Tapping my Medronic?

So I am having trouble getting enough rate response with my Medtronic PM while cycling. I have read on posts on here about "tapping" on the unit to get the motion sensor to raise heart rate. I had thought that seemed like a very strange way to get such a high tec unit to function beter, but when I met with the Medtronic rep she said the unit "was not perfect" for cycling on it's own and tapping on it was a perfectly fine way to up my heart rate. 

So my question for people here is exactly how I should do this tapping? From what I've read the unit is very tough and no worries about damaging it. But I am always careful about the skin and tissue around the unit as I am on the thin side. What works?

Thanks, Tim

 

 

 

 


8 Comments

Tapping

by TBrous&Chip - 2017-07-06 08:31:21

I have not needed 'tapping' myself but do believe in the concept..  An advance degreed nurse has told me he has 'tapped' pms of patient who are laying too still and it works.

Think of one part of a pm as a fancy, very expensive motion sensor.  Maybe bicycling does not provide enough upper body movement to trigger this fancy motion sensor.  I do not know what degree of tapping is necessary to trigger the pm.

tapping

by Tracey_E - 2017-07-06 12:23:27

That's more of a bandaid than a fix, it's not realistic to expect to spend all or even part of every ride tapping on your pacer. How much tapping it takes depends on how sensitive your rate response settings are and how much your heart is increasing on its own. You shouldn't ever have to tap hard enough or long enough to do any skin damage.

How much battery life do you have left, and how often if this an issue when you bike? There are other brands out there that aren't dependent on motion that would work better for you.

Tapping

by Teletim - 2017-07-07 02:49:08

Yes, I realize tapping on the unit is not an ideal method of getting my HR up to where I need it, but my rep. made it sound like it is a perfectly normal solution. Of course she was probably just trying to make up for the Medtronic unit's short commings. Just would like to hear how others have dealt with this.

And yes, maybe a unit that functions differently would have been better for me. I am more than a little angry with my doc, since I feel I got some bad advice. It seems like a lot of people on this board are in the same boat. I am just amazed how bad the communication is between Docs, Tecs, Reps and patients! I do bike quite a lot, but at this point with 5 years of battery life left I feel like the best thing for me is to try to make this work. The fewer sugeries the better.

Tim

 

 

How have others dealt with it ?

by IAN MC - 2017-07-07 05:35:17

Hi Tim

If you  look at previous posts on the subject you will see that one keen cyclist strapped some  sort of  vibration device on top of the PM site with some success.  So get down to the sex-shop right now you know you want to!

I have had to give up serious cycling since getting a Medtronic PM. I share your frustration at the lack of awareness of cardiologists re the limitations of rate response motion sensors

Best ofluck

Ian

 

 

 

Activity

by TBrous&Chip - 2017-07-07 05:49:30

Some drs still think that pm's are for old, inactive people which of course is not true.  Getting a dr who understands each patients needs regardless of age or activity level and gets the correct pm settings is difficult sometimes.  .

Unfortunately drs are human and their knowledge base may be limited especially if there pm brand choice is limited.  Our own knowledge and persistence seem to be key in getting what we need.  At a minimum you can be better prepared when it does come time for replacement. Another possibility is to change drs. Try to seek out other bicyclists with pm's and compare histories.

Riding with my pm

by AddieJ - 2017-07-07 20:58:24

I just received a new two lead pm.  Switched out my one lead which just wasn't getting the job done for my bradychardia and SSS.  I feel great. So far.    I cycled four hours last weekend only two weeks after the surgery, but was not pushing it.  No real climbs. I felt great.  However I want to push it.  My settings are 60-130. Can we just get our settings adjusted if we need more beats?  Will the rate response just turn it over to the heart if we are going good enough for it to take over?  I don't know anything about tapping or coaxing it.  What happens when you aren't getting the rate you want?  For me I would just feel suddenly weak and unable to continue with the one lead.  

Settings

by Teletim - 2017-07-11 06:57:30

Addie: 130 max HR seems low. How old are you? If you want to go hard I think only having a 130 max will hold you back. The good thing is if you still have some natural exercise response your HR will go up on its own. Mine seems to do that less and less over the years. (genetic defect).

Tim

 

 

Working???

by Teletim - 2017-08-13 02:09:50

So I just finished a 220 mile ride over 4 days with some friends. Things went well, but there was a lot of climbing so I had to watch my HR monitor closely and use the "tapping" method when my hr was not high enough when the effort was high. Some of the climbs were long grind-it-out type efforts so mostly in the saddle. In this situation I had to tap and my hr would jump from 90-100 up to 130-140. This worked ok but it would not stay there for long and a few min. later I would have to do it again. If I got out of the saddle for a while my hr would stay high for longer- I guess from the extra motion. I know this all sounds kind of silly, but it got me through the ride in pretty good shape, and about the middle of the pack of our 8 man group. It would be nice if I just had a little button to  push when I needed a boost!

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