Help! I Need a Pacemaker!

Every day around the world, people get the strange and often unexpected news that they may need to get a pacemaker. Most of them barely know what a pacemaker is the day the doctor springs the news—and it can be hard to find out what a pacemaker really is all about.

You probably already know more about pacemakers than you think. It is a small, roundish, metal device (about the size of a pocket watch) that is placed inside your upper chest along with one or more insulated wires that lead to the inside of your heart. The pacemaker sends out little pulses of electricity ("paces") to keep your heart contracting or beating.

So why would you need something to keep your heart beating? Pacemakers are designed to "fill in the missing beats" in your heart rhythm. Pacemakers are indicated for people with certain types of cardiac rhythm disorders or arrhythmias.

Typical pacemaker-type arrhythmias are rhythms where the heart beats too slowly on its own or it beats in an irregular rhythm.

Pacemakers are not often a matter of life and death for most people. A heart that beats too slowly or irregularly may still allow you to get around—but you are likely to experience many symptoms. Symptoms typical of people who need a pacemaker include feeling tired, being out of breath, being unable to exert yourself physically (even climbing up one flight of stairs is a chore), having sensations of being woozy or lightheaded, and being dizzy. In severe cases, people who need pacemakers may even pass out or feel like they're going to pass out.

Getting a pacemaker restores a regular heart beat at a rate sufficient to support normal activity. People who get pacemakers will often say that they soon feel more energetic, less fatigued, and generally more at ease.

If your doctor is convinced you need a pacemaker, there are not a lot of drugs or other therapies that you can try to fix your condition. Most people with the kind of rhythm disorders that a pacemaker helps need a better and more regular heart rhythm. While your doctor may want you to take certain drugs for your heart, there is not a drug on the market that helps a too-slow heart beat more rapidly and regularly.

Pacemakers are implanted in what is called "minimally invasive surgery." It's still surgery, but the incision is quite small. You are going to be surprised, but many pacemaker implants are done under local anesthesia with mild sedation. Most doctors report that a "typical" pacemaker surgery takes about an hour or less. In some cases, it can be done on an outpatient basis. (Not everyone is a good candidate for outpatient surgery, but some people are.)

People with pacemakers have a lot of concerns, but once the operation is over and the incision heals, it becomes pretty easy to forget about the pacemaker. It functions automatically. The pacemaker sends out very low-voltage pulses to the heart which are too small for you to perceive. It is actually very easy to forget that you have a pacemaker and go on and live a normal life; the biggest difference between you and the people without pacemakers is that you'll have a few extra doctor visits a year to check up on the pacemaker.

There are some things that pacemaker people should consider. They need to carry a special pacemaker ID card to get through airport and other security checkpoints. That's because the metal in their pacemaker may set off a very sensitive metal detector. (Interestingly enough, many pacemaker people can walk through metal detectors and not set them off—it depends on how sensitive the metal detector is.)

Pacemaker people have to avoid blows to the chest, so contact sports are out. (There goes the career in pro-wrestling!) Doctors usually advise pacemaker people about the things in the environment that can possibly interfere with pacemakers. The most common of these items is probably the cell phones, but don't worry. There are some effective and easy precautions you can take to minimize any risk.

If you have a pacemaker, you should always use your cell phone on the side of your body opposite where the pacemaker is implanted. You should never carry your cell phone over the place where your pacemaker is implanted, even if it is off. However, it's fine to carry a cell phone in your purse or pocket as long as it is six inches or more distant from the implant site.

When in doubt about things pacemaker people can do or not do, contact your doctor's office. You can also Google "pacemaker + forum" to connect online with other pacemaker people. However, the best source of advice for you is always going to be your doctor, because he or she will have the complete picture of your condition. Your doctor is going to give you very specific and possibly unique advice, because every person is unique.