having a harder time running now...

I've had my pacemaker for 2 years now and I started running again about 2 months after having it installed. Things were ok as far as running was concerned and I actually was able to run further than I had ever been able to do. Recently though, after my last adjustment, I notice that I get really winded after only about a minute of running and I have to stop and walk for awhile. I don't seem to be able to get any significant progress with this.
Any ideas? I was diagnosed with complete heart block and I have a dual chamber St. Jude Pacemaker. I am pacing 100 percent of the time in my lower chamber.

2 Comments

You are not alone !

by gneilli - 2008-04-26 07:04:34


I have had similar problems with a 2 to one block where at a certain heart rate ( in my case 160 bpm) the pacemacer paces at half the rate. So I get a sudden feeling of being winded -like 'running into a brick wall'
I also have near 100% lower chamber pacing also fitted for about 2 years.

The initial setting on my pacemaker was 120 max after fitting and this was adjusted in stages up to 180 max and each incremental adjustment affected the point where the 2:1 block came in. The heart rate resumes to normal i.e goes from 80 to 160 after a rest at walking pace and I can resume running after around 90 seconds.
The 2:1 block still cuts in at 160 - even though the pacemaker is set to 180 : I am currently getting this investigated.
I would guess that your problem is related to the pacemaker settings - I have found it useful to run with a heart monitor and this does help me to run up to the 160 limit to avoid the block.

thanks!

by sandy529 - 2009-09-25 07:09:23

Sorry, I just noticed that you had replied to my post.
I assumed that I would get an email letting me know I had a response, now I know I just have to login and check.
Thank you so much for your feedback, I will get a heart monitor and see what is going on.

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