Medtronic Pacer

Anyone resolved the conundrum of road biking with a Medtronic's pacer?  It accelerates smoothly when I run but the lack of impact and arm movement seems to indicate that I am at rest: my heart rate never climbed over 113.  As a result I was lightheaded and my legs were rubbery. 
 

I'm open to suggestions as I see my electrophysiologist later this month (September). 
 

Thanks!

Dave


5 Comments

road biking

by trashcan1 - 2022-09-02 15:31:39

I am not an expert. Only had the medtronic azure for about 4 weeks. Went for a road bike ride this moring at about 10 am. Had an appointment with the medtronic rep at 1pm today.She said my max heart rate on my ride this am showed 167 bpm. My low limit was set at 50bpm and my responce rate was at 15%. I don't know if my settings will work for you.

Rate Response fail

by AgentX86 - 2022-09-02 18:33:35

Welcome Oskar. Sorry that you're here. 

Fixing your road biking will take some work, if it's even possible.  You can work with your device tech to make your pacemaker more sensitive but then riding in the car is likely to run your heart rate up.  All of this stuff is a trade-off and we're different in our needs, wants, and acceptible aggravation levels. I have my response set as fast as possible to deal with stairs and just put up with any unneeded increase.  My device tech told me "good luck with stairs". No one deals well with stairs.

If it makes you feel any better, swimmers have it even worse.

Cycling

by Persephone - 2022-09-02 19:59:18

Ask your medical team for intervention. Keep asking if fixes don't work for you.

Cycling

by jwmj@gmx.com - 2022-09-05 09:50:02

I have the same issues with my dual chamber Boston Scientific Proponent  L211 Pacemaker.  It just fails to react to my increase in exertions when cycling and raise my Heart Rate.  I am stuck with it at under 100 most of the time when cycling so climbing hills is a slow task.  Interestingly if I walk briskly up and down stairs a couple of times it immediately increases my heart rate to the maximum settings 135.

Had many comsultations, seen different specialists including one from Boston Scientific but the results stay the same.  Very frustrating

unfortunately, no

by Tracey_E - 2022-09-06 18:12:27

The rate response mechanism in Medtronic is dependent on motion. They can make it more sensitive but you may find this drives you crazy when you aren't biking. Mine is set this way. I love the responsiveness when working out, but my rate will shoot up just walking across the room. It's a balance, but even turned up to the max sensitivity, it's not a perfect fix for cycling. 

When you have your next replacement, ask about options that don't include an accelerometer. There are some other manufacturers that use breathing (minute ventilation) or Closed Loop Stimulation. Sorry, I can't understand CLS enough to explain it but it learns us. Medtronic and St Jude/Abbott only use accelerometers. 

You know you're wired when...

You have a dymo-powered bike.

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