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Graphic Percy!
Went to the Pacemaker Clinic, at Harefield, this week.
They did the usual stuff, connect up, scan everything, measure the life left in the Battery.
The battery one was interesting. For the last few reviews they have been cutting the time between reviews, it is now down from yearly, to 4 months.
Others may already know this but others may be interested.
I asked the Specialist how all this worked and whether the battery was already flat, or very close, and what would happen.
She looked at the records and found that it had been ticking away, in there, for 9 years,.and that it was OK for now, but needed checking again in 4 months.
So I asked what would happen if it packed up.
She then went on to explain that there is a standard process. What happens is that they track the battery until it only shows as having two months left and then they make a firm appointment, for battery replacement, at two months - no questions, no queuing, the booking is pre-arranged.
I went home quite happy withy that, as I had been getting a bit alarmed at the drop in heart rate (now in the 50s) and all was now understood.
Yippee!
(Why couldn’t they have told me before? because I didn’t ask!)
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Thanks Ted, I wondered what the procedure would be when I need new batteries. Apparently, they remove the whole thing and replace it with a more up-to-date model with fully charged batteries. At my first monthly adjustment they told me that my batteries would last 13 years. I will be 84. My heart rate constantly drops to 40 bpm, when I contacted them they said that my ICD was set at 50 bpm and my heart puts in extra beats that my monitor doesn’t pick up. I feel a bit wobbly when it goes that low so I think there must be a problem, but after downloading the last 24 hours worth of info they seem more concerned about 170 bpm that my heart sometimes reaches while out walking. Apparently it’s called VT (Ventricular Tachycardia) and can lead to Atrial Fibrillation, very bad…
I must have missed this thread from before for some reason, but am so glad to have found it now.
The reason is that I am due to have a loop recorder fitted - actually, it should have been done yesterday but was cancelled due to Covid! (their staff, presumably, not me), but I’m expecting another date hopefully soon.
The loop recorder, of course, is not a pacemaker but is a diagnostic device fitted in the same place as a pacemaker. Depending on the findings, I may or may not be in line for a pacemaker, so the information throughout this thread has been invaluable rather than just interesting.
Good luck with the test JB, keep us informed with the results.
I’ve not heard of a ‘Loop Recorder’ before, but I had what they call a ‘Halter Monitor’ which records heart activity for 24 hours and then is downloaded off the SD card.
That’s how they found my heart was peaking at 171 bpm when I was running. They reckon I was lucky not to have had another heart attack.
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Sounds the same as my ticker, OGF, as they called me Brachy/Tachy, which, apparently, means mostly low heart beat(under 60 BPM) but peaking too high at times.(over 100 BPM).
A pacemaker is a young Lady who runs in front of you, wearing skimpy shorts.
You’re never able to catch her up!
Or there is a more boring type of Pacemaker, which is maintained on the cycle I mentioned before!
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Welcome to the club, JBR.
Important thing, irregular heart beat, but the treatments provided, including Pacemaker fitting, are not too worrying (although most of us do!)
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What puzzles me is that in this time of remote recharging via an induction loop device, indwelling electronics do not have rechargeable batteries.
I may be wrong but, I think that the big Magnetic thing, which they lay over your ticker during the review, does exactly that. (In addition to transferring all the data)
But, if so, rechargeable batteries, of which we often have many, for other devices, around the house, don’t last forever.
I guess that, what we’re talking about, is the length of time the battery can hold a recharge.
I’ll ask about that when I go back in March!
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And also: As we see with our computers, phones and software they are being modified and improved all the time LongDriver. I suspect that in 13 years time when my battery is expected to need replacing, there will be even better more efficient pacemakers/defibrillators available. Perhaps even using the bodies own electrical energy when you consider that most ICD’s are fitted because of an electrical problem with the heart muscles.
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My kinetic wrist watch of 10 yrs has a battery that is self charging by my body movement. It makes a small weighted wheel rotate and thus in turn generating the charging current. Perhaps something along those lines could be fitted into the ICD.
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I have had a 72 hour ECG before, but that showed nothing unusual.
A loop recorder is indwelling (for up to 3 years!) and records anything unusual, as far as I know. What I don’t know is how they monitor it, or if I have to go in for a ‘reading’ every so often.
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I have been told I have Sinus Bradycardia and Right Bundle Branch Block, although I’m not sure what all of that means other than my resting heart rate is low - usually in the 50s when I test it.
Your definition of a pacemaker sounds a little dangerous at my age!
A good idea, but I think that you’d rattle whenever you move!
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I do anyway coz I take so many pills, I rattle like a baby’s toy 
Me too. Six daily. Five in the morning, one in the evening.
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Christian Eriksen has just returned to playing professional football after his cardiac arrest in the Euro Cup competition eight months ago. He had one of those defibrillators fitted.
Thanks for that scott, determination is everything and I’m sure he will come back even better than before. It’s people like him who inspire me to never give up trying (Mrs Fox says I’m very ‘Trying’) Since I had my implant last December I am managing to do a few short jogs during my walk. I can’t see me running competitively any more, but will be happy to jog the lanes and tracks at any pace once more…
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Don’t worry, you’ll never catch her up!