Maximum Heart Rate Setting

max just means where the pm stops helping

by techiej - 2016-07-28 17:26:55

if you hit the max setting it just means that you heart is working on it's own from that upwards...shouldn't affect anything else

you may need some adjustment to the max or more likely the response rate needs adjustment...this is how fast the pm will pick up the rate when it detects you are ererting yourself

both of these are easy adjustments for your dr to make

fast drops

by Tracey_E - 2016-07-28 22:14:37

Do you have it for av block? If yes, if your atrial rate went over what the ventricles are programmed to pace, you probably won't feel well. If your rate suddenly drops in half, that's a safety feature that kicks in to help with afib. It detects the fast rate and starts pacing 2:1, so 1 ventricular beat to 2 atrial beats and your rate drops in half. If you have no history of afib, they can turn this off. 

Your heart can go faster on its own. The pacer can only pace up to the upper limit, but it can't prevent the heart from going faster. 

Brady

by Czechmate - 2016-07-29 10:44:20

Hi TraceyE, I have the pm for Bradycardia.  The rate didn't drop to exactly half, but went from 140 to 110 during the same amount of exercise intensity.  I had to slow down because it didn't bounce back and I could feel what I think is lactic acid building in my legs.  Also, a 110 rate is about all I would get to prior to the implant.  So it's like the pm stopped pacing me after my rate bounced around 140 for a minute.  Strange because everything was going so good.  I'm taking the day off and will try some exercise again this weekend and see what happens.  I had the pm installed 15 days ago so maybe I'm pushing it too hard, but I thought stationary cycling was fine at any level at this point. 

pacing

by Tracey_E - 2016-07-29 10:51:33

Bradycardia just means a slow rate, it's more a symptom than a cause. Do you know what causes the brady?

If it wasn't exactly half, it's unlikely it was the afib safety thing kicking in. 

That feeling when your rate dropped is a red flag that something isn't right so don't push to that point until you figure out what's going on. They will adjust the settings when you go back for your first check. They like to give us time to heal and the heart time to get used to being paced before they start fine tuning. Tell them the day/time it happened, they may be able to see what happpened.  

Thanks

by Czechmate - 2016-07-29 11:01:41

OK will do.  I'm just really antsy as I feel like the pm has given me a new life of sorts.

I had it implanted for the symptomatic Bradycardia with my resting rate around 30 prior to the implant.  I'm an endurance athlete (marathons, ultras, etc.).  I also had impaired chronotropic response for years.  When I hit the 130s yesterday, a number I haven't seen in a long time, I felt like a kid again!

Thanks.

oh, I get that!

by Tracey_E - 2016-07-29 11:13:37

I'm the one who got in trouble for pacing the floors of the hospital the night of my surgery. Nurses kept telling me to get back in bed but my hr went from low 20's to normal and I was too energized to sit still. You'll be back to running marathons before you know it. 

Ok, rate not climbing on exertion means the pacer is probably using rate response to sense when you are active and raise your rate for you. Rate response has a lot of settings and sensitivity levels and no two of us are alike so it is normal to take a few tries to find a good balance. If you have one that only senses movement, it probably didn't even register you were on the bike because your chest wasn't moving. Some of them also monitor breathing, those will work on a bike, but again, lots of settings to fine tune so the odds of getting it perfect first try are pretty small. 

My rate dropped off a few times on activity when it was new. I wasn't using rr then to get my rate up but sometimes it would go up on its own then tank for a few seconds. They turned on a feature to monitor how quickly it drops so it can come down naturally after a workout but if it drops too quickly, it kicks in with pacing to keep it level.