Heart Rate Monitor

I am a 43 year old runner ( not very fast ) who had a pacemaker implanted in June 2014. I have a 2 to 1 AV Heart block, which means I block when I reach a higher heart rate, mostly on hills. I have been advised to run with a heart rate monitor, so I went and spent a small fortune on the Garmin band and found it doesn't pick up my pacing so it is useless to me. Can anyone recommend an accurate heart rate monitor watch or band? I'd really like one that tracks distance too. Cheers :)

8 Comments

Bouncy heart

by cee - 2015-02-05 06:02:45

The problem with trying in store is that am not permanently paced. The PM only kicks in when I am blocking. My heart specialist recommended wearing a HRM when running as my heart has developed a recent habit of bouncing up to over 200 BPM ( it's been as high as 229 ) then it will stay there for ages and block down to say 89. The PM seems to take forever to kick in, meanwhile I am struggling to run through it. Feels awful!

My usual rate on a good run doesn't go over 180 and if it does it doesn't stay up there for long. Hence I would like to know what my heart is doing while on a run. It's frustrating because I feel like I am not making progress with my running. I can run for longer but can't run faster, sprinting is definitely out, hills are a struggle too. I am not fast by any means so I don't think my heart rate should be bouncing up like that.

Oops, I am sounding very whiney. It's certainly better than having to stop 3 to 4 times in a 40min run because I'd block all the time, and my heart would get stuck on a low rate, pre PM. Thanks for your comments. Cheers :)




Garmin

by wjs1954 - 2015-02-05 07:02:06

HR monitor and pacemakers ??

i have a 405CX and 705 (for biking) which work fine and I know for a fact it is correct. The reason i know it is correct (well the 405cx) is because i had it on when doing a stress test and be interrogation of pacemaker all at the same time. all three HR were with 1-2 beats per minute..and i know the 705 is correct because i have compared it to the 405 while riding my bike.

With that said other have said garmin and or other HR monitors do not work.
i have a Medtronics Advisa MRI Pacemaker 2-24-14. i would think and maybe we should do a survey on Type PM type HRM to see if we all find only a few will work type to type...

just my guess.

try before you buy

by Tracey_E - 2015-02-05 08:02:27

I've never been able to find one that works for me but other members have had better luck. I found running stores more helpful than chain stores. Once I explained why, they allowed me to try them in the store.

Question, since you are now paced why do they still want you to run with a monitor? Theoretically the pm kicks in when you go in block so you have a normal rate now. While it's nice to know what our rate is, I've learned to work around it. If I feel strong, if I can talk but not sing, I assume whatever my heart is doing is ok.

I track distance on my phone with runkeeper. If I play music on my phone during my run, it even tells me my pace every few minutes.

HRM

by wjs1954 - 2015-02-05 09:02:43

For me i wear one because i can : ),

guess i am just a geeky guy never too much data,

Plus some like to use it too train by, as for intensity of the run, or a gauge on improvement, or to run at a set intensity depending on day or training cycle..

or other reasons many other reason as we break down our cycles and compare data in training, racing or just walking with the sun in our faces : )

again as for me just cause i like data, lots of DATA

Polar Heart Rate Monitor

by Grateful Heart - 2015-02-05 10:02:57


Mine is an FT2 model, very basic with a strap. It does not track distance, for that I use a FitBit Ultra. There may be newer Polar models that track distance, I'm not sure.

We are all different but mine is pretty accurate for me. I have a CRT-D too and my HR likes to jump into the 200's even if I am not doing anything aerobic, sometimes during and after weight training. Walking up a short flight of stairs just yesterday 10 minutes AFTER exercise....194. My shock lead is set for a 220 HR after 8 seconds so I don't want that to happen. Not that we can control it but maybe?

So I wear mine during exercise to keep an eye on my HR when it goes too high. I recently bought a pulse ox meter and my HRM comes within 1 beat of the p/o meter when I compare it.

Boston Scientific printed info advises to wear the sensor of the strap to the right side of the chest...just off center because my device is implanted on the left....so the opposite side of chest. I don't know if that is why I don't have any interference but it works for me. BTW, I have plenty of interference with other outside forces such as some store security devices so go figure.

If you can try before you buy that great! The first HRM I had was a wrist watch type only...no strap. That did not work for me but again, we are all different.

Grateful Heart

HR monitor

by WillieG - 2015-02-05 11:02:42

I have found that the Polar FT7 with chest strap works well for me. I am hoping to find one without the strap but haven't yet. I, too, have 2nd degree AV block only with exercise. I wear the monitor as my PM does not pace me when I have a block. I just try not to get my HR much over 150 and I do just fine! It doesn't tell distance...just high rate, aver rate, time and calories. Think it also does fat burn and fitness time.

Good luck! I did read that with wrist monitors, for biking, one must wear them higher in the arm.

SVT

by Tracey_E - 2015-02-06 12:02:33

Have they said you have SVT? I do something similar and that was my diagnosis. Most workouts I stay around 150 but every once in a while I shoot up over 200. For me, it was unrelated to exertion, sometimes it just happened. It wasn't dangerously fast, but it caused problems because I am always in block therefore I always pace ventricle. The pm can only go to 180, so any time I got over that I'd be out of sync. It got bad enough I spent half my workout backing off to let me rate come down. I finally went on a very low dose beta blocker. Now it goes up like it should (150-160) but I never get that sudden racing higher. I really didn't want to take it and put it off for a long time, but it works.

Your rate should not drop to 89 when you are running now. If it is, there is a setting they can change. The pm has a safety setting that detects afib and puts you in an artificial block, so if you are doing 200 it will pace you at 100. If you are just working out and not in afib, this will cause problems. They can turn it off.

Heart rate Monitors

by Arejay47 - 2015-09-08 11:09:13

I have a MRI SureScan PM fitted which was fitted back in April and after a few adjustments I went back to cycling. I purchased a new Garmin 510 with HRM/CAD but noticed while riding the Heartrate readings were very intermittent or didn't work at all but everything else did. Trying to get anything out of Garmin is like blood out of a stone but in essence the HRM and the PC don't like each other so I stopped wearing the belt and go by feel and so far everything is fine apart from one or two episodes of SVT which go back into normal rhythm after a few minutes. Almost all HRMs seem to be in ANT+ now so I don't bother looking for one that works. My Sigma computer was good but also intermittent with readings.

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