What Causes Slow Irregular Heart Beats And Intermittent Dizziness?

Posted on Mon, 12 Oct 2015

Question: I am 77 nearly 78 I have a slow eregular heart beat I have just had blood test which the Dr would like to see me again tomorrow and ECG which he informed me I would see a hospital Dr on the 7 October will I have to have an operation or a pace maker I feel dizzy sometimes and have fall a couple of times I get a feeling in my mouth then it goes black I try to fight it this last year I have slowed up a lot but I am a Parish Councillor and active in other ways gardening if something like a pace maker is used will I coup better and feel better thank you

Answered by Dr. Dr. Meriton Siqeca (29 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Pacemaker implantation.

Detailed Answer:
Greetings, madame! Thank you for your question and welcome to HCM. I understand your concern.

In cases, such as yours, where there is bradicardia (slow heart rate, regular or irregular) and symptoms such as dizziness, blurry or dark vision, near-fainting or clear-cut fainting episodes, the best recommendation is a defintive pacemaker implantation. This is indicated in cases that the natural pacemaker of the heart - the sinus node - for some reason, does not work properly, and this phenomenon is accompanied with the symptoms you described above. In our clinic's experience, pacemaker implantation is a safe procedure, followed by total abolishment of the symptoms. Therefore, it is highly recommended and these symptoms will go away, and you can perform every duty with the heart electrical and conduction system "protected" by the pacemaker.

I hope I was helpful with my answer. Good luck with the procedure.
If yoi have follow-up questions, I am happy to help.

Best regards,
Dr. Meriton

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Vaishalee Punj

Follow up: Dr. Dr. Meriton Siqeca (21 hours later)

Does the pace maker after a few years need replacing or complications are there any after a while. I ask because my mother had one later she fall and broke her
leg but did not live, only 2 hours after the op. was that anything to do with the
pace maker?

Answered by Dr. Dr. Meriton Siqeca (8 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Slight possible complications

Detailed Answer:
Hello again!

There are slight pacemaker implantation complications that will be explained to you before the procedure. As for the longlivety of the pacemaker, I will provide you our clinic's experience, which is basically the case, more or less, in all clinics' cases. It has an average longlivety of 8-12 years, a time after which there may be the necessicity of replacing the battery. The battery's life will be controlled on periodic visits to your cardiologist or arrhythmologist, once in three or six months.

I hope this helps. Wish you a good health. If you do not have further questions, please close the discussion and rate the answer.

Kind regards,
Dr. Meriton

Note: For further queries related to coronary artery disease and prevention, click here.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Vinay Bhardwaj