Heart rate settings

Settings

by Persephone - 2021-04-21 13:07:04

Hi PITI - it's great that you have a neighbor to share PM discussions with... conversely, virtually all of my info has come from this forum (PS - thank you, all !).  We're all different, though, so what your neighbor experienced may or may not be applicable to your situation.  In my case I was still having some SOB upon exertion. My base rate wasn't changed, but RR setting were adjusted, giving me more energy when I need it and also resulting in an overall higher heart rate.  Perhaps you should note your question for discussion with your doctor / clinic upon your next visit.

Heart rate settings

by Gemita - 2021-04-21 13:28:55

Hello Piti,

Yes as Persephone says, we are all different and what may suit one patient may not suit another and the only way to really find out is to try out a few settings with the guidance and support of a good EP (electrophysiologist) who hopefully can balance all the settings to suit you.

To answer your question, my minimum heart rate is set at 70 bpm and upper tracking rate at 130 bpm.  To be honest the upper rate is a bit restrictive when I exercise but because I suffer from arrhythmias that can take off at rapid speeds, they are reluctant to raise this at the moment.

I find 70 bpm ideal for me (day and night).  Some would find it too high and uncomfortable, particularly at night.  Anything lower than 70 bpm would tend to trigger my arrhythmias which are triggered by falling heart rates.  At 70 bpm I feel less cold all the time, I certainly have more energy and I sleep much better.  An added bonus is better control of my arrhythmias, particularly ectopics which would often trigger AFib and other atrial tachyarrhythmias.  What more could I ask for?

There is absolutely no harm in asking whether you could try having your heart rate settings increased and then you will know whether it would help you.  Your upper tracking rate at 120 bpm seems quite low

There are no hard and fast values

by crustyg - 2021-04-21 13:31:41

Lower rate limit is very individual, but there's a common theme here that we Seniors tend not to start out with very sensible maxHR values.  The EP-doc community is very conservative (or out of date, if you prefer).

We're almost exactly the same age: my maxHR is >160BPM.  Lower rate 50BPM.

Doesn't really matter whether you're a keen dancer, runner, swimmer, cyclist or gym/classes bunny, you need a sensible maxHR - and whatever lower rate allows you to potter around at home.

Rates

by Julros - 2021-04-22 11:34:28

My original rate was 60-130 and I was told this was the pre-set manufacturer's recommendation. After coming to this forum, I realized I could ask for more individualized settings. My office has never offered to adjust to my lifestyle or activity, but they did relunctantly raise my up limit to 140, but refuse to go higher due to my age. They did adjust the sensitivity so I can at least bike up hills. 

Heart Rate Settings

by Marybird - 2021-04-22 12:45:45

The EP who put in my pacemaker ( in June 2019) adjusted the settings at my 6 week post op visit. He set the lower rate at 55, explained to me that this was mainly so the pacer would not need to pace up to 60 at night. He also turned on the rate response, and explained that with this I would not see my heart rate at 55 very much, with any movement the rr would kick in and raise the heart rate to where it needed to be. I have found this to be the case.

He lowered the upper maximum pacing rate from 130 to 120, so as not to "mix it up" ( or something) with the tachycardia alert on the pacemaker which is set to notify someone if the heart rate goes up over 140. The tachy alert was set at this number when the EP determined from earlier monitor studies that my heart rate was often at 140 during atrial tachycardia. 

It's worked pretty well for me, I have not had any problems with these settings.