Biking

Had my pacemaker implanted in oct 2011. The only time I have strange problems with it, is when I bike. I am a very casual rider, in fact a good runner could pass me by. My problem last summer was that the heart rate goes up so fast then I hit limit, go into 2 n 1 block, then it falls within 5 sec to low end. Before my heart surgery and pm I was riding casually 7 miles a night with no problem. They now think they have the rapid descent worked out but are waiting for weather to allow me to get back on bike. My last time out, my rate did not plummet but it went by the top setting of the pm. I know all this cause I ride with an oximeter attached to my finger. Has anyone else had this problem? I know people have pm's an are runners. You would think a casual biker would not have this much problem. Hard to adjust to this creature in my body when I can't seem to live my life the way I use to

3 Comments

pacing

by Tracey_E - 2013-04-19 09:04:27

Do you know if you are primarily pacing atria or ventricle?

The pm has a safety feature if your rate goes up too high it thinks you are in afib and puts you in a 2:1 block to keep the hr down. This is great if you are in afib, a real pain if you are trying to exercise! If you don't have a history of afib, they may be able to turn it off.

If your rate is plummeting on its own, they should be able to program around that also.

If you pace mostly atriial, sometimes bikers have problem getting their hr up enough because rate response isn't sensitive enough to pick up the movement like it would if you were running.

Something that has helped me tremendously over the years is to get on the treadmill in the office while on the pm computer so they can see exactly what i'm doing on exertion, make adjustments and try it out immediately to see how it works.

Heart rate limit

by Jmiller - 2013-04-20 10:04:56

Not sure as the person above noted, what type pacing set up you have but when I got got my first PM I continually ran into the going over the limit issue you talking about playing Hockey. Initially my upper limit was 140 and I found I exceeded that all the time. So they raised it to 150, then 160, then 170 finally was right. It took me over a year to get the cardiologist to get the limit where it should be. Unfortunately I just had an ICD installed and they lowered the limit again because they don't want the limit to close to the shocking limit.

I never had much discomfort exceeding the limit, it just freaked me out how irregular my beat was. What do you feel when you hit the limit?

Jim

Biking

by Yvvy - 2013-04-20 11:04:18

I pace 100% in ventricle and 13% in atria. My limit as of now is set at 170 top and 50 bottom. Right before it went into 2.1 block I would get tight on breath and a bad headache. They turned off rate response. Adjusted the drop so it declines much slower. It was falling from top to bottom in 5 sec. They had me do a stress test hooked to pm machine. When I got to level 10 or 12 on treadmill my hr was 169 and at that time my limit was 160, it showed I was dropping every other beat. They called Boston sci and did some type of calculations for a new setting. That was in this oct and have not had temps to go back out on bike to see how things are. I do have treadmill, elliptical, and recumbent bike here in house so I use one of those daily. I'm reaching in 150s on elliptical less on other machines. I also am an asthmatic which I'm sure plays a part in this. Just frustrating to have new valve an pacemaker. Was told I would feel so much better after all this but I'm not. I must say too my surgery was a lot as I also had a 6cm aneurysm and they had to replace a chunk of my aorta. Then came pacemaker after I came home for one day and was passing out all day. A perfect storm doc said. I know people say they live normal lives with pm but its been a year an half an still chasing the rabbit. Sorry so wordy just wanted to answer both comments and thank you both for your comments

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