Increased pacing

pacer is working

by stevemerrill - 2018-08-30 13:25:00

Hi,

Without knowing more about your underlying reason for the pacer, it may be that it was placed prophylactically because your physician believed you problem would progress over time.  Without the pacer you might have a very low rate now, but instead it is doing the work.

It could also be that your settings were changed at some point.  

In my case, my CRT-D pacer was placed for a very prolonged bundle branch block (a conduction defect between my left and right ventriclies).  While my native heart rate is slow normal (~ 60), the pacer was set at a higher rate (72) so that I would pace all the time (and therefore bypass the conduction block), so I am pacing at >99% of the time.  Even so, my expected battery life is about 11 years, so I'm good.

Probably the best person to answer this question is your EP physician.  She or he knows your specific problem and should be able to explain well.  Mine has been very good at explaining things and I hope you have the same experience.

Best wishes,

Steve

Increased pacing

by YiaYia - 2018-08-30 13:35:33

Mine was put in for pauses I started having. Just seems like a fast timeline for me to need so much more pacing.

Thanks for the response.

numbers

by Tracey_E - 2018-08-30 13:54:59

It sounds like they may have adjusted your settings so that it kicks in sooner, so it's pacing more due to settings rather than your condition getting worse. How do you feel? There is no number that's considered good or bad, some pace less than 1%, some like me pace every beat, or anywhere in between. If you feel good, can do what you want to do, then it's pacing just the right amount. It's worth having a discusion with your doctor to find out exactly why it's pacing more. It sounds like more going on than pauses. 

Not worth worrying about

by Gotrhythm - 2018-08-30 17:37:58

My pacer just had it's second birthday. In that time I've seen the pacing percentage go up, go down, go up again--sometimes because my condition changed but more often because the settings were changed.

As Tracey says, the amount you're paced doesn't really mean anything, as long as you're paced the right amount. 

In terms of how you feel, there's really no difference between 100% and 35%. Being paced more is not a harbinger of something terrible. You are not closer to death just because you are paced more than you used to be.

And in the end there's nothing you can do to change it. So let it go. It's simply not worth worrying about.

You pace what you pace

by Theknotguy - 2018-08-31 10:39:30

As Gotrhythm said in the previous post, you pace what you pace, and there isn't anything you can do about it.  Kinda harsh facts but that's the way it is.  

The reason why the numbers change so quickly is because the algorithm that calculates the percentages adjusts as the pacemaker is used.  

I went from 20 % to 40% to 80-90% so it was a shock to me too.  It doesn't mean  your heart is getting weaker or that you have some other unknown heart problem it just means the pacemaker is doing its job.  There are a lot of people without pacemakers who have slow heartbeat rhythms and, for the most part, get along fine.  A lot of them have undiagnosed heart problems too.  So it's better you have the pacemaker to keep you alive.  

Another thing to consider.  My heart rate was dipping into the 30's while I was resting so I was getting into the area where I needed help.  The rule-of-thumb setting is 60 beats per minute - about one per second.  So you can see if my resting heart rate was dipping into the 30's and my pacemaker setting is 60, it will show a higher rate of pacing because of the difference between my natural rate of 30 and the pacemaker setting of 60.  My heart needed help but the new pacing numbers don't indicate my heart is getting lazy - just those are the percentage numbers to keep me going at the 60 rate.  

Besides there were added benefits.  My mind activities weren't so fuzzy.  I didn't need to wear a sweater all the time and I felt like being more active.  Didn't immediately fall asleep as soon as I sat down.  Overall I felt better.  Amazing what more blood and oxygen can do.  

My best wishes for you.  I hope you are otherwise adjusting well to your pacemaker.