Sudden Rate Drop

I had a Medtronic MRI SureScan installed 5 weeks ago. It is set for a low rate of 60 bpm. Rate Response is "OFF". My concern is that, sometimes while exercising, my heart rate will SUDDENLY drop 25-30 bpm as soon as I stop (or maybe sit down). An example is a sudden drop from 100 to 70. I get very light headed when this happens. Is anyone familiar with a setting that will taper this drop down gradually?
Birdman

4 Comments

Yup.

by mckate - 2012-02-23 01:02:35

I had that problem and I'm not sure what setting was changed, but they can definitely fix that for you. It still does it but not as sudden as before. GL!

Rate Drop Response

by jenny97 - 2012-02-23 09:02:45

The first thing I would say is that you should probably talk to your dr and the technician who interrogates your PM. they are more familiar with your diagnoses, your capabilities, and the available PM settings.

That said, I'm sure others will weigh in with possible explanations for the apparent drop in heart rate, as some who did not have this problem prior to PM implantation have experienced something similar.

However, if you did have this problem prior to PM implantation, then you may need to have rate drop response (RDR) turned on (assuming your PM has that capability). I have this setting turned on for me because I have neurocardiogenic syncope (NCS) and postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS). My heart rate and my bp will suddenly bottom out for no good reason. So my rate drop response is set to sense when I have a drop of 20 bpm in 20 seconds. When this drop is sensed, my PM kicks in at a hr of 95 bpm for 2 minutes. The idea is that this will help boost my bp and keep my heart going at a more reasonable rate until my body is able to maintain it on its own again.

If you don't have the bp problem, I would imagine they could set the RDR at a more normal pulse rate.

Of course, this will not help with a tapering of hr, it will only prevent it from dropping at too fast of a speed. If you are working out and your heart rate is in the 180 range and it suddenly bottoms out, but RDR is set at 95 bpm, then you still have a significant drop in hr and may feel symptomatic.

There may be other settings that I am not aware of that could help, so hopefully others can share their experiences.

Good luck!

Me too

by Peg541 - 2012-02-23 11:02:04

Why did you need the PM in the first place? This is why I got mine and now when I exercise my HR drops from maybe 112 to 70 where the pacer is set. Before that it dropped to 34 which was horrible for me. The drop to 70 is less dramatic and I don't feel it. I cannot get up much past 112 due to SSS but the rate control response did not work for me, too sensitive.
I am sure there is a setting. Talk to the Rep and maybe you'll get some action. Good luck.
Peg

Last Week

by CarlaMaciel - 2012-10-17 01:10:32

Last week I had a patient with a Revo PM he has had 2 episodes of syncope/collaspe since implant. We did a NIPS which was negative for VT. I wanted to program a Sudden Rate Drop therapy ON and was unable to. Medtronic Revo does not have that option. Adapta and Kappa models do.

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It may be the first time we've felt a normal heart rhythm in a long time, so of course it seems too fast and too strong.