? low rate setting

I had Pm about 3 years ago. I had one small block due to beta blocker usage. It has never had to pace for 3 years. Recently I started a calcium channel for blood pressure. At night it lowered my rate below the 60 setting and then that makes my heart go inot afib. I asked if we could lower the settings and was told no. I have read where some here have lower settings. Can anyone reply to that. Also I was told it could never be turned off even at end of life. Does anyone know if that is true?
Thanks for your help.

3 Comments

rate

by Alma Annie - 2013-01-12 03:01:25

My low rate is set at 50. I have no problem with this. At rest it hardly ever goes above 50.
Alma Annie

rate

by Alma Annie - 2013-01-12 03:01:32

My low rate is set at 50. I have no problem with this. At rest it hardly ever goes above 50.
Alma Annie

Why a lower setting?

by golden_snitch - 2013-01-12 10:01:04

Hi!

If I understood you correctly, you go into afbi whenever your heart rate goes below 60bpm, right? If so, why do you want a lower setting? I mean that would lead to you having much more Afib episodes which would then lead to you having to take at least a blood thinning medication. I had expected the question to be: Can I have a higher setting, so that I do not go into Afib? But slower I don't really understand. However, in general it's definitely possible to have it lowered to 50bpm, in some cases even to 40bpm. There are indeed a couple of people here who have these low settings. My EP also said that he'd give me 50bpm, if it wasn't for my junctional escape rhythm that sometimes runs at 55bpm (so, it would overtake the pacemaker).

End of life: Well, there comes a time when the battery is dying, and then the pacer first goes into a safety mode providing you only with a basic rate, and if you don't get a new one then, it will one day just stop working - a dead battery is a dead battery, and a pacemaker doesn't work without any battery power.

Best
Inga

You know you're wired when...

Your life has spark.

Member Quotes

I am a 58 year old woman, race cars, ski at 13,000+ feet, work out daily, have become a second-degree black-belt in Karate, run a business - no limitations.