24 Hour Heart Monitor - Finally got a reply from Cardiologist

[RunMartin]

I have finally got a letter from my cardiologist regarding the 24 Hour Heart Monitor I had done 6 weeks ago. All the letter said was:-

"There is no absolute indication for pacemaker implantation and for the time being continue with your regular treatments. I will review you in the next three months where a detailed assessment together with your symptoms can be made"

Has anyone had a pacemaker fitted and still kept on running or swimming?. My symptoms seem to have changed over the last month (since the 24 hour monitor). I get a feeling of acid reflux sometime and my heart can have the odd extra beat. I can still do light jogging and easy short swims but I do not want to push any harder in case it makes matters worse. The cardiologist knows I used to train every day but has not given me any further instructions. The last instruction was to do what I feel I can do. I am now very hesitant to push myself and I am beginning to wonder whether this will ever sort itself out!

Thanks
Martin

 

[Ross]

Well if you were here, I'd tell you to get a second opinion because it sounds like he's not worried enough to be bothered with you for 3 months.

 

[Lynlw]

I have finally got a letter from my cardiologist regarding the 24 Hour Heart Monitor I had done 6 weeks ago. All the letter said was:-

"There is no absolute indication for pacemaker implantation and for the time being continue with your regular treatments. I will review you in the next three months where a detailed assessment together with your symptoms can be made"

Has anyone had a pacemaker fitted and still kept on running or swimming?. My symptoms seem to have changed over the last month (since the 24 hour monitor). I get a feeling of acid reflux sometime and my heart can have the odd extra beat. I can still do light jogging and easy short swims but I do not want to push any harder in case it makes matters worse. The cardiologist knows I used to train every day but has not given me any further instructions. The last instruction was to do what I feel I can do. I am now very hesitant to push myself and I am beginning to wonder whether this will ever sort itself out!

Thanks
Martin

Are you asking if anyone who had a pacemaker still ran and swam? If so yes my son played almost every sport except football (US football he did play soccer) with his pacemaker

or are you asking if they still ran and swam who were being checked to see if they needed one?

 

[Adrienne]

Hubby got a pacemaker

Hubby got a pacemaker

My hubby got a pacemaker on May 25. Since he swims with the Masters and even has done some competitive swimming, he made sure the doctors at the hospital were aware of that. To make a long story short, they did the insertion of the leads in the cephalic vein, a vein in the upper arm (it sounds like a vein from the brain, but it's the arm) as opposed to the sub-clavian vein, under the clavicle, to permit him to go back to competitive swimming. He just started swimming again last week, and although his time is not what he is used to because he is deconditioned, he feels absolutely fine.

 

[RunMartin]

I went to see my Doctor on Friday (made the appointment on the Wednesday) but my symptoms seemed to be better that day. He tried to explain what the cardiologist had found. He described it as some of the electrical signals from the AV node were probably being delayed to one of the ventricles. I assume that the pacemaker, if fitted, would be used to keep the ventricles synchronised. Since Friday the irregular beats are back and I found it difficult to sleep last night. Four weeks ago I felt OK and now I feel like I have gone backwards in recovery. I am sure the day that I had the Holter monitor on was a good day in terms of heart irregularities. I am not quite sure what to do now as it has started to get be down a bit. Has anyone had any experience with this type of arrhythmia?
Martin

 

[ALCapshaw2]

What kind of "irregular beats" are you experiencing?

Regularly Irregular beats can be from PAC's or PVC's. I'm told it takes and EKG to tell which is which.
Beta Blockers such as Toprol and others that I have forgotten, help to prevent PAC's and PVC's.

Randomly Irregular( I call them "Whack-O") beats are often a sign of Atrial Fibrilation.
Sotalol and Amiodarone (the Sledge Hammer of antiarrhythmics) help to control A-Fib.

'AL Capshaw'

 

[RunMartin]

I do not think it is Atrial Fibrilation. It is possibly some form of heart block (not sure thought). The heart rate is fairly constant with the odd extra beat. The pattern also seems to be regularly irregular. Ithink I got the name of the heart node wrong in the above post, it was AV node not sinus node.

 

[AgilityDog]

There's not a lot of problem being quite active with a pacemaker. Just protect the wires from impact - no football, and consider a shield if you place a sport like baseball where a bad throw or hit could smack you in the chest area.
I have complete heart block, meaning the top part (atrium) doesn't talk to the bottom part (ventricle). My ICD keeps me synchronized. And conscious.
Pacemakers are vibration activated. The more vibration, the more rapid the heartrate. My EP says I can/should tap my PM before an agility run to accelerate my HR a bit, because it's a sprint.
Similarly, I found with my PM that my HR goes up when I use my arms more - like using the arm parts on the elliptical machine, rather than just resting my hands on the stationary bar.
If you are swimming a lot, then an alternate site implantation might reduce any excess acceleration because of arm movement, as Adrienne said.
Lots of people run with pacemakers, once you're well healed after surgery.

 

[Lynlw]

I do not think it is Atrial Fibrilation. It is possibly some form of heart block (not sure thought). The heart rate is fairly constant with the odd extra beat. The pattern also seems to be regularly irregular. Ithink I got the name of the heart node wrong in the above post, it was AV node not sinus node.

There are a few degrees of heart block,1st,2nd 3rd, It depends on what kind of heart block you have if a pacemaker is needed/would help. Also IF the heart Block happens after a cath or surgery it can continue to improve for months. Justin has been in various degrees of heart Block since he was a baby.

 

[RunMartin]

Thanks for the replies. I am not sure yet what degree it is. My surgery was in February and it has not always been like it is today. I have had weeks where I have felt the erratic hearts beats were getting less. It is really the past four weeks where it has got worse.

It is good to know that if I did get a pacemaker then I would probably still be able to do some exercise. I think I have given up thinking about getting back to how I used to be.

Thanks
Martin