For the most part, yes. A person’s cardiologist can give the best advice to the individual, but most people with ICDs can exercise and go about their day-to-day activities, including sex. While a person’s heartbeat may increase during sexual activity, that increase is usually not enough to trigger a shock from the ICD.

Sexual activity sometimes decreases for people with ICDs, however. A 2013 study in the Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing found that a group of study subjects was having less sex six months after their device implantation. There can be a number of reasons for this decrease, including anxiety about the device, side-effects of heart medications, and nervous partners.