Can symptoms reoccur after pacemaker implant?

Posted by acapsych @acapsych, Aug 6 6:54am

Hello, I had an episode of scary weakness similar to ones I had frequently before pacemaker implant 4 months ago. I became very weak and felt like I could pass out. It was disturbing because I was watching my grandchildren in the beach. I recovered in about an hour but did not feel like myself for several hours. I have felt fine since. Has this happened to anyone?

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@walkinggirl Remote monitor reports aren't generally considered emergencies in the sense of needing to call 911 ( they'll tell the user that as well) , although the remote monitors are generally programmed to automatically send a report to the manufacturer's website where the data is collected and available to the health care providers when any abnormality is detected that falls outside the preset acceptable parameters. These parameters would include either patient cardiac issues or pacemaker, lead issues. From what I've read the providers are also notified when these issues are detected, they can choose the method by which they are notified. These days the notification is often made by text to a designated cell phone ( I've seen these used by on-call medical staff. The ways these are done may vary depending on the manufacturer. I asked the pacemaker tech who works for the cardiology practice I go to how their notification system works. She informed me that she receives the notifications from the manufacturer ( this would be Abbott in my case, I have a St. Jude pacemaker) for issues that fall outside acceptable parameters, and she contacts the cardiologist, or the PA, who will make the decision as to whether or not this issue is "actionable" ( needs something done about it ASAP) and they will notify the patient.
When these folks have been notified, they can look at the remote monitor data, or information, generally the out of parameter issues have been highlighted and will show up on that report, and they can go from there. It's not exactly an EKG, but the report will show what they call an EGM ( that'd be an intracardiac reading that looks like an EKG, and determine what is going on from there.

As you can probably tell, these are my "layman" descriptions of remote monitor reports, I'm not an expert by any stretch, but these are what I understand from what has been explained to me, or I've scratched from the manufacturer's website. Basically, it seems as though when there's a parameter in a remote report that's outside the range, the report is flagged, the particular parameter result is highlighted with a short description of the issue, and the patient's health care provider is notified to go check out the report.

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@marybird Many, many people have reported that if it was not for their ICD, they would not be here. The immediate value of an ICD is like having your very own EMT with you 24/7. Of course, someone has to call 911 to get actual immediate emergency care. Meanwhile, the heart is shocked - hopefully to sinus rhythm. That's entirely different than remote monitor reports.

Yes, reports are sent via the monitor on my shelf (in my case). My electrophysiologist and my cardiologist both review them and I can immediately read the report on MyChart. Yes, the particular things you mention are flagged and of course, the proper people are notified. It's why we have these devices.

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