CLS & exercising

• by golden_snitch
• 2014-06-08 05:06:16
• Exercise & Sports
• 1916 views
• 13 comments

Hey there!

Since I have the feeling that there have been more questions on the CLS sensor (rate response) lately, I wanted to share my experiences of the first couple of months with this sensor with you. At this point, I should say that I do not have the rate response switched on as a backup, I need it for every move I make as I'm 100% paced in the atria and ventricles. My sinus node has been modified by catheter ablation several times, and I have had an AV-node ablation to induce a complete heart block, too. So, here we go:

It's now been 11 weeks since my last pacemaker surgery, and today I passed the 5k mark when running. I needed 35 minutes. Yay! Started interval training running/walking four weeks after the surgery. Since last week I had been running for 30 minutes straight, no more intervals.

When I had this pacemaker put in, I was a bit shocked at first because my heart was racing whenever I moved a bit. I was up at the max. programmed rate in no time, and with having barely walked 10-20 metres. It was aweful. But instead of avoiding activities and exercise, I forced myself to move.

As soon as I got home, I started to go for 30-60 minute walks at least 3-4 times per week. The effect was amazing: from day to day the CLS sensor learned and adjusted, so that I soon no longer walked with the max. rate, but am now down to 80-100bpm when walking.

With regards to running, I needed to be a little more patient. During my interval training I always hit the max. programmed rate and stayed there, often even during the walking intervals. Again, I hung in there and continued the training. Since last week, when I finally started to run 30 minutes without pausing, the sensor has learned and adjusted again. The first 30 minutes run was with an average rate of 160 which is the max. CLS rate; the second was with around 150; third with 135, fourth with around 145 (it was much hotter outside today than during the third run). So, that's a pretty good and quick adjustment :-)

I'm also back to bicycling. Usually, I ride my bike to work and back, it just takes about 10 minutes each way. CLS reacts properly, no issues like weak legs or shortness of breath at all.

Last, but not least, I do have the impression that this sensor indeed reacts to mental stress, as Biotronik says. Unfortunately, there has been quite some stress and annoycance at work, but the good thing, I now get a pounding and faster heartbeat again when I exasperated with my bosses. I haven't had that ever since my sinus node ablations back in 1999!

So, for now I'd say that the CLS sensor works really well for me. However, it's probably not a good sensor for people who do not exercise regularly. You need to move, and you need to have patience and stay positive, because it can take a while to automatically optimize. However, compared to standard accelerometer and minute ventilation + accelerometer sensors, I'm very impressed with this automatic optimization. With the other sensors I needed lots of fine tuning manually in the doctor's office; with this one, I don't think my cardio will have to do much. But I do have an appointment with him and a Biotronik tech soon to go through settings, and see if anything needs tweaking.

Hope this helps those of you with CLS sensor and those who are considering getting a pacemaker with CLS.

Inga