I believe I am allergic to my pacemaker

Posted by kathleen13 @kathleen13, Jan 3 7:42pm

I had a pacemaker installed six moths ago. I have been in the hospital twice, for 5 days two weeks ago. Went through all the testing, results are zero. I have a fever (99-101) every day, I take a Tylenol the temperature returns to normal.
I have been tested for everything but allergies to the pacemaker
metals and materials. I feel my symptoms are connected to Allergy.
Are there people out there who are experiencing this ?
Because of body pain ,I was referred to Rheumatology that connects body pain to autoimmune disease which no test could prove.

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walkinggirl | @walkinggirl | Jan 4 7:35am

Please find out what kind of materials make up the body of your device and please make an appointment to see an allergist. I was once using a prescription topical antibiotic, and my "issue" was not healing. When I stopped using it, there was a vast improvement the very next day. Now, in one of the blogs for those of us who have had septal myectomies, a couple of people have found that they are allergic to the wires used to repair their septum. So, allergy is a possibility. Let us know what happens!

jc76 | @jc76 | Jan 4 8:05am

@kathleen13
Per my Mayo EP it takes about a year for body to encapsulate your device and wires. Until them the body sees the devices and wires as foreign bodies and inflammation rises to address is. I know after having my first one it did take about a year for everything to calm down. Most of the irritation of having something under your skin (in my case below my chest muscle) went away. What my EP stated it is the splinter affect.

The wires are coated but do attach at Pacemaker with wires.

If you know your device manufacturer contact them about any reports of allergy reactions to the device or wires been reported. You manufacturer is a great source of information about you device and wires.

deniseheart | @deniseheart | Jan 5 9:54am

There are no labs in the USA that will allergy test you for metals. I explored this very issue a couple of years ago and found a lab in Germany who has the MELISA metals test. I was tested for 17 different metals and fortunately I wasn't allergic to any of them. The metals list covered implantable devices and orthopedic replacements.

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