Problems with rate response

Hi Everyone,

I am still having a lot of problems with the rate response setting. I went to the doctor and first he shut off the rr , I felt great around the house, no flutters, no palpitations but when I went out to ride my bike my heart rate wouldn't go above 60, the programmed minimum and I quickly felt like garbage and had to return home after 3 miles. I am assuming that my sinus node is shot as well since my heart rate wouldn't increase unless there is a setting on the pacemaker that would prevent it? I went back to the doctor and explained the problem, he turned on the rr again, put the maximum heart rate to 160 and set the pacemaker to pace me up to 150 (I believe this limits to be too low). The problem is that the pm is sensitive, more than before, when I walk (or do anything for that matter) the vibrations from pounding on the ground make the pacemaker increase my heart rate to 150 after 15 seconds. Now when I need to exert myself, like walking up a hill for example, I am already at the pacing limit and I have no "room" to move so while I am exerting myself I start to get some flutter feelings and my heart rate will not go above 151.
We are at a complete loss on how to program my pacemaker. My doctor says I am his worst and most difficult case by far. I want to continue riding but I can't even go walking walking without hitting the wall. Any ideas on how we should proceed from here?

Thanks,
Todd

3 Comments

level of activity

by golden_snitch - 2009-11-24 01:11:06

Hi!

Your pacer should have a "level of activity" setting. It usually offers something like: very low, low, medium, high, very high. Now, if the pacer is set at low the pacer will increase your heart rate very fast as this setting is for those who are not trained at all (no endurance). But when it's set at medium or high or even very high the pacer won't react that quickly because it thinks you are quite well trained and therefore your heart rate doesn't have to be so fast when you exercise (your heart muscle is stronger due to the training, and it can therefore pump all the blood needed during exercise with less beats per minute than when you are totally out of shape).
Ask your cardio about this setting, it might help.

A treadmill test could also be helpful as Tracey said. However, it really has to be a treadmill and not a bicycle ergometre because when you are bicycling your rate response sensor won't react the same way it does when you are walking. That's because when you do a test on a bicycle your upper body is not moving very much, so there are no "vibrations" from the pounding on the ground (like when you are walking or running) the pacer could react to.

Best wishes
Inga

settings

by Tracey_E - 2009-11-24 08:11:29

No, there is not a setting on the pm that will prevent your hr from going higher if it wants to on its own. There are limits to how high it'll pace, but it can't do anything to prevent it if your heart goes faster on its own. It sounds like your problem is with the pm settings.

If he's only tried off and on, it sounds like he may not know much about fine tuning rate response. The rate response has several sensitivity settings. It may take a few tries to get it adjusted properly for you, to find that balance where you go up when you need to but don't jump up every time you move. Ask if there is a setting lower than where he has it now, something between off and where you are now.

A few minutes on a treadmill should show the doctor how high you need to get when you work out and where the upper limit should be.

Is the dr an EP or cardiologist? If he's not an EP, you might want to try that next. Or possibly the manufacturer's rep. The reps tend to know the ins and outs of the devices better than a lot of the drs.

I had a problem working out last year that 3 reps and my doc could not figure out so they faxed my records to St Judes. Their engineers made me a case study and sent back recommended settings a few days later.

I Wonder if this is my problem

by tachybrady69 - 2012-09-05 03:09:13

I posted about left arm and jaw pain a few days ago. Looking over old posts I came across this one. Since my cardio says I do not have angina after do the test I had done, is it possible that my rate response level of activity is set wrong? I got a copy of my Interrogation and here is what is has for pacing details:

Rate Response - 8
Activity Threshold : Medium Low
Activity Acceleration: 30 sec.
Activity Deceleration: 5 minutes

When I get the pain in my left arm it is after I am walking at a fairly good clip. No other symptoms then the left arm and sometimes jaw pain. I stop walking at within 5 minutes the symptoms go away. Any thoughts on this? Or is it my body needs to adjust to my faster heart rate like my cardio was telling me? I can't believe that. Thanks Lorraine

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