Pulse spikes

I have a pacemaker and also wear a Polar Heart Monitor.
When brisk walking at a track near my home my pacemaker surges periodically during a 2 mile walk. It may rapidly jump from 100 up to 115 bpm then slow come back down. On some occasions is shot up 25 pts before coming back down. I checked my pulse by hand to verify that the monitor is correct and it is giving the correct reading. The track I walk on has high tension wires about 50 years away and also has some solar panels for the lights. Could this be caused by interference?
What does interference do to the pacemaker coult it be kicking up the heart rate?? Cardioligst tried to pick up this problem from pacemaker read out and said they picked up on 3 surges in couple of months and they were very brief and not to be concerned. I know I get them everyday. Thanks

4 Comments

HM and pacer

by Mitch - 2012-05-25 03:05:06

When I first received my pacer in 07 I had a simular problem. My monitor, also a polar,would jump up to 220 and stay there for a long time but the real rate was not that high. My cardio doc. said tht it was caused by a mild AF and not to worry about it. I changed to a Sigma monitor and have not had that problem at all. With the sigma I started out with the chest strap up over the ribs, where I had to keep the polar, and when I would be cycling up a mt. etc and get the heart rate up, then stop and it would take a long time for the rate to come down, way too long. I moved the strap to below the ribs and the problem went away, So there has to be some interfearance between the pacer and the monitor. I have tried several times to see if it still happens and sometimes yes and sometimes no. When it was staying at my high rate, the heart really was maintaining that rate, I have had very bad luck with polar monitors in the past and have not used one since buying the Sigma several years ago.

monitors

by Tracey_E - 2012-05-25 09:05:59

It's more likely the interference is your pm, not the wires or solar panels. Sometimes the monitor will pick up a spike as a beat, sometimes the pm will interfere and the monitor will miss a real beat. I've never been able to get a monitor to work accurately. I bought and returned 3, went through stores from chain sporting goods to high end running store and haven't found one yet that works for me. If I feel bad, I stop and count. Otherwise, I don't pay much attention to my pulse when I'm working out.

Suggestion

by ElectricFrank - 2012-05-26 02:05:31

The problem with most athletic HR monitors is that they use the ECG electrical signal to make the measurement, and they have a problem separating the hearts signal from the pacemakers. So at times they will start counting the heart as a beat and the pacer as a second beat. This causes the reading to jump to double. The pacer pulse varies with pickup locations and sometimes you can find a better placement.

Another solution is to use a monitor which measures the blood pulse in a finger tip or sometimes in an earlobe.

frank

EMI Detectors

by Faint-o-Heart - 2012-06-08 11:06:16

I've only had my PM for a day and a half and there is so much to learn. Do I really need to be concernedabout interferences? Is it worth looking into an EMI detector?

Has anyone used the Osun Pace-Alert that seems to be targeted specifically for PM needs? Is it worth the money? Right now I really 'feel' the effects of this new intruder into my heart and if EMI is going to make me feel worse, I'd really like to avoid it.

Trying to keep my arm down and the incision dry and movement to a minimum. One day I'll be as experienced as the rest of you!

BW

You know you're wired when...

You have an excuse for gaining an extra ounce or two.

Member Quotes

My eight year old son had a pacemaker since he was 6 months old. He does very well, plays soccer, baseball, and rides his bike. I am so glad he is not ashamed of his pacemaker. He will proudly show his "battery" to anyone.