Pacemaker recipients: Looking for support from others

Solid idea…I think it would be very helpful for those folks that are hesitant in going down that avenue.

I, too would be thankful for a specific group for Pacemakers. I now have my second pacemaker (CRT-P) and feel the group would be helpful to ease into any questions that come along.
Thanks

Hello joyh

You are a rare individual. Only about 10% of implanted cardiac devices are CRTs. And of that 10%, less than half are CRT-Ps! You are (almost) an unicorn! 🦄 Talk about being pretty unique.
How long have you had one? How are you doing with yours?

Hello, my pacemaker CRT-P (biventricular pacemaker) was placed in July. I hade an AV node Ablation last year due to unrelenting AFib. mostly causing Tachy 190-200. Left atrium is severely enlarged due to AFib and probably sleep apnea. Needless to say my ventricles and meds couldn't keep up with my circulatory needs so next step was the CRT. I'm feeling moderately better but still have shortness of breath on exertion and some fatigue. I'm hoping to feel even better, but only time will tell. I also hope to live a few more years too.
Thanks for your interest.

Your reply made me go look out of curiosity, and I am the recipient of a CRT-D. Don’t know much about it other than it’s been very reliable and packs a heck of a punch when needed! Certainly thankful for the technology.

Is the CRT a new type pacemaker? I am on my 3rd ICD/Pacemaker from Boston Scientific and have not heard of CRT-P.

My device has wires in both atrials and the LV. I am paced continuously to keep my pulse to 70 bpm. If I go into VTAC my device will first speed my pacing up to bring me out of it. If not successful a shock and if that is not successful a higher shock.

As you can see by me posting this it has worked every time!

Hello, thank you for your input. I believe the CRT-P are fairly new from Biotronik. My ventricles were not insync so resyncrination was what was called for in my condition. As I understand, since my AV Node ablation caused my ventricles to handle the workload, they needed to be more efficient to carry the load, thus a different pacemaker with an additional lead was needed. I feel much better but still somewhat limited in what I can do. So thankful for my excellent Cardiologist from Mayo.

Hello irishpeaks
My apologies in being so slow to reply. This past weekend was the Canadian Thanksgiving weekend and, well, between my side of the family and my in-laws, I think I may have had enough roast turkey to last me until at least Christmas. Perhaps even beyond.

I, too, have a CRT-D. I received mine in September 2022. CRTs are used primarily for the treatment of heart failure. Mine (and yours) just happened t come with a defibrillator. joyh got to skip that fun part. CRTs are still reasonably uncommon although those with defibrillators are more common than those without.

Any cardiac device that has 3 leads is a CRT. Like me, you have one lead implanted in your right atria, one in your right ventricle and one in the left ventricle. In the old days" they used to "hook" (think "gaff" hook) the leads into the walls of the heart. But using that method frequently resulted in one or more of the leads becoming loose or dislodged. Now, they "screw" them in. That change in attachment technique has resulted in far fewer episodes of leads becoming loose or detached.

CRTs have been a game changer in the treatment of heat failure. For many of us, the device has not only increased our ejection fraction but also reduced the size of the left ventricle. I completely agree with you about being thankful for this technology.
I was very fortunate when I was referred to the electrophysiologist who did my implant. At the time of my first consultation with him, he handed me a card with a number of websites addresses printed on it. He told me to go and learn as much as I can about the device I was getting and when I come back to see him next, he would answer all my questions. He did exactly that.

But he also set me on a journey to learn as much as possible about both the device and also my diagnosis. For me, I found the more I learned, the more at ease I became with the device. And although I am by no means an expert on them, I have learned a great deal about them. And how they work. This device, quite literally, saved my life.

I appreciate the response and that you dropped a wealth of knowledge to share.
I received mine in Nov. of 2021 and it has been flawless. They did a good job of implanting it, but I feel that the follow-up was not really very good to be honest. I did much like yourself and learned as much as I could (lots of spare time during recovery) and have used that knowledge to make things easier for myself and others as well. I have switched health care providers and gotten to learn even more from some great folks.
I had heard about the ways of lead attachment from my brother who actually got to hold his old (dissected) heart after his transplant, so I had to check that out some more on my own to satisfy some curiosities that brought with it. Ever evolving technology in that field as you mentioned. Hopefully it continues too!
So much good knowledge and so many good resources out there to be found, and places like this with folks like yourself make it worth while for folks to stop by and learn/share.

I have a CRT-D for the past 7 years. I just had my first shock a few days ago, because of V-Tach. Heart rate jumped to 240. Has anyone been shocked for the same reason and been shocked again for the V-Tach? I have been on the heart transplant list for 2 years. I was also told not to drive for 3 months because of the V-Tach?