pacemaker settings

my pm was set on 50 by the electrophysologist that did my afib ablation on may 28. when i saw my own cardiologist he reset it to 70 and said it should not be on 50. since then i have felt worse with pressure in my chest. i know it doesnt sound logical that this would cause pressure but i cant figure out what is going on. please help if you can. waiting on return call from electrophysologist.

6 Comments

Go back!

by sweetkozy - 2009-06-24 02:06:02

I would go back to the electrophysologist! I had issues with people changing my settings and went back repeatedly for adjustments. Finally the EP doctor came in and changed them himself and don't me to NOT let anyone mess with them. They even gave me a readout of what the settings were set at so where ever I went for PM checks they would know! I have done fine since! You're PM might also be working more set on 70, which you might be feeling it kicking in more often.

Cheers:)
Jenny

settings

by Tracey_E - 2009-06-24 04:06:08

Generally 50 is considered low but it's right for some people. As Jenny said, don't let two different doctors mess with your settings, try to stick with the ep because it's his specialty.

45/50/55

by VonnieVern - 2009-06-24 07:06:38

When I first got my pacemaker it was set at 60 and within a couple of weeks I was miserable! My resting heart rate had previously been in the 40s. My doctor had the pm rep set it back to 45. I still had problems, so they turned off the rate response. After a year we took it up to 50, then 6 months later to 55. We also turned the rate response back on, at the lowest setting. Perhaps your electrophysiologist should let your cardiologist know why he programmed your pacemaker the way he did, and ask your cardiologist to respect the expert training he has for doing his job.

Vonnie

Settings changed

by CJD2007 - 2009-06-24 11:06:38

Hi,

Mine is set at 50 now. I was set at 60 and felt pressure in my chest too. When they set it at 50 the pressure has been gone. My heart was using the PM more at 60. I can't remember how much more now.I think it was around 75%. At 50, I am using it 47%.

Casey :)

Settings???

by donb - 2009-06-24 12:06:20

I just want to comment about an experience I had with a good friend at Cardiac Rehab. He had a normally low HR all his life and never had any problems. His Dr. told him he would have to have a PM as his HR was dropping too low at rest.

Well, as a good friend I encouraged him to get this done as he was a little older than me and he could see how well I was doing beside him on the treadmill with my PM taking me to 130 BPM. Well he finally go his PM and had his heart rate go out of site like 130 while just resting giving him severe chest pain & SOB.

Unfortunately he had to change to 2 other Cardiologists to get his settings changed where his HR anticipation is now OFF. Now he's doing great and doesn't have to worry about His heart dropping below 50. Again, it took way too much time & effort to get Medical cooperation. St. Jude came to his rescue and also for my 4th right chest installation as I meet with the rep before the operation. By the way! This friend is also a member of our site.

Time to take charge

by ElectricFrank - 2009-06-25 12:06:36

It's time to get things straight with the two docs. There is no point in having an EP if the cardiogist is going to over ride his decisions. If you are satisfied with the EP I suggest instructing (not requesting) the cardiologist to channel all changes through the EP. Then let the EP know you want him to be the one that decides on the settings and that you want no medical politics affecting the decisions.

You have the right to make these demands.

Good luck,

frank

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