Advice For My Mom - Pacemaker?

[ilovethesea]

My mom is in the hospital being fitted for a pacemaker after fainting last night. She needed 5 stitches and I guess they ran some tests, determined heart was the problem.

I had thought her problems were the typical low thyroid/high estrogen/high serotonin, as she had been having panic attacks in the last year, and in one of the recent ones fainted. I assumed it was related to the panic attacks.

Her pulse and temps are ok although maybe masked by cortisol. She doesn't take thyroid and will only take the tiniest daily amount of Progest-E as otherwise she gets hot flashes. I tried to get her to take cypro but she said it made her too drowsy. She is stubborn :)

I'm really worried now about the pacemaker and whatever bad effects that may cause. Does anyone have any suggestions?

 

[narouz]

Sea, has she had racing heart rate, arrhythmia, palpitations...?

 

[ilovethesea]

Sea, has she had racing heart rate, arrhythmia, palpitations...?

No not racing. Apparently it got too slow, and that's why she had the fainting/panic feeling. I think the rate varies though - is ok (70s I think?) when she's walking around but sitting/lying down is apparently when it slows. Was in the 30s during last night's episode. She said she gets the (what I thought were panic) attacks sometimes when she goes from sitting to standing too fast.

 

[SQu]

I'm sorry to hear about your mom. How old is she? My mom is 82 and also very stubborn. Her generation is kind of lucky that they have got away with their stubbornness so far and then with luck a bit further, thanks to being born in better nutritional times. Something they are blissfully unaware of! I can't offer info on pacemakers, but maybe when she's back home, depending on her personality you can help steer her to some good diet choices. I haven't got far with this myself, to be honest, but I have managed to get my parents to take a daily aspirin. It might be something she could ask her doctor now. That would be a start.

 

[BingDing]

There's a name for that, going from sitting to standing. Is it hypotension? A search here might be useful.

 

[aguilaroja]

There's a name for that, going from sitting to standing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orthostatic_hypotension

 

[ilovethesea]

I'm sorry to hear about your mom. How old is she? My mom is 82 and also very stubborn. Her generation is kind of lucky that they have got away with their stubbornness so far and then with luck a bit further, thanks to being born in better nutritional times. Something they are blissfully unaware of! I can't offer info on pacemakers, but maybe when she's back home, depending on her personality you can help steer her to some good diet choices. I haven't got far with this myself, to be honest, but I have managed to get my parents to take a daily aspirin. It might be something she could ask her doctor now. That would be a start.

She's a decade younger but yes - agree, they grew up in a much less polluted world! I don't think we are going to be able to avoid the pacemaker. The doctor feels it is too much of a risk not to have it should a fainting episode happen again, the low pulse is very dangerous. He said the pacemaker is like insurance and doesn't prevent her from doing other things to strengthen her heart (eg. the dietary changes - not that he would agree with them).

She does already take the daily aspirin (and some vitamin K drops) but won't take any more than that because of all the fears about aspirin. She also takes a couple drops of Progest-E, I tried to get her to increase it but she gets hot flashes with more. I think her diet is too low in protein and calcium, but will be hard to change.

 

[ilovethesea]

There's a name for that, going from sitting to standing. Is it hypotension? A search here might be useful.

Thanks! So Ray thinks it is caused by estrogen - "orthostatic hypotension, which is seen in women who are exposed to too much estrogen, and very frequently in old people."
http://raypeat.com/articles/aging/aging ... rone.shtml

What can she do to start lowering it since Progest-E in any higher dose gives her hot flashes? Would thyroid be the best thing?

 

[tara]

Pacemakers can be a life saver. If she needed it, I'm glad she has one. As I understand it, their job is to provide the electrical signal that tells the heart when to beat. One of my family members has one. It was replaced after a few years before the battery ran out. I am very grateful for it. Maybe you can find other ways to help her, but the pacemaker itself may be what give you time for that.