Rate responsiveness?

Rate response

by LondonAndy - 2018-11-16 05:33:19

Well, the answer depends on what pacemaker someone has, as different devices work out the needs of the patient in different ways.  They all have a minimum rate setting, but then some will use vibrations of the body as a signal that activity has increased, and will increase the heart rate to try and match it.  As a Londoner who uses the Piccadilly Line, with its 40 year old trains and uneven tracks, this means that my heart rate increases even though I am just sitting there, because I am being shaken about!  The sensitivity of the vibration settings can be adjusted to ignore minor changes.

But other devices can use things like electrical impedence, which changes with exertion, and I think there are other sensing methods too but personally I don't know about those. 

Rate Response :

by IAN MC - 2018-11-16 15:20:25

GS :  You ask if your pacemakers' rate response function  can increase your heart-rate when you are still  (  i.e. not moving )  but stressed. The answer is " NO " in your case because I see from your bio. that you have a St Jude PM.

I also see that you are in India and I am not sure what brands of PM are available in your country but the only make of PM which claims to increase heart-rate when still but stressed is Biotronik. Other brands, St Jude and Medtronic both react only to motion / vibration while Boston Scientific and Sorin detect increased breathing as well as motion.

All pacemakers  prevent your HR from falling below a set base level but, when it comes to exercise, regrettably none of their sensors are as good as having a normally functioning sinus node ! Some ( particularly Biotronik ) claim to be more physiological than others.

SWANGIRL :  I assume you mean that your Rate Response max is set at 120 bpm ( rather than your PM tracking rate )  If so , that is quite low for an avid exerciser like yourself. Why not get it increased ?  I am a similar age to yourself and had mine increased from 150 to 165 . It certainly makes exercising easier !

Ian

Thanks LondonAndy, Swangirl, and Ian MC

by GS - 2018-11-16 22:25:39

I have Endurity St Jude fixed in July. My fixed rates are 60 to 130. It was for Bradycardia.My pulse rate varied between 35 to around 100 before pm. The programmer said if my pulse rate went beyond 60, them pm lied suspended n my heart was working on its own. Whenever I walk, it happens. But now the doctor says we cannot say your increased pulse rate is due to pm or heart as new age pms have sensors to increase pulse rate according to body activity. So, it is quite confusing as we have been knowing that pms can only give current to heart, and cannot alter its activity, that they can only fix your minimum n maximum heart rate.  

GS

by IAN MC - 2018-11-17 05:39:14

Does it really matter whether it is your heart or your pacemaker which is causing your heart-rate to rise ?    The ONLY thing that matters is how you feel.  You could ask to have Rate Response switched off and then you would know the answer but if you feel OK that is ALL -important.

   If you need to have your heart rate rise more slowly or more quickly or to a higher level then you can have some minor adjustments made to Rate Response.

I hope you feel well !

Ian