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Alina M. Family Member

Dizziness, fainting and a low PI

Wed, 11/22/2017 - 2:34AM
I am writing this in hope of finding someone with some advice. Perhaps someone out there has experienced the following sympoms and has found healing. My father, is currently in the hospital and his team doesn't know for sure what is causing his constant dizziness and low PI. He has also experienced vtacs. His team initially thought it was from being on Lasix and being too dehydrated. Then after many normal tests, they said it might be the right side of the heart weakening and not pushing enough blood to the left side. They started to adjust his meds, but he is slightly better with the vtacs and pi, but it hasn't completely gone away. Does anyone know what could be the cause? Thank you for your time!
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Gregory D.

Mon, 12/04/2017 - 11:32AM
Hi there low controller numbers are being caused by 2 things, dehydration and screwed up electrolytes. The PI can be increased by drinking Pedialyte or another electrolyte drink. No more than what his LVAD team says is the max for the day. Been there done that and the electrolyte drinks do help.
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Jessica G.

Sun, 12/17/2017 - 1:23AM
Yes and also inquire about his potassium, iron, and magnesium levels.
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Anne W.

Mon, 01/08/2018 - 4:08PM
Are we talking about low flow and high PI? This is the case with my husband.. The heartmate3 apparently has a few reports of this nature - they say its more positional than heartmate2 sometimes lying on your left side could cause alarms Also it could depend on the size of your LV cavity which if it is small could be a problem also it could be related to hypertension - and if you take more than one med for htn, in the morning some say you should check into staggering them a few hours apart. Are the low flow incidents close together - particular time of day? of course if you have intermittent arrhythmias -this also could be a problem and an ambulatory EKG study may shed some light of course hydration is a huge culprit. Just some thoughts My husband was a marathon runner and never smoked etc, etc, but damage was still done.... Having a good time - met some cool folks along the way - had the LVAD since June 2017 - Our kids call me "Cyborg"
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Anne W.

Mon, 01/08/2018 - 4:25PM
Did you mean low flow and High PI? This is a troubleshooting list for Heartmate3 There could be a myriad of reasons for these alarms 1. Dehydration of course and electrolyte imbalance 2. LV cavities pre and post LVAD - small cavities are prone to these symptoms 3. Intermittent arrhythmias - chk with ambulatory EKG study 3. Heartmate 3 are more sensitive to balance than heartmate2 4.it could be related to Hypertension - ck when this happens - consider spacing hypertensives out more during the day 5.Does this happen at a particular time of day ? particular activity? 6. Lying on left side has been known to cause it also My husband was a marathon runner, no smoking, no family history etc. etc. so sometimes there are no answers... However, we are travelling, having fun and happy to be doing so - Our grandkids call him "Cyborg" if you get more feedback - please share..
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gilbert b.

Mon, 12/10/2018 - 8:13PM

I was constantly having low flow alarm with my heartmate 3 along with high

pi readings and dizziness. they finally get recall notice that pump connection has flaw in way it was designed

and i had surgery to correct it which seems to have helped with alarms. i don't read much on here about

the heartmate 3 recall

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Chris H.

Thu, 12/27/2018 - 3:56PM

Have they checked his Hemoglobin levels? I was having awful bouts of dizziness. Very lethargic. Turned out it was caused by an active bleed and my hemoglobin had dropped dramatically.

A few pints of blood sure helped 👍👍

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Jean G.

Tue, 06/06/2023 - 5:58PM

My with after her LVAD insertion was performed Oct 2022, she was experiencing a lot of dizziness. After a couple months it was me who asked the DR what meds could be causing this, We adjusted her meds and reduced some and 1/2 of the dizziness was gone. Lorsarton was stopped which one of the side effects is dizziness. We also stopped carvedilol which also caused dizziness.And just recently we reduced her Pantoprazole to 1/2 which she was taking due to stomach bleeding because of the prednisome she has been taking for over 10 years due to lung rhumatoid arthritsis! Yet she is still dizzy, does anyone have or had this dizziness issue and if so how did you stop it? I don't know if it's the meds or there just isn't enough blood being pushed to the brain that causes this dizziness and it is extremely frustrating to her. Dr/cardiologist can't figure it out either. We already went to a neoalogist who tested her and determined it had nothing to do with the stroke over a year ago and agreed that it has to be lack of blood flow to her head/brain. So I am wondering if I should suggest to the DR again, if upping the pump speed will increase blood flow to her head/brain!!!