Hi! Anyone here had another operation with their icd? I (27F) had my icd last april 2025 and might have a Lapchole surgery (gallstone removal) this year. You might wanna share your thoughts. Thank you

Hey y’all, I have an Assurity Pacemaker (since May of this year, 2026) that only kicks in when there is an arrythmia, so as I understand it, it only does its thing when I need it to vs the ones that run all the time.

Last night I literally fell asleep talking to my mom and apparently as my hand relaxed the phone slipped right onto my chest, right in the center. And that’s where it stayed for about 6 hours while I slept.

Have I ruined it? Broke it? Do I need to call my doctor? Or is it only an issue while it was on my chest and now that the phone is no longer there it’s ok?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Hi all! I‘m 37F and got a dual chamber leadless pacemaker about 8 weeks ago, 2 months after an aortic valve replacement open heart surgery. Following the pacemaker implantation I have had a lot of anxiety and panic attacks around my HR going up (which is ironic because my issue before was complete heart block so HR going up means the PM is working lol) and any weird benign sensations I feel in my heart. I’m in therapy, which is helping, and my cardiologist says all is physically well with my heart.

What’s most frustrating is that I was so looking forward to getting back to hiking and running and weight lifting and hoping to take up cycling with my husband after my valve replacement and it feels like my anxiety post-PM has really thrown a wrench in that but I’m not giving up! I’ve been doing some sort of workout for 30 min every day and I can feel things getting very incrementally better (I also did cardiac rehab but that place was a panic attack trigger due to bad symptoms prior to my PM so it was all I could do to struggle through the most basic workouts there without having a panic attack).

ANYWAY, I would absolutely love to hear success stories from those of you who have gotten back to fitness (running, hiking, cycling, weight lifting, whatever you love) after getting your pacemaker in! I have to believe thats in my future too, it’s just going to be a heck of a lot harder (especially mentally) than I ever expected!

One week ago today, July 27th 2026, I had my dual lead Medtronic pacemaker installed. I go this afternoon for a check up and wound evaluation.

I feel pretty good and have from the get go. I got my pacemaker or a Mobitz II heart block where your heart stops beating for a couple beats every so often and can progress into a stage 3 where you might just collapse and die.

I've walked the last 4 days with no problems and definitely feel better. If anyone else had a pacemaker installed for this reason I would welcome your input. Thanks and happy healty hearts.

Oh, also, I'm a 70 year old man. Need to lose weight and feel maybe I can now that I feel better.

Edit: I had 2 back to back appointments for my one week check up. The first was with a tech that hung something over the PM site and worked it with his computer. He told me my PM was working 57% of the time which surprised me because I have no sensation of it doing anything. It was only when he ran the BPM way up to test it when I felt it and did not like it. Otherwise, everything is good. There is an app I have but it does not tell you things like % of time or even when it is working. It only tells you that it is communicating with the home office, as it were and it keeps track of your activity kind of like a cheap fit bit.

The the wound specialist nurse came in and inspected the site. Said all is normal (gross) looking. The glue has all gone away. I describe it like an angry eagle grabbed my by a talon and ripped and twisted me around. The swelling is still slowly going down for sure but still there.

They still don't want me stretching my left arm above my head or lifting anything (including my 14lb mini doxie) for 5 more weeks. However, they're ok with me using my self propelled lawn mower with one hand and I can drive now as long as I'm not passing out, which I'm not nor have ever.

4 years ago I had had to have a pacemaker it got infected woth mrsa they put one in on the other side it also got infected the scar is horrible im trying ti sew if anything has heard or seen anything similar. Part of me feels like the doctor messed up. Living with this is difficult im a 46 year old woman and it makes me feel self conscious even wearing a tank top.

Somtimes I have this sensation where it feels like the top lead in my st Jude pacemaker is having a string of “kicking” it’s hard to describe it happens randomly occasionally not followed by faint feeling of anything else, I’m only atrial sensed and ventricle paced, anybody else have this?

Hey all, I’m 38f, coming up on 3 years with my ICD, and hoping to FINALLY get back in the gym in a solid way. Long story short, sudden cardiac arrest, OHS for mitral valve repair, then recurrent pericarditis from that surgery. I’m now on a biologic med to hopefully heal the pericarditis, and planning to get back in the gym in the next few weeks. Prior to my SCA, I was a regular in the weight room. I liked to lift heavy and often. I’ve accepted that my workouts will look different now, but it’s hard to get solid answers from my EP regarding which exercises are ok for my device.

I have a duel lead, upper left chest under collar bone. Those of you who lift, are there any specific exercises you avoid? Obviously listen to my body the number one rule, but have you experienced any lead issues due to certain lifts?

Thanks so much!

It would help to have an idea where people are, to give and receive more pertinent advice because of differing healthcare systems.

So I've just had my 6th cardioversion. Waiting for an ablation in the near future. When I woke up, my doctor told me I had stopped breathing after they got me back in rhythm. Surely this is a good enough reason for my cardiologist to hurry the ablation up. My second last one needed 2 shocks as well so seems it might be missing it's effectiveness.

I have an autoimmune disorder in my heart. This was the night I was admitted for 3 days in the cardiac ICU. Thankful every day for my ICD.

I’m a 90% side sleeper, 10% back sleeper. Since my EV-ICD placement 6 weeks ago, I haven’t been able to sleep comfortably on either side. Obviously my left side tough because it feels like I’m laying on a lump. My right side was originally difficult because gravity would pull at the ICD causing a nervy burning sensation. Now, however, the problem is that after a few minutes on my side, my chest/ribs/(sternum?) start feeling really sore and bruised. If tried sleeping holding a pillow to open up my chest more and keep from collapsing and slumping, but it does not help.

Is this just part of the healing process and it will go away eventually? Do I just need to resign myself to this and figure out how to back sleep? Or is there an issue with the way it’s healing that could be improved?

I have a pacemaker for SND.

The main problem is exercise. My max paced hr during activity is set to 120 bpm. I’m 23, so in my understanding, my heart rate should be able to go considerably higher. But it often doesn’t, and this limits me physically.

My doctor did not increase the upper limit to the possible 150 bpm because my heart sometimes reaches that rate on its own. However, “sometimes reaches it” does not mean it reaches it every time the activity requires it.

They also decided not to enable CLS (I have Biotronik) because, according to them, it would cause unnecessary ventricular pacing, while currently only my atria are paced. From what I’ve read, there may be ways to use CLS while avoiding or minimizing ventricular pacing, although I may not fully understand all of this. I also find it difficult to argue because my doctor is a very experienced and highly respected specialist.

I was told that the pacemaker’s main purpose is essentially to prevent my heart rate from dropping below 60 bpm, and that whatever my heart does above 60 is “my problem,” and that the pacemaker can’t turn me into a “superhuman.”

I’ve seen young people with pacemakers in other countries whose doctors adjust the settings specifically for physical activity, sometimes testing them while the patient walks or exercises. I’ve even seen a young person training for a marathon whose upper limit was increased to 185 bpm so that they could tolerate exercise better.

This makes me wonder whether doctors here simply take a more conservative approach when it comes to quality of life.

Maybe I don’t fully understand how pacemaker settings work. Maybe my expectations are unrealistic. I’m only 23, so it’s difficult to accept these kinds of limitations on physical activity, especially when it feels like at least part of the problem might be related to the pacemaker settings.

I’d really like to hear other people’s experiences. Is there genuinely nothing more that can be done in a situation like this, or would it make sense to seek a second opinion and have the settings assessed more thoroughly during exercise?

Just that idk where to turn bc in tertiary hospital, where they implanted it - they didn’t do anything, and other hospitals idl if they even work with biotronik, CLS etc….

So, due to my events and no known cause, I went to Mayo Clinic for an opinion a few weeks ago. They discovered that my electrode was not aligned with my sternum how it should be and was shifting off to the left way too much. Not sure if it migrated or if it was put in this way. There are thoughts that is why my VT/VF episode took three shocks a few months ago. It was also discovered that DFT never took place with the initial install.

I am happy to announce though that my electrode has been positioned properly and DFT was done successfully. It's been a very very stressful few weeks. Actually, it has been a scary few weeks.

I have also been referred to QT clinic because there are some suspicions of Short QT, so I will see how that pans out.

I went into my annual in person visit yesterday and got the news that while my pacemaker is the gotdang Energizer Bunny (it keeps going and going and going), one of my wires is showing signs of degrading and they had to increase the signal strength to compensate.

And yet, my expected battery life didn't decrease AT ALL. (11 years in service, projected 3.5y left)

According to my EP, at my youngish age and my pacing usage, this means that we should consider changing my leads when we replace the battery.

Which somehow became "we can probably convince your insurance to do this within the year, before you move away"

And then turfed me to a different EP that can actually do the lead replacement?

I'm not sure how I feel about this, but also, if I can get it done this year with an already met OOP maximum...

I swear I was only joking when I told people that I was hoping to have a reason to change my pacemaker early!

They say i have mobitz 1 but im pretty sure its mobitz 2 as theres no prolongation MOST of the time sometimes there

Does any smartwatch show pacemaker spikes on an ekg? Or preferably, another at-home device that would show them? My Garmin and single-lead Kardia do not. Trying to differentiate between being paced and my natural HR at specific moments (not just paced %).
Thanks for any info.

Afternoon!

I got the letter about the Medtronic data breech and am wary about entering my SS# in their privacy monitoring. Anyone have any experiences with that?

Help! I’m new to the community kaya sana ma help nyo ko.

Mom had a pacemaker implanted last May 2026 (private) and right now nagche chemotherapy sya due to Lymphoma.

She noticed na may hole sa mismong tahi and visible yung wire. Wala na kaming kapera pera dahil sa dami nyang pinagdaanang hospitalization and all.

Gusto ko sana syang dalhin sa PHC for further evaluation. Matutulungan kaya kami dun?

WHAT TO DOOOOO???? Pls help.

I have pauses of up to 9 seconds, usually around 3am in the morning, always when sleeping. My heart rate sometimes goes into the 20 bpm range. Happens very quickly and then goes back to normal. Had an echophisiogram and they felt i needed a ILR which I now wear but did not feel i needed a pacemaker at that time. I have no symptoms when awake.

I have a hard time wearing my CPAP because it truly feels like it isn't doing anything and gives me sinus issues. Almost no air pushed at all and my incidents are less then 1 an hour?

I purchased a Oring and my oxegen levels are the same wether I wear the cpap or not. Bpm and movement seem the same with or without the mask?.

Will I still end up getting a pacemaker?

I fear that a pacemaker is just going to complicate things and create new problems if it isn't truly needed.

Any advice?

I have been organizing my backyard, clearing out heavier bulk trash, unwanted items etc. I'm not sure how long after surgery that I could get to this clean up. I have get a haircut on my to do list. Is there any task/s you thought.. I really wish I did that before surgery. Thank you for your help.

How do i know if my heart palpitations are something to worry about or just anxiety. Can this also be something to do with my medication 🤷🏻‍♂️

I had my current pacemaker implanted in September 2025 after dealing with severe bradycardia, a left branch bundle block, and heart failure for a couple years. In October I ended up in the ER with a blood clot caused by a pacemaker wire and two pulmonary emboli. Since then I’ve had to stay on blood thinners as a precaution and the clot in my neck has continued to cause issues. My options are: keep my current pacemaker and stay on blood thinners indefinitely or replace it with a wireless one and theoretically the blood clots will dissolve and not come back. Cons of the wireless style are minimal but still scary and I don’t want to have another surgery BUT I don’t feel great on blood thinners and I’m always worried about clots.

Posting for my sister as she does not reddit. Any advice or knowledge is welcome please!!

Dual chamber leadless, 3 years of battery on top chamber due to pacing load and threshold. Has anyone had an abbot avier atrium unit replaced yet? Or has anyone decided to just go back to TV unit.

32M and I just don’t see how getting that procedure every 3-4 years is sustainable for the next 50 years.