Have unneeded Pacemaker

I have had shortness of breath and weakness for three years. Tests show no heart or lung abnormalities but I was told to get a pacemaker because of skipped heart beats, which Dr. Sarno says he also has in his workshop video. After reading his book and watching the video my symptoms have stopped. I am doing the daily homework. However I wonder if continued pacemaker monitoring and focus on the physical is harmful. I realize my psychological equivalent to TMS requires that I think psychologic not physical. Any suggestions?

 

What do you mean by pacemaker monitoring?

 

Could you elaborate please on what the Good Doctor had to say about pacemakers, does he have one?

Thanks

 

Weegi, welcome to the TMS community, and congratulations on your progress! I was going to say that this is a new one to us, but when you consider how many people have reported unnecessary and/or failed back and other surgeries for conditions that turned out to be TMS, your situation is in line with their experiences. I'm sure many of them are going to live the rest of their lives with metal things in their backs - nothing they can do about that now. It appears that an alarming number of pacemaker implantations are known to be of dubious necessity.

In my 30s I was on a beta blocker for a while, for extra beats. I stopped taking those, because I really try to limit my exposure to drug therapy, and I had no consequences whatsoever. I'm 65 now and not on anything other than OTC supplements and a single Tylenol now and then for the occasional headache. I still can get the extra beats, during times of stress - but I know now that they are just another TMS symptom, and that they will go away, which they do. Until the next time - but I simply don't worry about them anymore.

Anyway, back to your pesky pacemaker - I did some searching and found information about pacemaker monitoring. So I get it that you're under a presumed obligation to check in and have your pacemaker monitored and adjusted. However, I believe that whether or not this is an impediment to your TMS recovery is entirely up to you. (caveat: please be advised that I am a tax accountant who has been doing this work for more than five years - I am not a health professional!)

If you view your pacemaker AND ACCEPT IT as an unfortunate and unnecessary intervention that you can choose to ignore, once you make that psychological decision, then there's no reason the existence of the device needs to get in the way of your TMS recovery, even if you adhere to the monitoring. You might want to research doctors or clinics that are willing to tell you that you don't need to maintain the battery - in my web search, I found a reference to a pacemaker that was turned off after it was determined that the individual only needed blood pressure medication. (And many cases of high blood pressure, are, of course, well-know to be controllable using mind-over-body techniques - that's on my list of regular practices, to keep my doc from forcing HBP meds on me).

Good luck, you're already doing great work, so keep us posted!

~Jan

 

Hi David, I have a device in my home that is connected to the pacemaker manufacturer. It reads and reports my heart beats. If a crisis occurs my doc is notified. Every three months I have to have the data reviewed and the device tested with a tech and once a years with my 'Electrophysiologist'.

 

Tennis Tom: In describing some of the diagnoses that are Equivalents, when Dr. Sarno got to Tachycardia (fast heart beats), he mentioned he had 'skipped' beats which he implied, if I understood him correctly, he held as an Equivalent of no physical consequence. That's what I had along with slow beats when the pacemaker was prescribed. I'd had it for 45 years, but when I got the symptoms of shortness of breath and fatigue...my heart was blamed. I didn't know about TMS, so thought they knew what they were doing. Now I see it differently and the symptoms are starting to abate. I'm 90 and learning to ask my questions.

 

Jan: Thanks...I was going along those lines in my thinking but wanted to bounce if off others not so new in the program as I am...6 weeks. It feels cumbersome to be actively involved in something physical, just not enough to get it turned off. It isn't doing any harm but when I'm doing my homework every night I've wondered. Thanks...onward and upward at age 90!

 

AWESOME!

 

No, he doesn't have a pacemaker. I watched the video again and the 'Equitavent' was actually described as 'Cardiac Palpitations; his remark was that that he had skipped heart beats and was fine.

 

Hi Weegi,

Wonderful that you are treating yourself this way. I don't know if your question is clear, nor do I know if anyone of us is qualified to answer it. But the main thing is that you are finding your own way, and confident.

Don't however, throw out medical devices without consulting with your physician re "my symptoms are not here any more, should I continue anyway?" I think this is a discussion to have with your physician, if I understand your situation.

The main question that I understand Dr. Schubiner recommends we ask a physician is "if I don't have this procedure for six months, then is there danger to my health?" Something like this... So you're ascertaining how critical the medical intervention is right now, and will you "be OK without it for awhile?"

Good luck in this, and keep us all posted!

Andy B

 

Thanks, Andy. I've had the pacemaker in place for almost two years and am only now learning that the reason my symptoms didn't go away after it was installed was because my slow and skipped heart beats weren't what was causing the sumptoms. I read Dr. Sarno's book and bought the DVD of his workshop and am learning how to work around leaving the pacemaker in place. Both the shortness and of breath and the fatigue, which were disabling, are nearly gone. And like so many others...I have my life back.