racing heart

I have a 3 lead pacemaker. Has anyone had a problem of their heart speeding up when in a car,truck, or on a lawnmower when the road or lawn is extemely bumpy? I just had mine checked and they said it was fine, but something is'nt right! I have had mine sense July 18,2007. I go from 65bpm to 130bpm within 100feet walking at a stady pace (not a hurried pace). any ideas to what might be going on?? Larry

4 Comments

Talk to your Doc

by enzobake - 2007-10-02 01:10:03

Larry,

The fix is probably as simple as adjusting the slope of the rate responsive parameter within the device. Modern devices allow for this slope to be changed to adjust the heart rate faster or slower.
Adjusting the upper rate to a lower number is probably NOT the answer if you have an intrinsic atrial driven heartbeat. You will be at risk of going in a block much faster than with a rate programmed at 130. Just talk to your doctor about the rate response, I am sure he will know what you are talking about and see if a little adjustment there doesn't do the trick.
FYI, it may take a couple of adjustments to get it right, so try to be patient!

Racing Heart

by SMITTY - 2007-10-02 01:10:49

Larry,

Read the second paragraph in my comment to the person asking about the effects of the electric cart at Walmarts on their PM. This could be what is happening to you. I have a two lead PM and when the rate response was turned on I had a problem similar to yours.

Smitty

This Is Normal

by peter - 2007-10-02 06:10:29

Unfortunately modern pacemakers have a motion sensor which is not intelligent enough to distinguish between you moving and exercising and the movement your body gets when travelling in a road vehicle. Mine speeds up when im in my car. Although I would comment that in your case your upper rate must be set at least to 130bpm. This is higher than normal which I believe to be 120. Mine is set between 70 and 120 but generally does not beat above 100. In your case I think when they say your pacemaker is fine it is passing the pacemaker check as far as the hospital is concerned. This leaves you unhappy as I can see you are not satisfied when your heart reaches such a high rate. Thier is nothing to stop you insisting that they reset the upper rate to 100bpm. It will only take them a couple of minutes. We have a right to feel OK and as happy as possible. Cheers Peter

Racing Heart

by noodles69us - 2007-12-08 09:12:18

I had my pc check 2 weeks ago and told them I wasn't happy with the way things were going and that something had to be done. If the Doc. or the Teck. would have listened to me after I told them how my heart would race with going over bumpy roads or just walking they should have known the settings were wrong. I shouldn't have had to go 3 months with chest pain and a raceing heart that long. To make a long story short, she listened to me this time and reset the motion sensor. After she did that it felt like someone had there hand around my heart for 2 to 3 days, but other then that I have no problem with walking or riding anymore. Thanks for your comments on my first posting, this is a great site.

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