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Moderator

Pacemaker & ICDs: Introduce Yourself & Meet Others

Posted by Justin McClanahan, Moderator @JustinMcClanahan, Mar 12, 2025

Welcome to the Pacemaker & ICDs Support Group on Mayo Clinic Connect.

If you or someone you care about has had a pacemaker or an implantable cardio device (ICD), this is a great place to talk with others with similar experiences. Here, you will learn from one-another and share stories about surgery, recovery, lifestyle changes, successes, setbacks and what strategies helped other members on their journey.

Take these steps to participate in the group:

  • Follow the group.
  • Browse topics.
  • Use the group search to find relevant topics to your questions.
  • Introduce yourself.

Pull up a chair and chat. Why not start by introducing yourself? What type of device do you have? What tip would you share with others?

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Pacemaker & ICDs Support Group.

Profile picture for patti9309
patti9309 | @patti9309 | Aug 5 5:01pm
In reply to @walkinggirl "@patti9309 Welcome to Connect! I just read the two posts you wrote in the last 24..." + (show)
Profile picture for Linda, Volunteer Mentor @walkinggirl

@patti9309 Welcome to Connect! I just read the two posts you wrote in the last 24 hours. SVT's are a fast heart rhythm (for those unfamiliar with this acronym). Have you spoken to your doctors about your sleeping issue and the other issues you are experiencing at night? Lack of sleep affects other things we are doing, please do address your issues with your doctors at Friday's appointment. We cannot give medical advice. Your pacemaker was installed less than a week ago, sleeping position needs to be accommodating as you heal. I liked a recliner for a while and now I sleep on my left side, I do miss sleeping on my stomach. @jc76 noted that he was very heart focused, especially at night, I did not find that happening to me. I found this article from the NIH, a study, you may wish to read. I am thinking that, even though it's about ICDs, it would also apply to devices that are just pacemakers. It's quite technical, I skipped down to the ending comments. You may read something here that resonates with you and can help generate questions for your doctor. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3681948/ Before you received your pacemaker, how did SVT affect your everyday life?

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@walkinggirl
Many thanks for the link and words of wisdom. The SVTs (atrial tachycardia) turned my world upside down. They start in April about one event per week maybe 5 minutes in length. By the end of June I was having 5-8 events per day with a bpm of 160+ lasting hours. Vagal maneuvers would bring my heart down but only for a minute or two. I had 3 cardioversions in 12 days. The SVTs played huge havoc on my CMD (Coronary Microvascular Dysfunction) sending me in unstable angina events/pain requiring nitro infusions ( 9 to 23 hours) to resolve. The EP studies/mapping, subsequent ablations & med changes seem to have capped the SVTs Keeping my finger crossed - the ablation were done 7 days ago and my pacemaker was implanted 6 days ago. All of this is pretty new to me.

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dynamited | @dynamited | Aug 6 11:50am
In reply to @jc76 "@patti9309 When you have heart issues you can become heart focused. This is not my opinion..." + (show)
Profile picture for jc76 @jc76

@patti9309
When you have heart issues you can become heart focused. This is not my opinion but the medical and mental heath guidance for my medical professionals at Mayo Jacksonville.

During the day (again from my experience and what my doctors advised me) you are busy doing things, you are not so heart focused. When you go or try to go to sleep at night you are quiet, laying there and common to become heart focused and feel every PVCs, PACs, tachycardia, discomfort, etc.

How long has it been since your pacemaker was implanted? It takes about a year for body to encapsulate the device and wires. I am on my 3rd ICD/Pacemaker so have gone through this encapsulation time period. And for me like my EP stated it will feel better after encapsulation.

You asked about sleep medications. I am going to advise of what I take and it was described by Mayo Psychiatric medication specialist. It is Trazodone. What trazodone did for me was it stop my mind from racing and concentrating on heart focus. I was able to sleep with it.

But we are all individuals so what worked for me my not work for you. One thing about Trazodone is for me caused very vivid dreams. My specialist told me because it increases serotonin.

Don't accept the way you feel. Reach out to your medical doctors and advise them exactly the way you feel and mentioned things if they would help you.

How do you sleep. On back, sides, etc. The way you sleep affects the organs inside your body. Thus you will feel more heart feelings like on your left side versus you right side. Talk to your doctors about sleeping positions and on your own try the right side, then see if the left side improves or makes worse.

Good Luck!

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@jc76 I struggled with sleep long before I got my ICD (9 months in). There is no pharmaceutical that produces true, regenerative sleep. Read Dr Matthew Walkers book, Why We Sleep, and observe his 12 guidelines. He has a website with the hints if you want to jump to the conclusion. BTW, I tried Trazodone for about a year and was another deadend.

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2 replies
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jc76 | @jc76 | Aug 7 5:15am
In reply to @dynamited "@jc76 I struggled with sleep long before I got my ICD (9 months in). There is..." + (show)
Profile picture for dynamited @dynamited

@jc76 I struggled with sleep long before I got my ICD (9 months in). There is no pharmaceutical that produces true, regenerative sleep. Read Dr Matthew Walkers book, Why We Sleep, and observe his 12 guidelines. He has a website with the hints if you want to jump to the conclusion. BTW, I tried Trazodone for about a year and was another deadend.

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@dynamited
I think you need to keep trying to find what works for you. When I first started having sleep problems after being diagnosed with PTSD they first put me on a sleep medication (Ambien) that did nothing at all.

I had already tried the over the counter Melatonin and it does help but really made me groggy in mornings. Mayo then put me on Trazodone and it did work. It (at least for me) did not work at making you sleepy, it help you mind from racing. If I allowed it to work (let is work and not let myself try to think and worry) I would go to sleep.

It is not long acting though at least for me and found I could take 1/2 tablet and then the other half when I woke up 4 hours later and wide awake.

Have you tried reading? I am going through a sleep study in the upcoming weeks to make sure I don't have sleep apnea. I am a heart failure patient and want to make sure I am getting a good night sleep.

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Profile picture for dynamited
dynamited | @dynamited | Aug 7 11:44am

Unless you mean, reading if you have a racing mind in the middle of the night, yes. That is on the approved list of behaviors. I try to first let the racing thread expire, then focus on a item, a mantra if you like.

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jc76 | @jc76 | Aug 7 3:37pm
In reply to @dynamited "Unless you mean, reading if you have a racing mind in the middle of the night,..." + (show)
Profile picture for dynamited @dynamited

Unless you mean, reading if you have a racing mind in the middle of the night, yes. That is on the approved list of behaviors. I try to first let the racing thread expire, then focus on a item, a mantra if you like.

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@dynamited
The reading would be when you get in bed before you are relaxing and don't let your brain start racing. I don't do this at night but do this in afternoon nap.

It works for me and is why I said you have to keep trying and see what works for you.

For me when I have the mind racing and don't take trazodone the racing will not stop. It goes from one issue to another. I try to go to bed at night when tired. Never go in if not yawning and ready to sleep. But again what works for me is not going to work for others and vice versa.

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Profile picture for jimgrupe
jimgrupe | @jimgrupe | Aug 8 7:39am
In reply to @dynamited "@jc76 I struggled with sleep long before I got my ICD (9 months in). There is..." + (show)
Profile picture for dynamited @dynamited

@jc76 I struggled with sleep long before I got my ICD (9 months in). There is no pharmaceutical that produces true, regenerative sleep. Read Dr Matthew Walkers book, Why We Sleep, and observe his 12 guidelines. He has a website with the hints if you want to jump to the conclusion. BTW, I tried Trazodone for about a year and was another deadend.

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@dynamited I have always been a light sleeper with difficulty falling to sleep as well. I hate the idea of taking more pills, however. My technique, which works well for me, is to watch TV.... or turn on the TV, anyway.

The type of TV show is very important. Nothing tooooo interesting. No movies or action shows. No game shows. Something like "Nature" or a travel show works best. Something calm, relaxing. No sudden loud noises. No late night TV or politics that make me too angry. "House Hunters" is usually banal enough. (The most excitement is "oh, wow, two sinks")

I just need something interesting enough that it takes my mind off all the other stuff racing through my mind and I fall asleep. I usually wake up again much later and turn the TV off, but can fall back to sleep quickly.

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2 replies
Profile picture for dynamited
dynamited | @dynamited | Aug 8 10:10am
In reply to @jimgrupe "@dynamited I have always been a light sleeper with difficulty falling to sleep as well. I..." + (show)
Profile picture for jimgrupe @jimgrupe

@dynamited I have always been a light sleeper with difficulty falling to sleep as well. I hate the idea of taking more pills, however. My technique, which works well for me, is to watch TV.... or turn on the TV, anyway.

The type of TV show is very important. Nothing tooooo interesting. No movies or action shows. No game shows. Something like "Nature" or a travel show works best. Something calm, relaxing. No sudden loud noises. No late night TV or politics that make me too angry. "House Hunters" is usually banal enough. (The most excitement is "oh, wow, two sinks")

I just need something interesting enough that it takes my mind off all the other stuff racing through my mind and I fall asleep. I usually wake up again much later and turn the TV off, but can fall back to sleep quickly.

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@jimgrupe lol, I hate to confess, tv is my prelude to sleep. It's Pavlov conditioning. On season 21 of Dark Shadows. Falling asleep is easy, staying there is my problem.

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Profile picture for junaquino0909
junaquino0909 | @junaquino0909 | Aug 8 11:17am

Had a pacemaker implanted 08/04/2026. Excited and very happy that I discovered this support group, to learn, exchange and share experiences, knowledge, concerns, lifestyle changes among others.

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Profile picture for Linda, Volunteer Mentor
Mentor
Linda, Volunteer Mentor | @walkinggirl | Aug 8 4:31pm
In reply to @junaquino0909 "Had a pacemaker implanted 08/04/2026. Excited and very happy that I discovered this support group, to..." + (show)
Profile picture for junaquino0909 @junaquino0909

Had a pacemaker implanted 08/04/2026. Excited and very happy that I discovered this support group, to learn, exchange and share experiences, knowledge, concerns, lifestyle changes among others.

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@junaquino0909 Welcome to Connect! Now you are a bionic person and we are glad you joined us. As you look through the postings in the Pacemaker & ICDs (Support Group, you will see many different threads of discussion to explore. You may also wish to read: https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/pacemaker/about/pac-20384689 We encourage people to learn as much as possible, knowledge is power and learning more may generate questions for your doctor.

I have an ICD, named Buddy, installed after a septal myectomy for HCM. I was having dizziness, giddiness and a couple of syncope due to an electrical problem causing arrythmias. All has been well, since.

How did it come about that you needed a pacemaker? What concerns do you have at the present time? I hope you are comfortable, what adjustments have you made to enhance your recovery? Tip: when going walking, I used a sling to prevent unnecessary arm swinging. We are looking forward to reading your posts.

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Profile picture for jc76
jc76 | @jc76 | Aug 8 5:08pm
In reply to @jimgrupe "@dynamited I have always been a light sleeper with difficulty falling to sleep as well. I..." + (show)
Profile picture for jimgrupe @jimgrupe

@dynamited I have always been a light sleeper with difficulty falling to sleep as well. I hate the idea of taking more pills, however. My technique, which works well for me, is to watch TV.... or turn on the TV, anyway.

The type of TV show is very important. Nothing tooooo interesting. No movies or action shows. No game shows. Something like "Nature" or a travel show works best. Something calm, relaxing. No sudden loud noises. No late night TV or politics that make me too angry. "House Hunters" is usually banal enough. (The most excitement is "oh, wow, two sinks")

I just need something interesting enough that it takes my mind off all the other stuff racing through my mind and I fall asleep. I usually wake up again much later and turn the TV off, but can fall back to sleep quickly.

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@jimgrupe
Excellent post. And exactly what I was suggesting. Find something that brings you mind of heart focus, make you tired and sleepy, and mentioned what you do.

But what we do that works for us may not work for others. We can only post what worked for us and maybe can try but not that it will specifically work for you.

It is just like medications. What works for us and not necessarily going to work with others but we can pass on our experience of what did help us like you die.

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