Gastric Pacemaker: 3 Months

I was back at the Mayo Clinic this week for my three-month check up and to address issues with abdominal wall twitching and a couple instances of a shock-like sensation.

As I explained in an earlier post, abdominal wall twitching is a rare complication of the procedure caused by an issue with one of the leads that connect the device to the stomach muscles.  While this can require surgery, an abdominal x-ray didn’t reveal any damage or displacement of the device or the leads so my gastroenterologist, surgeon, and Medtronic  representative decided that the best course of action was to decrease the voltage on my settings and increase the frequency of the stimulation.  In similar cases this has been an effective remedy.

As long as I don’t experience any additional twitching or shocks, I should not need surgery.  Hopefully this will further improve my symptoms, as well.  I wasn’t responding well to the higher voltage, aside from the twitching, as my nausea and vomiting had gradually worsened again over the last several weeks since my previous settings adjustment.

As I understand it, some people respond well to lower frequency, higher voltage treatment, while others respond better to lower voltage and higher frequency.  Based on my experience so far, it appears I am in the latter category — which is good news since that’s also the remedy for the twitching issue.

Within the next four weeks I’ll know how this particular setting is working for me.  Fingers crossed!  While I’ve had a few setbacks, I’m confident that I’m finally on my way to realizing the full benefits of the device.

Related Posts:

• Let’s Talk About the Gastric Neurostimulator: Part II
• Let’s Talk About the Gastric Neurostimulator: Part I
• Gastric Pacemaker: One Year Later
• Update: Gastric Pacemaker
• Gastric Pacemaker: 2 Months & 3 Cupcakes Later