Guys,

I had my P/M inserted in May 2010, I have recently started running again, however the last cuple of long runs that I have done have resulted in me feeling quite unwell.

What I mean by unwell is that I have the same type of feeling that I was having pre P/M, ie light headed , dizzie etc.

The runs have be approx 7.5 to 9.5 miles, also during the last run I had my Garmin heart monitor on, during the run my BPM went from 151 down to 115 BPM at which stage I felt quite dizzie.

Would be very grateful for any thoughts you all may have.

regards.
Westies2803

 

 

You are younger than me, so your top limit is probably set higher than mine, that doesn't mean that its the highest your heart can go, but the highest that your pm helps your heart out to. Perhaps you need your upper limit raising a little, speak to your technician on the phone and ask.

Also, is your rate response on? I couldnt function properly doing any sort of exercise with mine turned off. Worth a try.

I've done the gym and a swim today, feel good. It sounds to me as if you are crashing down when your pm reaches its limit.

HH

 

I agree, I think you need to adjust your settings. I was feeling like I was hitting a wall some days just doing the normal things. I went in and they adjusted my RR and things have been much better since. Mine was on but needed to be up higher. Good luck!

 

Hi westies,
I got my PM 3+ years ago and have been a runner for 30 years. I'm 53 years old. About 3 months ago I started having the same problem you describe, though it had never happened before. My heart rate drops never started until I was 30 minutes into a run, and then usually while running uphill. Once it went from 160 all the way down to 50 beats per minute, the bottom rate at which my PM is set to pace my heart. And this was while I was running up a steep hill. I called the cardiac nurse in my EPs office and went in for a treadmill stress test. Turns out I've developed AV block and after my heart tires from running, the AV block kicks in, so my atrium is still beating properly, but the signal to my ventricle doesn't get through. They adjusted my PM settings to add ventricular pacing anytime the delay between my atrial beat and ventricular beat is beyond a certain point. That took care of it. I still have smaller drops sometimes (150 down to 130), but it only last a couple seconds then pops right back up. Go see your doctor and have them work on programming settings. Unfortunately you may have difficulty generating the problem on a treadmill. They had to reduce the incline on the treadmill so I could keep running for a full 35 minutes before they finally saw the problem on the EKG. Normally treadmill tests don't take nearly that long.
By the way, I don't have rate response turned on as I don't need it (my heart rate elevates while exercising without any help). And I don't have a "top rate" for pacing either -- just a bottom rate of 50 beats per minute. The underlying condition that lead to my getting the PM is bradycardia.
Good luck! I hope you get the problem solved as it's frustrating, and frankly it's not safe to keep running when this happens. You could easily faint.

CathrynB

 

Hi

I had my PM 4 years ago and suffered very similar problems. Lots of returning to the hospital and trial and error sorted it out. I have since run a marathon and various other races.

I did still have a problem with my heart rate rhythm. I was refereed to a specialist in London and he recommended a very low dose of Beta blockers. This has solved the problem. I can adjust the dose as required and rarely have any problems.

Hope you get it sorted.

 

Greetings to all! Have had my icd since'06 and just found this site do to running questions. However this is my 3rd attempt to post so here goes!

 

I found this site as I started googling running issues and found it. So happy to have somewhere to go.
Been working on getting my mileage up (currently 5k length) in order to run 2 races, one end of July, other end of Aug. Anyway..
Was wearing my heartrate monitor to make sure I was in a safe place. Did the same thing when I was skiing Nastar races. It was fine until I noticed it dropped to 60! I thought it was the batteries in the monitor, replaced them and its still happening. Had an appt with my PA and told her this. Currently, we are waiting for my icd battery to get a little lower as it will need to be replaced sooner than later. Anyway..
She talked to the dr. and now they want to wait to speak with my head dr. about changing the settings. My PA also suggested letting my head Dr. know that maybe the next device should be more sophisticated to accommodate different settings for more activities as I like to run and ski. Anyone, with any ideas it would be terrific to hear from you! I live on the eastern end of Long Island NY in case anyone wants to run or ski with me!!
Thanks in advance
Jennifer