pulse rate

When exercising on a treadmill, which monitors my heart when the rate exceeds 115 or so, my pacemaker apparently cuts in and reduces the rate to 70 or so.  

Should I stop exercising at that point??

3 Comments

yes

by Tracey_E - 2011-10-31 04:10:30

Definitely stop when that happens! Your body needs the oxygen at 115 but it's suddenly getting half that. I'd call and ask to have the pm checked. They should be able to reprogram it to not do that. I had a similar problem and it was fixed with settings.

Another Point

by Creaky - 2011-10-31 05:10:59

I had a similar but not exact occurrence. When working out I couldn't get my heart rate to go over 115-120. When I eventually went in to have it checked, it turned out that one lead was defective. They had to replace the lead.
Once the lead was replaced I have no further problem.
Get it checked. Best of luck.
Harry

I agree

by ElectricFrank - 2011-11-01 12:11:41

It's likely that the setting called Upper Tracking Limit is still set at the factory default of 120 BPM. When this happens your heart beat not only slows down, but becomes irregular which isn't comfortable.

One other possibility is that your heart isn't actually slowing down, but the HR monitor on the treadmill isn't giving an accurate reading due the the modified electrical waveform caused by the pacer. This is a common problem that is reported here on the forum regularly. The best way to check this is the old fashioned method of feeling the pulse and timing it with a watch.

frank

You know you're wired when...

Your favorite poem is “Ode to a Cardiac Node”.

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A pacemaker suddenly quitting is no more likely to happen than you are to be struck by lightening.