Pacemaker

I have a permanent pacemaker my entire life, since month old, I am now 24 yrs old. Sometimes i can be watching tv, or laying down or just standing and i get this shock like pain near my left breast (which is wear the pacemaker is). Is it possible to feel the pacemaker sending electrical signals to the heart? Does anybody else experience this?


Thank you!!

[Flycaster305]

What kind of pacer do you have?  Is a defib device?  Certainly you will feel it if your defib pacer kicks in.  

I get a strange sensation at times that I'm told is caused by one of my leads is close to the Vagus nerve.  When they check it, I have explosive burbs, and am told that sometimes if the lead is close to the Vagus nerve, impulses can be felt.  

[Jennheart]

No i just have a pacemaker. i don't have a defibrillator. Sometimes i think i feel the electric impulses. The pacemaker is implanted under my left collar bone, behind the breast

[grendslori]

I was reading around your site and thought I would tell you that CHD (congenital heart disease is very common with one in every one hundred children being born in this country suffers from some sort of heart condition. You are certainly not alone with a heart problem. Almost 95% of those children had surgeries and medicines to help cure and treat their heart conditions and go in to lead basically normal lives. The remaining 5% need transplants to survive and transplantation is not a cure for the heart disease, it is only a band-aid. Be grateful you are not in that 5%  group! That is not an easy life especially for those children trying to survive.

[grendslori]

You shouldn't feel your pacemaker 'firing'; you would if it were a difibrillator; I don't think in all of the years my daughter had her duel chamber pacer, she ever felt her pacer fire. If it continues try talking to your cardiologist about it.

[Jennheart]

One of your leads is close to the Vagus nerve? Isnt that nerve near your neck?

[Jennheart]

Thank you so much!! =)

[Jennheart]

I dont have a dual chamber, i have a single chamber pacemaker. If you dont mind me asking, how long has your daughter had a dual chamber for? I might be replacing mine to get a dual chamber, is it better? Thank you!

[grendslori]

My daughter recieved her pacemaker when she was 8 years old and had it replaced once at the age of 16. At 22 she had a heart transplant and even though her wires have remained, she no longer neede the pacemaker so they removed that during her surgery. A duel chamber pacer is usually used if there is a break in the impulse's ability to reach the ventricle, somthing known as a Heart Block. If you have a single pacer now, why are you (Or is your doctor) considering putting in the duel pacer? If it is better, it's generally better because it can correct a problem and you would feel better as a result.

[Jennheart]

I can't believe your daughter had a heart transplant at the age of 22, that's crazy but for someone who's been through open heart surgery as well, i can say she is one strong woman! Send my thoughts to her =)

I do have a complete heart block, which is the reason i have a pacemaker. i had my pacemaker since i was one month old. I am now 24 and i'm on my 5th pacer. I heard that a dual chamber pacer works better because it paces the ventricle and atrium. Has your daughter ever had a single chamber?

Thank you!