Reduce BPM at night to save battery?

Its almost 5 months since my PM surgery and the rate was set at 60 BPM. My cardiologist suggested that I can reduce it to 40 BPM at night so that the battery lasts little longer.I am pacing 100% of the time as my natural rate is around 30 BPM.My PM technician doesn't think the battery's life extends that much if we reduce the BPM at night. Anyone faced this situation before ? Any response is greatly appreciated.

Thanks

6 Comments

had mine reduced - no difference

by SaraTB - 2015-04-16 01:04:08

MY EP decided to allow mine to go down to 50bpm at night, but not to save battery life, just to help me sleep better. As it turns out, it hasn't made any difference to either . . .

No difference

by golden_snitch - 2015-04-16 01:04:16

No, that will very likely not make any difference. It really does not depend on how much we pace or at at what rate, but more on how much energy is needed to stimulate the heart effectively; pacing voltage is much more important than pacing percentage.

Same here

by vattens1 - 2015-04-16 07:04:00

Mine was turned down to help sleep made no difference

Thank you all for the responses.

by seenu302 - 2015-04-16 08:04:02

I agree that 60 BPM is better than 40 even at night. My cardiologist thinks at sleep time people will be fine at 40 BPM.Anyways if nothing is to be gained out of reducing it then risk is too high.

I worry....

by MelodyMarch - 2015-04-16 08:04:08

About setting things by time. What happens when you still need to be active after the time is set for you to be in "sleep" mode? Or you have to get up before "awake" mode, or suddenly have to respond to a stimulus during the night?

No thank you, keep mine at 60, I sleep better than I ever did pre-pacemaker.

Besides, battery life is mostly dependent on lead impedance, not pacing percentage.

the tech is right

by Tracey_E - 2015-04-16 08:04:41

The difference will be negligible. Your body needs the oxygen more than you need a tiny bit extra battery life. Lots of things affect battery life, surprisingly how much we pace is not very high on the list.

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I had a pacemaker when I was 11. I never once thought I wasn't a 'normal kid' nor was I ever treated differently because of it. I could do everything all my friends were doing; I just happened to have a battery attached to my heart to help it work.