I just came back to the office from my semi-annual pacemaker interrogation. (Somehow, when I hear it called an "interrogation" I think of the tech putting my pacer in a chair with a super-bright spotlight shining on it and demanding the pacer to "Tell me EVERYTHING!")
Things are going about as expected. All my leads are fine and the pacing statistics are about as they have been for the last couple of years. I am not totally dependent on the pacer, but life would be strange without it. It paces my atrium about 10% of the time, and my ventricle about 40% of the time. I have about 2 years of battery life left - right on track with respect to the manufacturer's projection when the device was implanted.
The one unusual item that was reported on this interrogation was another bout of afib. This one lasted just over an hour, but was at 11:30 at night. I'm in bed by then, so I was at first at a loss to even think what could have caused it. Normally I remain in normal sinus rhythm all the time, with occasional short bits of tachycardia under exercise conditions. I think I figured out this one, though. The timing was about right for the night that I was awakened from sound sleep by the pain of side effects of my statin (was taking Zocor at the time, had switched to it just a few weeks before). I remember after having that bout of extreme pain that I simply stopped the Zocor and the pains went away. So, for now, I 'm attributing my one extended bout of afib to the pain from the statin, as I've had no other afib since Sept. 2013.
All that being said, I am pleased that not only is my battery life tracking right on target, but the pacemaker continues to do its job without any reminder to me that I have it. As I have said before, if I didn't see the bump on my chest when I look in the mirror with my shirt off, I wouldn't even know I have it. So, my advice to others whose doctors say that they may need a pacemaker is "Just do it." Mine has made my life a lot better than it would be without it, and the only other difference it has made in my life is that I do not go through airport metal detectors any more.
Things are going about as expected. All my leads are fine and the pacing statistics are about as they have been for the last couple of years. I am not totally dependent on the pacer, but life would be strange without it. It paces my atrium about 10% of the time, and my ventricle about 40% of the time. I have about 2 years of battery life left - right on track with respect to the manufacturer's projection when the device was implanted.
The one unusual item that was reported on this interrogation was another bout of afib. This one lasted just over an hour, but was at 11:30 at night. I'm in bed by then, so I was at first at a loss to even think what could have caused it. Normally I remain in normal sinus rhythm all the time, with occasional short bits of tachycardia under exercise conditions. I think I figured out this one, though. The timing was about right for the night that I was awakened from sound sleep by the pain of side effects of my statin (was taking Zocor at the time, had switched to it just a few weeks before). I remember after having that bout of extreme pain that I simply stopped the Zocor and the pains went away. So, for now, I 'm attributing my one extended bout of afib to the pain from the statin, as I've had no other afib since Sept. 2013.
All that being said, I am pleased that not only is my battery life tracking right on target, but the pacemaker continues to do its job without any reminder to me that I have it. As I have said before, if I didn't see the bump on my chest when I look in the mirror with my shirt off, I wouldn't even know I have it. So, my advice to others whose doctors say that they may need a pacemaker is "Just do it." Mine has made my life a lot better than it would be without it, and the only other difference it has made in my life is that I do not go through airport metal detectors any more.
