Pacemaker & ICDs: Introduce Yourself & Meet Others

SOB is shortness of breath

My pacemaker is not the same as yours so there may be some variation in how things are measured. The first time I walked briskly after my pacemaker, I exceeded the pace rate quite a bit. The symptoms of bradycardia came back: exhaustion (I don't remember if I had chest pressure or not). When they upped the pace rate, that exhaustion wasn't there. I am quite active and have had the level changed more than once. I am not a doctor but if you are getting bradycardia symptoms when exercising I would suggest you contact your electrophysiologist and make an appointment (see below).

I haven't seen the surgeon or a cardiologist since my procedure. I am registered at a heart device clinic at the hospital at which I had the implant. The clinic can also monitor my pacemaker through an app I have on my watch. If I have had any concerns I call the clinic and talk to the doctor/physiologist who answers my questions. If necessary, we make an appointment, they do a check and we decide if we need to make any changes.

This has been my experience. I hope it helps.

Thank you mfenn. Very helpful your info about what you experienced after upping the pace rate. Now that I finally have an ep who is working with me and I understand these changes can be made I know what kind of questions to ask.

It’s really unconscionable that the ep who implanted the pc never scheduled a follow up visit after the implant. Seems almost actionable.

Hi, i am a 77 yr old female and had my ICD put in on 3/26/25. I need to know if i can use a Lidocaine patch on my arm and should on the side of the device.

Hello pacemaker friends,
I pray that everyone is doing well. My name is Nona and I've had a pacemaker/deifibrulator for 50 years! The first one was implanted in 1974 at Methodist Hospital in Houston. Nine devices later I'm still putting along at 72 years old. I was born with a complete left bundle branch block and a heartrate of 30 bpm. Thanks to the pediatric cardiologists at Texas Children's Hospital, I survived my childhood and went on to recieve an experimental Medtronics pacemaker in 1974. It lasted about a year. My, how things have changed.
Now I have had an ICD for several years and also live with permanent atrial fibrillation as well as ideopathic heart failure. After living a fairly normal life, it's been hard to deal with my lack of strength and energy. I also have neuropathy and cannot walk well so my life is now limited but my husband is a wonderful helper and encourager, thank God. I look forward to visiting with everyone soon. Blessings to all!

@midniteangelcloudjum
Whomever put in your ICD should answer your question. If you had it put in on 3/26/25 the incision would still be new and thus the EP or surgeon who put it in should advise you what you can put over it.

If you are talking about your arm but not device location that does not seem to be an issue but again this is something that should come from your medical providers.

Yes and i was just there yesterday and forgot to ask so i called and asked and the nurse said no as the Lidocaine is not good for it.

@midniteangelcloudjum
That is quite an I.D.
I am on my 3rd ICD/Pacemaker. Is your the full size device? I was hesistant to give you advice as not a medical professional and even if I were not knowing your complete medical history would not even try. For your surgery did you have an I.V. in your left arm? Why do you have pain there?

When you have pain should find out what is causing it. If significant don't ignore it. Why do I say this? After I had a I.V. taken out after a procedure they put a wrap around it to stop bleeding. It was way too tight. I was told to keep in on for 2 hours.

When I took it off I had some really significant pain at I.V. location and up my arm that got worse and worse. I went into doctors office couple of days later and had a echo done on the I.V. spot. They found the I.V. location had developed a blood clot and no blood up vein. This was what was causing my pain.

The cardiologists (Mayo) determined superficial vien and decided not to do blood clot drug or procedure just let the vein die. That resulted in some really painful days afterward in my left arm.

So you can see my reluctance to give advice when I person has had surgery and then are having enough pain that they want to use lidocaine. This is where MCC posters experience comes in so I hope you can see why I posted the response to you.

I guess I don’t yet know how to get around on this MCC. But this is another reply to mfenn and anyone else who can contribute to my issue.

I had my Boston Scientific PM implanted 4 years ago. An EP is now making changes to the settings. My upper sensor rate has been set to 150 and the lower rate is 60. That was done yesterday.

A month ago upper rate was set at 130 and raised to 145, whereupon I felt less exhaustion when walking quickly. Hoping for even better results I asked to have it raised to 150 yesterday.

Does anyone know how much higher the rate could be set to possibly improve one’s comfort level and ability to walk for a block without having to stop because of feeling exhausted? I have no trouble at the gym where I do 30 minutes on the stationary bike. It’s only when I have to expend my energy walking.

I am so appreciative of the advice I get from MMC and thank everyone who is able to help.

I had a heart attack at home and my husband did CPR and brought me back and then called 911 and when i got to the hosp i had another attack and they had to paddle me. I had so many IVs in both arms and they took blood every 4 hrs plus i had a painful Cath done in my right arm. I was so so sore all over. Then the surgery. Btwn the paddling and the surgery my chest was soooo sore. So anyway i have a ICD. It is both a Pacemaker and a Defib. My arm and pit hurt. And my back. I just have to wait till it heals i guess.