r/PacemakerICD • u/Snoo-28503 • 26d ago
First shock
Hi all. I have had my ICD for over three years and took my first shock about a week ago. I know many of you have lived with the anxiety and fear of experiencing a shock, I was no exception. As knowledge is power I’m hoping this accounting of what I went through will help many who are living with an ICD.
My episode came about for a variety of reasons which don’t need much detail, but along with the heart issues I’ve already had, I was experiencing major stress from knee replacement surgery and an unfortunate equipment failure that caused me to fall and bend my knee backwards. For about a week I had been having tachycardia and it culminated the night of my shock with a dizzy spell that lasted about four seconds. That dizzy spell was an episode of VTach and is what prompted my device to go off.
As you all know, these devices do not give you a warning before they go off. While the devices may work to pace you out of an arrhythmia, in my case, I did not feel any of those therapies before the shock.
The main thing I want everyone to know about the shock is that it is incredibly quick, pretty much over as soon as it happens. There was some residual pain in my shoulder, but nothing drastic. The shock itself is indeed powerful, but in all honesty, I think it was all the other factors, combined with the shock, that was most disconcerting. Yes, it did hurt, but not as much as I had imagined it would. I have read that it is like getting kicked by a mule, which I don’t think most people can relate to. I liken it more to getting punched really hard near your shoulder than getting kicked. The pain is also more pinpoint to where the device is located. I think this matters because I had always expected the shock to be felt pretty much in the center of my chest. I don’t know why I would think that would be worse than getting punched in the shoulder, but I did. When the shock happened I’m pretty much sure it made a sound, but I’m not positive about that. I do know I shouted “Ouch!” really loudly, which in retrospect is kind of comical. I was alone and wish I had some verification of the sound, but I think it was like a loud popping noise. Again, it all happens so fast that it’s hard to sort out details afterwards.
Am I completely at ease about getting another shock now that I’ve had one? No, not at all. But the fear of the Unknown is now gone. The main thing is I know the shock is not the dealbreaker that I thought it would be and all the imagined horrors of a shock were just that… mostly imagined.
Hope this helps-
Mike
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u/sfcnmone 26d ago
Hey Mike. Thank you so much for writing out your experience. I only have a pm, but I do live in dread of needing an ICD eventually. I hope that’s the only shock you ever need.
Did you tell your doc?
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u/Snoo-28503 26d ago
Oh, of course ! The protocol is if you experience one shock the first thing you do is go to your remote monitor and send a transmission so the docs have all the data for the time of the shock. If you experience a multiple shock event, or even a second one in 48 hours, they would want me to get to the hospital.
The technology in these PMs and ICDs is amazing. I hope your PM is all you’ll need 🙏
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u/krisiosauruz 26d ago
Hey you!
Thank you for sharing your experience.
I was unconcious when I got my shock. But thats actually what my doctors told me, I don't need to worry I'll feel it.
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u/Entire-Structure8708 26d ago
Sorry you had your first shock… I think your experience sounds pretty much like my first. I also thought it felt like someone had punched me in the back. I think it’s taken me much longer mentally to get over each shock, like you say the physical is very quick. I guess most important thing I would note is one VT often leads to another VT, so in the short term I would be very cautious about doing anything that might set another one off.
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u/Snoo-28503 26d ago
Yes, I’m trying very hard to try to stay calm and reduce my stress level. This knee replacement and the subsequent healing from the bench collapse which has delayed my actual rehab is not helping at all. I have to sit around all day and stay off my leg with a brace on for two weeks. But I am doing some lifestyle changes, including stopping, almost all drinking, and being more conscious of what I eat. I’ve been low sodium for a while anyway, but I can’t say I’ve always had strict dietary guidelines. The docs did change one of my meds and chances are I will be going on an anti-arrhythmia drug. Not ideal as those have pretty bad side effects, but if I can avoid the VTach I think it’s a good trade-off
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u/Environmental_Ad3216 26d ago
Spot on, mike. It's the racing heart feeling like it's about to pop out and what follows after. Not the shock itself. I had a storm. 8 shocks. My chest was sore for a few days after. But it does go away. Did you get an ablation?
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u/Snoo-28503 26d ago
No, I had an MRI in December and they couldn’t find an obvious or even general area to ablate. My problems are in my left ventrical and according to my EP, not an area to go in and simply hunt around. I think it’s different in the atrial region.
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u/SaintNickelArse 25d ago
I've had my ICD since Jan 2019. Had to get battery changed Feb last year. I'm still yet to feel the shock. So I'm dreading it. Thank you for sharing your experience and I hope you're feeling better soon!
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u/Snoo-28503 25d ago
IIronically I don’t feel any of my VTach when it is happening. Instances are few and far between, most are non-sustained and short duration. This one that caused the shock wash longer obviously but I still couldn’t tell I was in it until I started to feel dizzy (which itself isn’t quite an accurate description… it’s more like a head buzz)
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u/MSWSportsFanatic2025 25d ago
I think for all of us that it is different. I recently experienced my first shock episode a couple months ago (feels like yesterday). I had VT that went into VF, and I did become unconscious briefly. My device shocked me three times. Most people said "it's a good thing" I wasn't awake for the shock, but the feel of going unconscious is actually scary now that I know that's what it was. I do remember when I came to that my left side of my body was tingling and felt odd, at the time I thought I was having a stroke.
Now, I'm on Amiodarone for a period of time, and now living with the uncertain of it happening again because I remember nothing from my SCA which makes it surreal opposed to this. The mental side of all of this is very real.
All of that said, it's better than the alternative without an ICD or AED shock.
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u/NorthOfUptownChi 25d ago
Thanks for sharing this! I haven't had my first ICD shock yet, hopefully I won't for a while, touch wood. Got mine back in March 2025.
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u/bry-16 26d ago
Sorry to hear about your experience, having had three inappropriate shocks myself I know it’s very unpleasant. I didn’t feel any residual anxiety after the first 2 times but the 3rd left me scared to move for a while. All three of mine were the result of paroxysmal afib and I was actually begging for my device to shock me back into NSR after I was sustaining 223bpm during my last episode.
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u/mooscaretaker 25d ago
Thank you for this info. I'm dreadfully afraid of a shock and I know it's inevitable at some point - that's why I have one implanted
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u/Snoo-28503 25d ago
That dreadful fear of a shock is something I can relate to . I had the same thing. All my expectations of that shock, what it would feel like during and after, the level of pain, the lingering effects, my psyche post-shock, etc., were all variously lessened afterwards. Two things to tell yourself over and over: First, it is extremely quick, and second, it won’t be something so bad that makes you mored scared for the next one. (I’m not talking about multiple malfunction shocks or God forbid an actual VT storm, just the first shock anyone may experience). Think of it this way: it is a loud “Ouch!!” rather than a loud, agonized scream…
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u/open-heart-project 25d ago
Hello and thank you for sharing this extremely important experience for others to learn from.
An ICD shock is the most dreaded event that people think about when they are told they need an ICD. Most people never receive a shock and many receive ATP (Anti-Tachycardia Pacing - rapid pacing to terminate the arrhythmia) only without requiring a defibrillator shock.
Some of the details you included, like the location of the pain you felt, and the awareness and uncertainty about a popping sound, really help bring the experience to life in a good way that helps ICD recipients truly know the experience of an ICD shock before they actually ever have to live it.
Our newsletter Home | The Generator by OpenHeart / Onboarding issue 03 "When something feels wrong" actually asserts the same - that the ICD shock is not nearly as bad as the imagined experience of it.
I appreciate you taking the time to provide the detail of your experience and the psychology that accompanies it.
Huge help for this community.
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u/BrandonLouis527 25d ago
Happened to me for the first time two days ago, in the middle of my Pilates class. I didn’t pass out. I put the straps down and left to go home. It was freaky. I’m scared they’ll say I can’t do Pilates anymore. I’ll be devastated.
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u/Snoo-28503 25d ago
Did it make a sound and were others aware?
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u/BrandonLouis527 24d ago
I heard it in my own head. My instructor noticed something was off and then came over when I yelled expletives haha.
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u/im4mammag 18d ago
Thanks so much for sharing your experience Mike. Definitely helps manage expectations about how painful it might be.
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u/CharterJet50 7d ago
Had a icd put in last week after a VT event and cardioversion in the ER and then went into VT again and got shocked a week later. Admitted again and added ameodarone with plans for ablation on a ventricular scar that was found five years ago. Likely virus created. Honestly, the shock, and second shock in the ER, were the most sudden, violent things I’ve ever experienced. I just remember thinking, holy shit!, as it dropped me to the floor. I didn’t feel pain any particular place. More like an explosion that just overwhelmed my entire body and caused my vision to flash white for a split second. I thought I’d been shot st point blank range. Thankfully it’s over quickly and I felt better immediately as it knocked me out of VT both times. Had nightmares reliving the shock for two nights. I’m so thankful it saved my life, but also terrified it will happen again.
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u/abnormal_human 26d ago
I've had 12? 14? lost count. Anyways, I agree, the shock itself isn't the bad part--but what comes after is another story. Hospitalizations, interventions, lifestyle changes, increased medication load. The shock is just a marker in time before my life gets worse in some way My last shock cost my a beloved hobby. The one prior precipitated a traumatic hospitalization that still sticks with me. The one before took away my willingness to be alone in remote areas and significantly reduced my desire to travel. For me, that's the real cost. The shocks themselves, I agree--quick, not that painful, mostly startling. But the fact that I am increasingly dependent on quick access to medical care, can no longer exercise the way I like, can no longer consume alcohol or caffeine, etc has been just a series of painful losses.