tennis

Will have a pasemaker implant in two weeks. My resting heart ate iss 34 BPM. My age 86. What rate should the pacemaker be programmed. e.g. 60. My goal is to continue playing tennis. Should I be concerned about chronotropic competence or is the issue moot?

 

Kurt Wilson


3 Comments

Upper limits

by TBrous&Chip - 2017-07-18 07:50:12

A pm will assist the heart up to the set upper limit based on increased activity.  It is up to your heart whether your heart rate will increase above the pm upper limit. 

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by Gotrhythm - 2017-07-18 11:31:30

"My goal is to continue playing tennis." I love it!

The big thing you need to do is make sure your doctor and the pacemaker techs understand that you are not sedentary as many people your age are. Unfortunately ageism is alive and well in cardiology offices. You will need to tell them you wish to play tennis.

The issue of chrontropic incompetence is by no means moot. Whether your heart can accelerate on it's own will affect your abitily to engage in strenuous activity. There is a pacemaker function called rate response that will speed your heart up when you increase your exertion. It needs to be turned on.

You'll be sent home from the hospital with pre-programmed "factory settings"-- ususally a base rate of 60. After your heart is used to being paced, between two and six weeks, the pacemaker settings will be tweaked to tailor them to your needs. That's when you need to advocate for yourself and make sure they understand you are not a typical 86 year old. You need rate response turned on and possibly a higher upper limit than would be typical for your age. It may take several appointments to arrive at the settings optimal for you.

Good luck. Let us know how you are doing in.

rate

by The real Patch - 2017-07-18 19:11:53

a normal resting rate varies between 60 and 100bpm. typically as we age that number goes down a bit, but basically the resting rate your device should be set at is what you are comfortable with. Mine was originally set to 60 but when they changed it to 70 I felt much better.

You need to discuss your activity levels with the technician and doctor so they can make adjustments for your specific needs. May have to adjust a couple times but shouldn't be a big deal.

 

Good luck

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Today I explained everything to my doctor, he set my lower rate back to 80 and I felt an immediate improvement.