Can pulse be 43 bpm even after pacemaker implant

I was implanted with pacemaker to treat bradycardia in 2009. I recently had AF/AT episodes and was treated in hospital to control high heart rates > 100 bpm. Using medicines my heart was brought to 85 bpm. while discharging from hospital I was prescribed cardarone, acitrom, cardivas, digoxin,lasictone medicines to eliminate AF episodes. after couple of days I observed pulse rate dropped to 43 bpm, when enquired with Dr, the dr suspected the way pulse was measured could be whong. I used BP cum Pulse machine from manufacturer Boots.

What is the right way to measure pulse in pacemaker implant patients?
Can pulse be as low as 43 bpm in pacemaker patients?
What is the minimum pace rate that can be set on pacemaker?

Please advise

5 Comments

count manually

by Tracey_E - 2012-09-14 03:09:43

Your pulse can go as low as your minimum setting on your pm, it can be set anywhere from 50-70. If you ask, they can tell you what your minimum setting is. It's ok to be a few beats under that when you count, it's easy to miss beats and the setting is actually in fractions of a second, not by the minute, so it won't always be exact.

My guess is the pm is interfering with your monitor and the count is off. Whenever it doesn't seem right, count it manually.

pulse rates

by manaman - 2012-09-14 06:09:31

cannot get any lower than what low set point is! Sometimes it's hard to check your pulse because it can be so hrd to find and hold that you can/will actually beats.
cecil

Home BP machines - HAH!

by donr - 2012-09-15 06:09:55

They are notoriously poor at recording HR. I have not found one that works on me at all. It's due to the way they sense heart beats & also depends on what kind of arrhythmia you have.

Oh, they are not particularly good at giving reliable BP's either for a lot of people.

The best way for you is fingers at the wrist! And that is only as accurate as your ability to time your counting. Expect to have errors as much as 4-6 BPM if you count for 15 seconds all because if you miss only ONE beat in thet period because you actually only count for 14 seconds you just got a HR that is 4 BPM low.

Don

what are the settings?

by sally7430 - 2012-09-17 06:09:04

I'm 82 and had a St. Jude 2110 pm implanted a week ago. Dual chamber, bottom rate at 60. Was told it would not prevent atrial flutter, which I have had intermittently for 3 years. Was told that the medications atenolol and sotalol would prevent the flutter. Have not yet had my first checkup. Reading posts from others makes me wonder what else is "set" for a 2110? Am looking for a user's manual for a 2110. Can anyone tell me more? Incidentally, I guess I am fortunate, incision is healing well, no pain, some fatigue but I figured that four nights without sleep in the hospital (very sick roommates) could cause that. I am very impressed by this Club and the information exchange. The nurse warned me to take pulse for the full 60 seconds to be accurate.

asfasf

by boxxed - 2012-09-18 06:09:55

PVC's really muck up BP monitors. While there are actually legitimate situations where a device can pace lower than the lower rate, those are rare and PVC's causing funny but "fake" numbers are more likely.

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