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azimir t1_ir210qy wrote

Reply to comment by mortenmhp in Georgia doctor implants one of the first wireless, dual chamber pacemakers: New type of pacemaker is safer option than traditional surgery by universityofga

Welp, I've already got one so I guess it's with me for... ever.

I hope future generations keep seeing the benefits of these advances. I most definitely have!

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Vocalscpunk t1_ir3t8s9 wrote

Honestly in a few years all these rules might change. The major issue replacing pacemaker now is the wires, if they are usable then hot swapping a new pacemaker in the same variety you have now might make the most sense. If they're not usable then changing over might be a better call.

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Sqwrell315 t1_ird45zn wrote

My wife just had a Micra AV installed. It fires 3% and she can feel it fire. Do you feel anything??

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azimir t1_irdi6l1 wrote

I don't know that particular unit. It took me a while to stop noticing that the pacemaker was running. It was a new heart rate for daily life (about 15 bpm higher resting) and it was a weird feeling.

I also had to have some of the settings tweaked a few times. The biggest impact was from the setting which raised the rate when I stood up and started moving. It was on the default which was for a 80 year old in the hospital so it had a very slow response. I'm in my 40's so it needed to react much faster when I would stand and start moving. Once that was tuned somewhat almost all of the poor out of breath feelings when I would stand and move vanished.

As to "feeling it fire" - not directly. It's just my heart beating. The difference is when and how much. I also had a long time worrying about it. I (and my wife) did some therapy to help me understand the changes to myself and to address fears. That helped a ton.

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