Pace Maker with Rate Response

[Ozette]

What has been the experience of others with a pacemaker with Rate Response? My heart rate increases rapidly when I go from resting 70 bpm to getting up and moving around which makes me feel like my heart is pounding and I"m out of breath. I've had many adjustments with no change really. I have an AV node Ablation so pacemaker decides how much to increase with my movements.

[Tapanac]

hello. I only had a pacemaker inserted in September so fairly new to it, but apart from a few odd palpitations just lasting seconds it seems to stay a steady 61 all the time 🤞. At least I can’t feel it racing snd I don’t check very often. I have a 2 lead PM

Maybe if your pacemaker is fairly new perhaps it has to settle down.

Do you have a Monitor beside your bed? If so call the pacing clinic and they can look at your recordings. They can also tell how much afib you might or might not be getting,

I dare say you’ve had a few tweaks done on the machine too???

My husband coincidentally had a pm inserted last July (a 3 lead) snd they set his st 80 but he felt uncomfortable as if his heart was racing all the time snd uncomfortable spasms in his diaphragm. He was taken back in and reset at 70 snd he feels better. Maybe your pm needs resetting lower??

I do hope you feel better snd get sorted soon. I know the pm is really just to stop your heart beating too low, it doesn’t stop it going too fast so presumably you have afib. Are you still on medication??

All the best

[2learn]

Hi, I have pacemaker but for too low pulse so it stops it going below 60, occasionally goes high, but they might be little AF spikes. What was your PM inserted for, cos it sounds as if its not doing its job. Other thing to be aware of is all the eletrical/battery devices which can affect it, eg mobile phones, apple watches, induction hobs, lots of techy stuff generally.

[Jmc43]

I have had a dual chamber rate responsive pacemaker since November of 2022. The lower rate is set at 60, and it does adjust for physical activity. At first, it was unusual, as I could notice it when I climbed stairs after sitting a long time or took a brisk walk or played pickle ball and so on. I have an Apple Watch so I was able to measure heart rates during exercise, and noted that for most activities now, it is between 90-115.

I have gotten used to that, and now find it helpful. I am rarely breathless though, unless it is in those brief moments where the heart pacing hasn’t caught up with my exercise level.

I just turned 80 years old this month, and generally the pacemaker has been a very positive factor in my overall health. The only factor that bothered me for some time is that I could occasionally tell when it was pacing the ventricle. However, I have gotten used to that at this point. Maybe it will just take you a while longer to get used to it. As with a lot of things related to Afib and ectopic beats in general, I find the more I worry about it, the worse it gets…😱. This forum has been excellent in acknowledging things like this, and suggesting ways to address this (eg, slow breathing techniques).

[CDreamer]

I have a triple lead Medtronic RST PM and have no problems - unless I am in AF and even then the PM does limit the HR to around average low 100’s, much lower that before PM. I still have about 60-70% AV node function as I haven’t had the AV node ablation but my PM does a lot of the work but I am not totally PM reliant for HR. I just ensure I slow down in those circumstances when I go into AF, often it’s just after eating and I rise. I’ve learned I need to eat at table and eat slowly and not get up for some time after eating. Normally my PM adjusts to my activity and doesn’t kick in until HR falls below 60 as it was low HR which usually triggered my AF.

Presumably you are in constant AF in which case I would imagine that is causing the symptoms.

[reinaway]

I had a Pace and Ablate last year and have found that it has been a fantastic change to my life for the better. When I went for my check on how it was doing in February this year they altered it to 'follow my needs' as they said. However I couldn't stand the excessive pace it went so I asked for it to be put back as it originally was. They said that some people cannot tolerate the change. I think if perhaps I was younger and more active i would have liked it.

[Ozette in reply to reinaway]

Thank you. The ablate and pace has been a tremendous blessing. I will talk with the pacemaker tech about going back to the setting before turning on automatic rate response.