Isn´t my average pacing HR very slow?

Hi my friends, I had an EKG holter monitor two weeks ago and it siggests that my PM generate the beating at all time so I am 100% dependant (beacuse of SA and AV node ablations). I have a question - it showed that my average HR is just 67/min. Isn´t it very slow? I said to my doc that the HR is not going up very much when I am active and do something, but he didn´t say a word. My setting is 60-140/min, but it never went to 140. Do you think that 67/min is slow for me? I am 23 years old and would like to live normal active life. Hope to hear from you soon :-). Thanks a lot and have a great time.

4 Comments

how do you feel?

by Tracey_E - 2009-05-05 03:05:05

Are you able to exercise and do what you want? Or do you get winded? If you feel good, then it's all good. 140 is just a max that the pm will go, that doesn't mean you ever get it that high. If you're getting worn out, you might want to ask them to adjust the sensitivity on the rate response. But if it ain't broke, don't fix it ;o)

And keep in mind that average is just that- an average. How high do you get when you exercise? I can get to 150 when I work out, but that's only 20 min three times a week, a small percentage of the time overall, so it doesn't have much affect on the average number.

not feel very well

by mikki14 - 2009-05-05 05:05:08

Hi there,

thanks a lot for your messages.

As I said I think that my setting is low for me. For example: if I run (trying really fast) my HR is 100/min, not higher then 105, so I cannot breathe normally and must stop and wait to catch the breathe again. I don´t know ... maybe just me think that it is slow and it is normal, is it? Before my SA and AV node ablation I had average HR 140-150/min at all the time, so I was used to really very high HR, so I don´t know if it would be better to go and try to sets it on higher HR or what to do.

Let me know what do you think please.

Thank you very much.

Misa

Sensitivity

by nat - 2009-05-05 07:05:01

Hi! 67 is actually pretty good. I am 23 too, my PM sets off at 60 as well. If you are tired when you try to exercise or climb up stairs your PM may need to be made more sensitive to react to the activity. It can take several adjustments especially if your doctor is used to working with elderly patience. Be persistent.
Best!
Natalie

what's normal

by Tracey_E - 2009-05-06 05:05:04

I don't really think there is a normal because we're all different, and what's normal for us for a while may not be normal forever. I used to stay around 130 when I work out, suddenly last year I started going up to 160+. No idea why it changed, but my "normal" sure isn't what it used to be.

Go by how you feel. If you don't feel well on exertion then it probably isn't high enough. I would ask them about the sensitivity on the rate response. They should be able to set it so you go higher. If you've had both SA and AV nodes ablated, your heart will only go as high as the pm tells it to. They're trying to set the pm to do what your heart would do on its own before the ablations- odds of them getting it perfect the first time are slim! It'll take a few tries to get it right because it's just educated guesses.

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