Pain around pacemaker site

@marygrace67
Hello marygrace67
Welcome to the pacemaker group. I say that in all sincerity even though I know this is not a group anyone was lining up to become a member of. But here we all are.
I am sorry you are experiencing this pain. There are many of us on this site who understand your frustration. I am going into my 4th year with a three chamber device. And I recall experiencing some fairly impressive pain and discomfort for the first few months. Even now, I sometimes feel an ache or a burning sensation in the area of the incision. But these are only occasional discomforts. You are in early days. Recovery will take time.
I will reiterate following the movement restrictions given to you by your physicians are vital. Lifting your left arm above your shoulder for the first few weeks, for example, can create the risk of dislodging the leads.
And try to refrain from touching the device or the area of the surgery. Excess touching, something officially called "Fiddler's syndrome", can lead to problems including infection. I know it is hard to not to touch this new strange bump you have on your chest but it is best not to.
Assuming there are no outwards signs of infection (redness around the incision, or discharge), I found applying an gel pack, from the refrigerator, to the area helped tremendously. First, wrap the gel pack in a towel so it does not have direct contact with your skin, and leave it on for 15 or 20 minutes. Do this several times a day or as required. There is a certain amount of inflammation and internal bruising in the area due to the surgery itself and the cooling effect of the gel pack helps to reduce this.
And @degroatam does make a good point about wearing a bra. I found the weight of my breast seemed to put tension on the surgical area, making the discomfort more acute. (Female physiology does create challenges for this surgery.) The trick is to put padding under the bra strap that crosses over the incision area. But I will admit, I could not wear a bra for the first 2 or 3 weeks. I did find a company that makes a purpose designed pad that had tiny velcro straps on it that held the pad in place. It was beautifully made and unobtrusive. It also washed and dried wonderfully.
The case of your device, the "generator" is about 30% smaller than mine, primarily because of my having a third chamber lead and mine also contains a defibrillator. It used to be more prominent than it is now. I can still feel it but after 4 years, it is now a "part of me", albeit a part I did not want. On the other hand, it saved my life so I have to be pragmatic about it.
I hope my suggestion can help to reduce your pain. All of this will get better.
Wishing you the Best of the Season.

Yes I am having very similiar issues, it kedps me awake. Feels like i am having breathing problems

@psuther I’ve been asking about shortness of breath ever since my implantation almost a year ago with no help it all started right after the surgery but my cardiologist says it’s not my pacemaker or my heart

@kb49
I am not a cardiologist or medical professional just can pass on my experience.

I have had a ICD/Pacemaker for over 20 years. When I first got mine I was under tremendous stress and anxiety. That caused me have a lot of fear.

Stress and anxiety can affect the way you breath. The fight or flight syndrome. Do you feel stress and anxiety when you get short of breath? Have you tried deep breathing techniques like yoga deep breathing to relax.

I mentioned these because I can remember feeling short of breath and noticed I was feeling a lot of stress and anxiety. So I worked with my doctors and psychiatrist specialist to find activities to reduce my stress and anxiety and psychiatrist put me on a medication. I do water aerobics 5 days a week and also swim and bike ride.

If you don't like an exercise activity how about a hobby. Anything to help reduce anxiety and stress is going to help. Hopefully you do not have a medical issue causing this but seems you cardiologist has ruled out pacemaker or heart.

In 2015 I got diagnosed with PTSD anxiety/panic disorder. That is when I reached out for additional help from my doctors and specialist which I mentioned above. And to this day I do deep breathing anytime I feel stress and anxiety coming on or start feeling I am getting short of breath or breathing to fast.

Thank you could be a shortness of breath comes on when I’m folding laundry or doing dishes. I really think I need to change in blood pressure medication, but my doctor wanted to wait till after the holidays to make any changes. We’ll see what happens then.

@cottagecountry

Thank you for sharing your experience. I just got it 6 weeks ago and it’s driving me crazy. I wore a sports bar for 6 weeks, day and night As per the doctor but now I want to move from it which I feel increases the pain. Does anyone know anything about repositioning? It feels like it’s too close to my arm pit. Thank you everyone

@afrobin i had pacemake implanted march 11, 2026. it is still sore around it like a bruise and down into my breast also a dime size lump by left side.

@cmensinger had my medtronics implanted march 22. have feelings of bruising and pain yet. also have a dime size lump on left side of pm.

Has anyone successfully managed to have their pacemaker technician alter the sensitivity on the rate response?
I row 5000 meters daily and my pulse rate rapidly reaches and stabilises at 140bpm. Pre pacemaker, at the same effort, it was always around 100bpm

@brucematthews
Yes. I has my sensitivity changed because device was sensing pulse rate thinking was AFIB and would try to sync ventricles to atrial.

I also has sensitivity of atrial wires reduced as was having noise on wires and device would interpret as AFIB.

My device now does not see a problem until reaches 160. That is the programmed high. It can be changed to anything but with my age and medications 160 is right for me even during exercise.

If you are rowing 5000 meters daily your HR is going to rise and your programmer should be told this and adjust your upper number for when device will activate. Do you have your device set up on exercise mode? On this mode the device will look for motion and raise your heart rate. I had mine turned off as it was really causing some issues.