On the road again

Well, I did it. I rode my bicycle today. I had an ablation back in Aug, and another in late Dec. I haven't felt much like doing anything since the ablation in Aug. Today is the first day I felt energetic enough to get on the bike.

I rode a grand total of 7 miles, with no hills. Within a block after I started riding, noticed my Garmin HR monitor told me my heart was beating around 180bpm. It did eventually settle out at around 115bpm.

I'm not sure if I should be alarmed about this.

3 Comments

Speaking Of Monitor

by donb - 2011-01-24 11:01:19

Frank! Having a heart stent I have Cardiolite Stress Tests every 2 years. Time before last with my 3rd Medtronic PM RR turned on, as they hooked me up to their monitor it indicated 60-120-60-120 and confusion set in. They called in my everyday Dr. and he decide no treadmill. Instead I got the "rat poison" to dialate my blood vessels. They would not put the blame on their antiquated monitor.
I should have used the "Frank" attitude as it's my body.

Well, last year I was due again, (routine) stress test, Lo and behold, same old monitor and was told "no treadmill" and they threw in the excuse that because of my age I wouldn't be able to get my HR to their level to get my blood vessels opened to show proper pictures. Well, as it turned out there were questionable circulation pictures. Naturally, now we need to do a Cath again which showed everything normal, fortunately. AS, I do real well Treadmill getting HR up at hospital rehab gym and at home ?????? Sorry, I couldn't come up with the "rat poison" name but it's bad stuff. Oh, I've been on Plavix, aspirin, & statins for years. Also last blood work, total Cholesterol 144, Triglycerides 58. I had a total Cholesterol of 126 at the time of my 1st stent with my HDL being higher than my LDL. No wonder I get asked by hospital RN nurses, Why are you on this medication?
donb

Garmin Monitor

by ElectricFrank - 2011-01-24 12:01:22

If the Garmin is ECG based which means it uses electrodes, your HR was likely 90bpm which sounds more likely for a block. Many of these monitors will count the pacemaker spike as one beat and the resultant heart beat as another. This gives a rate that is double the actual. The problem is that the effect isn't consistent. As you pick up HR from exercise the pacemaker may change its timing depending on how it is programmed. So when it settled out at 115 that was likely the true rate. Don't be surprise if it suddenly jumps to 230 with posture changes etc.

The best thing to do is to check your pulse manually when the high readings are shown. The difference between 90 and 180 is easy to tell.

frank

Statins

by ElectricFrank - 2011-01-25 12:01:36

Be sure and keep a close watch on liver functions with statins. Around xmas I received a card from an old friend of mine who I last visited in 2004. At that time Stan was so excited about having his lipid levels way down from taking Crestor. I had warned him about side effects of statins, and he gave me the usual story about the side effects being very rare. Well the recent card was actually writtten by his wife. His arms are too weak to write them himself. After all those years the side effect came on suddenly in a matter of a couple of weeks.

I have absolutely refused to take them even though my Cholesterol is 245 and Triglycerides in the 150-200 range. It has been that way since they first started measuring them. They keep giving me all sorts of dire warnings. At the time that I got the pacer the cardiologist wanted me to have chemical stress test, but I don't see any reason to. There is a small, but real chance of dying from it. My approach to that was to get a copy of the release form and ask the doc about the warnings. When he gave me the usual story about the risks being overstated I ask him to get me real stats on the risk and then we could modify the form to conform.

By the way it is easy to deal with the alternating values of the old monitor. I'm sure they have a pulse oximeter available that measures the actual blood pulses and shows them on a screen. Have them put it on you and then watch the blood pulses. If you are actually jumping from 60-120-60 etc it would be very obvious on the screen, which it won't be.

The real issue is that the chemical test requires a lot more monitoring and medical attention. The converts to $$$$$.

frank

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