Wondering if anyone out there has or knows anyone who has a pacemaker?? My husband has been taking beta blockers for the last 2 years for atrial fib. and not only do they not work all that well but his body cannot adjust to them and he is exhausted all the time, no energy, etc. He is only 54 yrs old and doesn't want to live like ths. His doctor said the only guarantee he can not have to take these beta blockers is to have a pacemaker. This scares me to death!!! Can anyone give me any information about living with a pacemaker? Of course we have talked to the doctor and have gone on the internet for information but I would like someone's personal experience if possible. Any information or comments or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I work with someone who is 41 and is on his second pacemaker. When I met him two years ago I didn't know anything was wrong. We wear magnetic name badges and he can't. As far as I can see that is his only concession to his problem at work. He is in IT and sometimes does work long hours. When he gets sick he takes better care of himself. He appears not to let this get him down and you never hear of it.

Good luck

My mother had to have a pacemaker put in almost 2 years ago due to arrhythmia. She has to take cumidin (sp?) and have her blood tested regularly, but she has done well. I think she calls into the Dr's office monthly and they check the pacemaker's read out over the phone. She just holds the phone over the pacemaker and they can read the results in their office.

If your husband travels a lot, he would no longer be able to go through the security screen. Mom has to carry a card with her at all times and show it to the attendants. They than have to search her by hand.

Hope this helps.

My dad has one, he's had it for about 5 years or so. He's 52. He's glad he has it and it's not too encumbering. You can visually see it under the skin and the batteries last 15+ years. It can be reprogrammed without any surgery. He lives a very active lifestyle....a lot of golfing. I would say go for the pacemaker....at least your husband will have energy and will be able to become more active.

Thanks for the information, the only thing we found on the internet was negative comments but I told my husband people who are surfing the net to find other people are having problems and are looking for other people who do so they can compare systems. You won't hear from the people who are doing OK. Thanks, again.

My uncle has one. He has to go in for monitoring every 90 days, just a quick listen. He goes to Florida for the winter, so then he uses a lap top computer and a microphone to send his heart beat to his doctor for monitoring. I thought it was neat. And it hasn't slowed him down one bit.

Both my aunt(61) and father (57) have battled atrial fib. Since my Aunt was diagnosed first they caught my Dad's early. My Aunt had a pacemaker put in 6 years ago. She is doing fine with that. The doctors originally said it would prolong her life by 10 years, now they say even longer. My Dad's doctor took a differnet approach since it was caught sooner. He was on meds (5 a day plus one when he felt he was in atrial fib) for the last 6 years. It got to the point this last Spring he was in atrial fib all of the time and could no longer tell a difference. He was tired, short tempered and MOOOODY. My dad had heart surgery this last May. They "deadened" parts of his heart that were causing the atrial fib, there were 3 passages. This past August they took him off all meds except an aspirin a day. He is doing great, he wears us out. Good Luck!

I have heard of that. It is called radio ablation, where the parts of the heart causing extra electrical impulses are burned out. The doctor suggested that for MOML, but he is afraid to have that done. The doctor also said it doesn't work for everyone, that the electical impulses can go to other parts of the heart, and you can only burn out so much.

So far, he has been able to live with the problem. He refuses the beta blockers, and any other type of medication for that matter.

Nanwa - yes the percentage of this taking for my dad was 70%chance and not have to take any additional meds and 90% chance and continue a very low dose. The situation is, once they put in the pacemaker they tend to give a timeframe of how long this will work until your heart can wears out. Like I said, my aunts was originally 10 years, but she is doing fine. My dad's doctor wants to prolong the pacemaker as long as possible. And Praise God, it is working.

My uncle has had one over 16 years (yes!)- never stopped him from doing his normal activities - he's now 90 years old and still doing fine with it.

I would say from first hand experience that other than the discomfort of having it in you - and the weirdness that if not for the pacemaker, I would be dead - it's the greatest heart invention. I just had one installed (I'm early forties) when my heart failed about 5 weeks ago.

I'm still under physical restriction until the docs can pace it correctly - I tried exercising - what a disaster when my own heartbeat didn't kick in. But that's another story.

Other than that, I couldn't live without it - ha ha. You can PM me if you want to chat more.

I had the procedure done years ago - radio frequency catheter ablation to close an extra electrical cicuit that was right beside the AV node. They closed almost all of it - couldn't go all the way due to the proximity of the AV node - and the risk of blowing my whole system - thus requiring a pacemaker. Prior to the surgery I had ended up in ER with heartrates >200 5 different times. They had to stop my heart and restart. I have not had any spells since the surgery - mine took 6 hours because of the location but I am so glad I had it done. Prior to that I was on medication that just wasn't working. My sister also had to have this done - her first one didn't work so they had to try again.

Doodles, I know what you mean about the ER. We have been there 6 times in the last 14 months. Glad to hear you and your sister are doing well now. Hopefully, my guy will be able to say the same soon.