Living with Your Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator
Choosing to get an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator or ICD is a life-changing decision. The little device may very well save your life by preventing sudden cardiac arrest.
If you are looking for the best cardiologist in Chattanooga, Dr. Tim Talbert can answer all your questions about the possibility of an ICD.
What Is an ICD?
An ICD is like a miniature EMT in your chest at all times, so that when arrhythmia (or irregular heart rate) starts up, your ICD can shock your heart in an indiscernible manner to get it back on track.
This small, battery-powered device has wires attached to the lower ventricles of your heart, and, when it detects any abnormal rates, it sends low-energy pulses to the organ. If that doesn’t work, or if your heart isn’t beating excessively and randomly but is, instead, quivering (fibrillation), it will increase the intensity of the energy pulses.
An ICD is usually implanted just below the collarbone on the left side of your chest. If you have questions about implantable cardioverter defibrillator surgery, a cardiologist in Chattanooga may be the doctor you need to answer all your questions.
Can You Live a Normal Life with an ICD?
The point of the ICD is to extend the patient’s life and get their arrhythmia or fibrillation under control so that the patient may enjoy a more healthy, pain-free life without sudden cardiac arrest.
If you have an ICD implanted, you may wonder what it’s like when a pacemaker defibrillator goes off. For the most part, the electro-pulses are undetectable by the patient.
If you’re beginning to suffer from arrhythmia, you may feel a flutter or nothing at all. If you’re having fibrillation, you may receive a more intense shock, which some patients say feels like a thump in the chest.
How Long Can You Live With an ICD Implant?
In general, you can expect to extend your life five to seven years.1 Those patients with congenital heart disease may live even longer as they may have the device implanted at a much younger age than other patients.
This time frame is dependent on your lifestyle and how often you get checked by your physician.
Can You Play Sports with an ICD?
An expert cardiologist can outline any restrictions they may have for you more clearly after your surgery. With your doctor’s permission, you can return to a mostly healthy life around two to three weeks after your implantation, depending on your age and condition at the time of your surgery.
This means you should be able to return to your exercise regimen, have sexual relations, work outside, take a bath, and go back to work. In general, here are some of the limitations you may face after the procedure:3
Inform your doctor or dentist of your ICD if you’re having a procedure, no matter how minor.
Do not wear MP3 players as they may contain a magnetic substance that interferes with your ICD.4
Shock wave lithotripsy is a procedure used to break up kidney stones inside the body, but it can also disrupt your ICD.
A procedure called transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation or TENS is used to treat chronic pain and make your ICD malfunction.
Radiation treatments used for cancer treatment can damage the wiring in your ICD.
Always carry an ID card that identifies that you have an implanted device. It’s even more useful to have a MedicAlert bracelet or necklace.
Let your physician know if you’re feeling depressed, stressed, or believe that you’re suffering from PTSD symptoms.
Can You Use a Defibrillator on Someone with an ICD?
You can use a defibrillator on someone with an ICD. If the cardiac arrest cause is not arrhythmia or fibrillation, then an ICD may not get the signal to send out electro pulses.
If this is the case, a defibrillator should be employed as soon as possible by a medical professional. The defibrillator will detect, through the pads, if the ICD has equalized the patient’s heart rate and won’t deliver a shock. The defibrillator will not harm the ICD.
If you have an implanted device, you may wonder what to do when a pacemaker defibrillator goes off. When your ICD is turned off, it will not give out the requisite electro-pulses if your heart-rate goes awry, and cannot help you equalize your heart.
The Final Word
An ICD can extend your life by years and may save your life in the instance of cardiac arrest. People who have ICDs implanted generally live a very similar life to the one they lived before the surgery.
If you’re looking for one of the top-rated cardiologists in Chattanooga, Dr. Tim Talbert has the expertise and skills you want.
References
Living With Your Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (ICD). (2016, September 30).
Living with a Pacemaker or Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator ICD. (n.d.).
Abbasi, M., Negarandeh, R., Norouzadeh, R., & Shojae Mogadam, A. (2016, June 22). The Challenges of Living With an Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator: A Qualitative Study.
Webster, G., Jordao, L., Martuscello, M., Mahajan, T., Alexander, M., Cecchin, F., . . . Berul, C. (2008, April). Digital music players cause interference with interrogation telemetry for pacemakers and implantable cardioverter-defibrillators without affecting device function.