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sleeping with a pacemaker

My 83 year old mother wore a 24 hr. holter monitor, which found her heart was experiencing 7 sec. pauses.  She was contacted by both her family and heart doctor one evening and had a pacemaker put in the next morning.  She is really doing quite well, but has trouble sleeping and doesn't know if she can sleep on the side the pacemaker is on. (Which is the side she has always slept on.)  The book says NOT to sleep on your stomach.  How about the side of the pacemaker???  Thanks for your help.  I can tell her sleepless nights are catching up on her.

A Concerned Daughter


This discussion is related to Pacemaker syndrome?.
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Hi, I am a 76 yr old female who is 100% dependent on my St June 2210 pacemaker/generator.  It was implanted at the end of 2009, and after the initial healing/ caution period, I can say I have lived and slept without problems.   I get a little short of breath when I walk too fast, or lift something a little heavy, but I'm no kid anymore so I can't blame the pacemaker.  As for sleeping, I sleep on my left side (same side as the unit) about 80% of the time and have never had a problem. Common sense would tell us to sleep on our backs for about 6 weeks at first to allow tissue to heal around the leads etc.  
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