which is great for posting questions with like-equipped people.

I'm guessing that they didn't activate your Minute Ventilation or Rate Response setting?

People usually get Pacemakers because either their internal pacemaker is failing (Sick Sinus) or they have a block in conduction. This means that the pacemaker sets your pace for you. It doesn't know that you're exercising unless you have one of the above adaptive modes turned on. Then it uses its internal sensors to see that you're exercising (IE faster breathing) and it increases your heart rate to help you meet your muscle oxygen demand.

[William]

So glad you got sorted out quickly Big E! May you have many safe and happy miles ahead! :banana:





William

[thwart]

Elephant pal, glad to hear about your recent upgrade.
I like it.

A fellow dinosaur finally goes electronic...

Seriously though, glad to hear you're doing OK.

[Peter P.]

can you turn it up for those belguim cobbles?


I don't know about Elefantino, but mine goes to ELEVEN (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMSV4OteqBE)!

I'm guessing that they didn't activate your Minute Ventilation or Rate Response setting?
...

No. I don't have a problem with my heart responding to exercise and the doctor didn't turn on Rate Response.

I have a 2nd degree Wenckebach (https://ecgwaves.com/second-degree-av-block-ii-2nd-2/) block. For those that don't know: The electrical pulse for the heart starts in the top chamber and the top chamber contracts. The signal travels downward and the lower chamber contracts. This is on the right side of the heart which sends the blood to the lungs to get oxygenated.

My signal doesn't always reach from top to bottom. My pacemaker listens to the pulse initiating in the top chamber, then tells the bottom chamber to contract. My problem was the pacemaker signal that told the bottom chamber to contract would feed back to the top chamber and create a feedback loop. The top lead would detect both the natural atrial signal, and the signal leaking from the lower lead. It's not clear to me but I think the result was, the lower chamber was contracting twice as often as the upper chamber when it should have been 1:1.

Surprisingly, none of this would get picked up on the Holter monitor I would wear to record when the symptoms occurred.

The solution was to check off the box marked Pacemaker Mediated Tachycardia Intervention (PMTI). This breaks the feedback loop. I think it does this every 16 beats.

[makoti]

Glad to hear it all worked out easily-ish. And just from a professional curiosity standpoint... what model & is it MRI compatible? Hopefully they gave you a card with all that on it.

[Elefantino]

Glad to hear it all worked out easily-ish. And just from a professional curiosity standpoint... what model & is it MRI compatible? Hopefully they gave you a card with all that on it.
It's a Boston Scientific model but I'm not sure which one. Have to read my card/owner's manual.

And yes, OP, it is Campy compatible because I, thankfully, am Campy compatible!

And and, thanks for the responses, messages and DMs. Great community we have here.

:banana::banana::banana:

[biker72]

It's a Boston Scientific model but I'm not sure which one. Have to read my card/owner's manual.

And yes, OP, it is Campy compatible because I, thankfully, am Campy compatible!

And and, thanks for the responses, messages and DMs. Great community we have here.

:banana::banana::banana:

I have a Boston Scientific 3 lead pacemaker. I've had a pacemaker since 2008 and this is my second one. I'm totally dependant so my battery doesn't last as long. I did have some set up problems with the first one but finally got a clinician that spent a lot of time with me and got everything straightened out. Even took my bike to his office.

The second pacemaker took just one adjustment.

[OnceFast]

You might want to ask the docs if they can turn down the threshold to 40. If your normal HR is mid forties, that means it will be pacing a lot less. It does not save as much juice as you might think as most of the battery drain is the fact that the unit is on and monitoring constantly. I prefer not to use the pacing function, if I don't have to. Another plus of the pacemaker, is if you ever have any Afib, it's easy to determine by inquiring the pacemaker.

[Ralph]

Like stories with a successful ending. Glad you got fixed up and thanks for an educational post. I have a friend who is an aging athlete and was feeling tired all the time after exercise....turns out it was a low resting heart rate.....pace maker fixed her right up.