Pacemaker Recommended by EP
Hello! Let me start by saying I’m sorry for the long post but I believe all the historical background is required.
Recently, in May I was admitted to the hospital for a high heart rate at 178 and felt like trash. Once admitted my heart rate was all over the place one minute I would be low then out of no where I’d experience a flushing sensation and my heart rate would shoot up to 150s-170s then back down to 50s. After these episodes my rate would be irregular, cardio said it was sinus arrhythmia. Also, while sleeping multiple times during the night nurses would wake me to ensure I was okay because my heart rate would dip as low as in the 20s and 30s. I had an echocardiogram and nuclear stress test, both being normal with an EF of 76%.
At discharge I was instructed by Cardio to immediately go to their office to have a 14 day monitor placed. During the hospitalization and a few weeks after discharge I had severe fatigue, weakness, and dizziness. Some days the fatigue was so severe I felt like I couldn’t take one more step or I would collapse, and I had severe brain fog. Also a very weird sensation that my heart was just going to stop beating. Now fast forward to current week, Tuesday, the day of my follow up with EP. On my 14 day monitor only 1% of the time was I tachycardia, but I had multiple events daily where my heart rate would drop in the 30s and 40s while awake and 20s to 30s while sleeping. EP gave me a diagnosis of sick sinus syndrome with tachy-brady events. He did not mention any pauses or abnormal beats. Honestly I was too shocked to ask because he recommended a dual chamber pacemaker. My shock is multifaceted, 1 I’m only in my mid 40s, and 2 this isn’t the first time a pacemaker has been recommended.
The 1st time a pacemaker was recommended was about 12 years ago with very similar events. I was admitted to the hospital with the same issues, heart rate all over the place, discharged with a 14 day monitor. This time the cardiologist called me and told me to go to the nearest ER for transfer to another hospital with an EP that I needed a pacemaker due to multiple episodes of going into a Junctional rhythm with severe bradycardia. I was transferred from my local ER to a large university hospital with an EP. The EP did an EP study and a tilt table test to determine I did not need a pacemaker and diagnosed me with POTS.
I have battled these “episodes” for YEARS and chalked it up to a POTS flare up. However, my current EP believes I NEVER HAD POTS. It was sick sinus syndrome all this time, and a pacemaker will dramatically improve my quality of life. I’m just really anxious but hopeful at the same time. While I wait for my appointment for my pacemaker placement all these questions are tumbling around in my head:
- What if I get a pacemaker at such a young age and don’t really need it?
- Why did one EP say I didn’t need a pacemaker but now another says I do?
- Will the pacemaker really make me feel better and myself again? At this point I’ve dealt with feeling like this for so long do I even know what normal feels like?
- Was a pacemaker the answer for all my symptoms I’ve been struggling with for so long?
If you’ve made it this far thank you for taking the time to read this. Any comments, suggestions, and/or encouragement is welcomed I’m really having a time with it right now.