Does the Pacer have a 'sleep mode'?

Hi All,
I have had pacers since 1997. I am on my third.
It is 3.45am and as usual I was woken, I believe, by my pacer's minimum rate being set too high. I fall into bed absolutely dog tired, but 5 hours later I awake like a coiled spring. Sleeping in? Forget it! I have sick sinus syndrome. Before the pacer my resting pulse rate was about 50 (family thing) but my pacer is set at 60 (it was at 70, and it drove me crazy - I nearly had a punch-up with my then specialist (I changed him) to get him to put it down:- 'well, mate it is your life'! - 'yes it is, isn't it! Put it down!"). My sister just had a pacer fitted. She tells me she has a 'sleep mode' that drops her min. rate when she is asleep. Does anyone else have the same feature? Typically my (new) specialist is very reactive. If I'm warm and vertical he has done his job as far as he is concerned - difficult to get, and expensive, so forewarned is forearmed when I phone his office.

Oh, the reference to 'mate' - I'm Australian by the way - the specialist wasn't my life partner!
Cheers,
Ian

7 Comments

Sleep Mode?

by Juan - 2011-11-01 03:11:53

I understand some of the newer ones do have a sleep mode and if this your third one snce '97 I expect your is a newer one. To find out about the sleep mode ask your dr and if it is bothering ask for it to be adjusted. Otherwise go to the manufacturer and see what they have to say.

Juan

Sleep Mode?

by jaykay - 2011-11-01 06:11:12

On my first dr visit after St. Jude PM I was told that it would go down from 70 to 60 in order to allow for sleep. After a year has now gone by, the recent tech interrogation was an opportunity to ask what time the switch was supposed to happen. ( At 8 in the morning I get terrific hot flashes for about 15 minutes and wondered if that was the cause or was it betapace and aspirin.) Surprise surprise: tech said it was never set on any sleep mode. Go figure.......

Sleep Mode

by Pookie - 2011-11-01 09:11:28

I have a Medtronic Enpluse pacemaker since November of 2004 and mine does have the sleep mode. My pacemaker is set to go down to 50 between 11pm and 6am at which time it returns to 60.

Another thing: if you are awakening at the same time each & every night it could possibly be the self-test going off. Some people are sensitive to that.

When you have your next pacemaker check-up ask about both the sleep mode and the self-testing of the pacemaker.

Hope this helps.
Pookie

Sleep Mode?

by iansmout - 2011-11-02 02:11:34

Gentlemen,
Thank you for your comments. This last PM was put in in 2009 so it should have the sleep mode it seems. I'll tackle my specialist with vigor form this point - maybe 55 base rate and 50 at night.
Don, you are right, the reason for the PM has a major bearing for the Specialist's reluctance to drop the base rate. As I said, I have Sick Sinus Syndrome - the synapse connections controlling heartbeat rate break down so your heart beat becomes irregular - it just drops beats or stops for a bit from time to time - scary. At the other end of the scale, when you exercise hard (and unexpectedly, I found - I had the problem for 15 years before the PM, but I just kept it to myself) your heart rate goes into high arrhythmia - goes up, and won't come down, and the ventricles beat out of sync with the atria - blood pressure drops - ugly. I have been told that they don't know why, but if they/you look after the low rate via a PM, the high arrhythmia doesn't occur. So the specialists set the low rate at a nice safe level. You may feel like crap every day, but you don't become a statistic, which looks good for them. I'll take my chances, thanks. Specialist here I come! - thanks to everyone.

Sleep Mode

by Lottie - 2011-11-02 02:11:40

My Pacemaker has a Sleep Mode but it hasn't been switched on for the majority of the 10 years i've had it simply for lifestyle reasons..
I was 15 when it was originally implanted and Sleep Mode was switched off as there was concern that as a teenager I would be out on the town at all hours of the night.

I am now a shiftworker and Sleep Mode would certainly not be at all useful on a Nightshift!
However if you tend to have reasonably consistent sleeping hours then it is certainly something to ask about.

Yep...

by donr - 2011-11-02 10:11:19

...your base rate has to be higher than the 50 you claim as your natural rate.

Can you ask them to set you at 55 for daytime & 55 at night - as a starter? You don't want to change two parameters at the same time - you would not know which one was affecting you if all did not go well. Now we know why they picked such a high base rate for the PM to start. You implied that you were functioning ok during the day, it is just at night that you have problems. Gotta agree w/ your specialist somewhat - I would not want you going belly up at night because you were set too slow. Ian, I'm guilty of not reading closely enough - didn'tcatch the SSS as a diagnosis. Still think that if you function OK at 60, you could safely be reduced to 55 for a trial - even if for only 24 hrs, w/your PM to be interrogated to find out if you functioned accceptably for that interval.

BTW: I figured out that you were not a Yank early in your post - word structure. Mate sunk you as an Aussie really quick. Welcome to the antipodes - well, almost. we get a lot of folks from England, Australia & New Zealand (SP?), so you are not a surprise.

Don

Sleep Mode - dunno!

by donr - 2011-11-02 12:11:59

Let's talk about the base rate of your PM!!! If you were a normal 50 before your PM, You are still a normal 50!!!!! The PM does not affect what rate your sinus node tries to run. What you need to do is get to that "Know-it-all" Dr. & get him to set your base rate as close to your natural rate aspossible, but ABOVE it. Unfortunately, you didn't tell us WHY you got the PM. That will definitely affect where they put the base rate.

I went through this problem when I got my PM. I am a natural 72 - had been al my adult life. The EP set me at 80 as a base rate. I was miserable all the time. anxious, fidgity. Always felt hyper alert. I described it to my cardio as the feeling you get when "They are coming through the wire." (I was a life time soldier). He reset me at 75, just above my 72. IMMEDIATELY felt better. Been set at 75 ever since.

You are correct - when the PM is set too high, you can be wired & hyper alert & unable to sleep.

Don

You know you're wired when...

You name your daughter “Synchronicity”.

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I just want to share about the quality of life after my pacemaker, and hopefully increase awareness that lifestyles do not have to be drastically modified just because we are pacemaker recipients.