Pacemaker Adjustment time

Sorry to hear that

by BradyJohn - 2023-08-06 01:25:17

Hey Rob,  sorry to hear about your experience.   I have had my Medtronic pacemaker for three and a half years.   Along the way,  at appointments the settings have been fine tuned based on my reporting and what the device recorded.   Others here will have more to say about what one can expect from the doc who installs it.  I hope things go better from here.   I would also add that it's not super helpful for a technician to say more than,  'I think I can help you', and then make the adjustments.  

Take care,  welcome to the club, 

John 

😵‍💫🙄

by Lavender - 2023-08-06 09:28:59

Geez!  All I can say is that during my implant surgery, whatever I was set at, was changed the next morning. The morning after, while I was still in the hospital, the Boston Sci rep came in, checked things and called the EP for permission to change the settings. 
 

I hope your new settings are much more beneficial!

"Ton of anger to let go on my doctor" sounds ominous!

by Gemita - 2023-08-06 11:14:09

Hello Rob,

I know we all feel like it sometimes but I personally wouldn’t go in to your appointment with all guns blazing.  I would go to the gym first and let out all your tension.  In my experience it is better to be courteous and to hold back and wait to hear why the settings were set the way they were?  Perhaps they will give you a valid reason or an apology and make sure that your treatment is better from now on.

Movement sensors/?Rate Response settings that you seem to have had problems with are very difficult to get right even for the most experienced technician and it may take many attempts to get settings optimised for us personally.  Many members report having to return to their clinics to work with a technician or the manufacturer representative while they work on a treadmill.   The symptoms and the problems you describe from Rate Response for example have been described many times on these pages and you are not telling me something that I haven’t heard before.  Personally I am not shocked by what you are telling us, but I am truly sorry you were so uncomfortable that you had to seek emergency help. 

Looking at a few of your settings.  I note a Medtronic technician in the emergency department(?) made some urgent changes for you and that you are feeling better now.  Can I just confirm the changes that were made because I also have a Medtronic pacemaker:-

1. Your Heart Rate Recovery setting to return your heart to a resting heart rate following exercise (which you refer to as Return Heart Rate) was originally set to 10 minutes and the emergency Medtronic Rep re-set it to 2 mins, 30 secs?

2. Movement sensor (?Rate Response) was originally set to Maximum Sensitivity, although you don’t say what it was changed to?

3. Your setting for PVCs.  The pacemaker setting does not wait until after the long pause before intervening with a heart beat.  That sounds like a setting that we would all like to know more about Rob?  Many of us are absolutely plagued by these ectopic pests.

Good luck and please stay calm this Thursday

Ton of anger

by AgentX86 - 2023-08-06 13:42:08

That's really a bad idea. It's not smart to burn bridges in front of you. Asking pointed questions is a better way to get your point across.

BTW, I have mine set up that way on purpose. I'd like it faster so stairs wouldn't suck.

I thought they were legit trying to kill me. 😂

by PacedNRunning - 2023-08-07 03:00:06

I thought they were trying to kill me. Not really but dang those settings are rough. I don't need rate response at all and they had it on. Made me feel super old. Very short of breath and could barely walk. They ended up turning it off for me. Don't be too upset. These things have to be tweaked to our hearts and it's function.