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Dr. Andrew Rynne
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Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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What Causes Tachycardias, Palpitations, Breathlessness And Chest Pain While On Pacemaker?

hi, i have a heart condition, arrythmias and have a pacemaker in, the last few weeks my symtoms have gotten a lot worse, i have more palpatations, breathlessnes and chest pain/discomfort. my pacemaker is designed to slow my heart down but recently i have been having a lot of tachychardias. i am exhausted all the time. does this mean that the pacemaker has stopped helping or could there be something else going on, can you help, thank you!
posted on Thu, 13 Mar 2014
Twitter Fri, 14 Apr 2017 Answered on
Twitter Fri, 14 Apr 2017 Last reviewed on
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Cardiologist, Interventional,  's  Response
As per your details, it seems you have got an AICD.
Now as you are having recurrent palpitations and breathlessness despite having this pacemaker that should slow your heart rate.
This means your pacemaker is not sensing the high heart rate (if it is there!). This could be due to the depletion of the battery or some fault with the lead.
First get an EKG done to see if real tachycardia is there that is causing your symptoms of palpitations and breathlessness. And if it there, then get your pacemaker interrogated to find out the cause of its malfunction.
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What Causes Tachycardias, Palpitations, Breathlessness And Chest Pain While On Pacemaker?

As per your details, it seems you have got an AICD. Now as you are having recurrent palpitations and breathlessness despite having this pacemaker that should slow your heart rate. This means your pacemaker is not sensing the high heart rate (if it is there!). This could be due to the depletion of the battery or some fault with the lead. First get an EKG done to see if real tachycardia is there that is causing your symptoms of palpitations and breathlessness. And if it there, then get your pacemaker interrogated to find out the cause of its malfunction.