Pacemaker because of night pauses of 11 secondes

[BobPaul]

Well,

I am 36, I don't have symptoms and I had no idea that my heart was doing pauses night time. The longest one I had was 11 secondes. It happens a few times a night.

I got a second opinion and he even told me to come right away to the hospital. He was afraid it could happen day time. I was not anxious because it never happened. I got a pacemaker today.

When I asked them what cause this to happen...they have no answer.
I was not aware also that they will put a dual lead in my chest,

I dont suffer of sleep apnea.

Should I investigate more?

[Jerry_NJ]

I assume you were on a monitor to catch the night time (sleeping) pause. Wow, 11 seconds, I can't imagine it.  But, obviously one can survive that period of stoppage.

What about your HR when you are up an moving about, or exercising?

So, I must assume you have been working with a cardiologist and perhaps a Electro-Physiologist.  Have they not done a complete heart check?  Stress and/or angiogram, and echo-cardiogram?  

I assume your pacemaker is set to give a kick if you hear pauses for longer than one second.    

[BobPaul]

My heart rate is fine when do exercice, wake up or with any daily activity.

Yes I got echo and stress test. Everything is normal.

Yes, my pacemacker will mostly works night time and take over when my natural one is failing..

[BobPaul]

I was sleeping at the hospital the night before by precaution. They told my heart paused once for 15 seconds. I did not believe that since they woke me up with no symptoms.  I should have feel light headed, sick or whatever but...nothing.

I have a hard time to believe that.

[Brooke_38]

Did you not get a 2nd opinion before getting the pacer implant?

"When I asked them what cause this to happen...they have no answer" This is probably becuase the pauses you are experiencing are caused by sleep apnea and not a conduction problem. Treating the sleep apnea by non-invasive therapy vs. invasive lifelong pacemaker for symptoms would most likely have been the better road to travel.

My husband had the same symptoms you describe. He was sent for a sleep study and his pauses were as high as 10 seconds. His treatment is use of CPAP machine (continuous positive airway pressure) during sleep.

I hope that you get this figured out:)

[BobPaul]

They told me if I do sleep apnea, they will know since I was at the hopital plug on a oxygen sensor for a night.

Is it enough as a test for sleep apnea, I don't know.

[Brooke_38]

Hello...

That is definitely not an appropriate way to determine or in any way diagnose sleep apnea. All that O2 sensor does is measure the amount of oxygen that is saturated in the blood.

Here is a link to help you understand what a sleep study involves and how it is used to determine if a person has sleep apnea. You will have to copy and paste it to your browser to view the page.

http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/slpst/slpst_during.html

[PikaPika88]

Quote :  "I assume your pacemaker is set to give a kick if you hear pauses for longer than one second."

No, my pacer (2 leads) didn't kick when my pause longer than 2.5 second (was caught by the holter which didn't record in my pacer.)  I was sitting in front of the computer when it happened.  Many nights, I woke up by myself to wait for the beat comes.  My pacer didn't find any fault.  All looks good and well, that what's my EP said.

Can a pacemaker really solve for "Pause" problem?

[BobPaul]

Hi,

When you mention that your husband had pauses as high as 10 secondes, do you mean breathing pauses or heart pauses?

[Brooke_38]

Hello...

He had 10 second pauses between heart beats. Once he began sleeping with the  CPAP machine, there has been no evidence of pauses in electrical conduction.

Hope you get this all worked out:)