Upper setting and exercise

Hi

Just wondering if anyone knows what happens with the higher settings during exercise. I have a Medtronic dual lead rate responsive pm fitted for bradycardia and sinus pauses. I had my first check and tweak last week and now have a lower setting of 50 and a top setting of 170 to accommodate my running. When I wear my garmin hr monitor it shows me quickly getting up to 170 then flat lining. It did the same when my top setting was 150. Does this mean I am beating at 170 whenever I'm running even if I don't require that high a hr or is it just messing with my garmin? I tried to take my hr manually mid run but I couldn't get it very accurately. I would be grateful for any info. I had the setting raised incase I needed more beats to go up hills.

Thanks

3 Comments

Flatlining?

by golden_snitch - 2013-10-13 09:10:50

Hi!

What do you mean by "flatlining"? Does is stop showing your heart rate?

Since you don't have a heart block, the rate probably gets to 170 and then stays there until you stop running. That's what my pacemaker used to do, when I had the sinus node issues only, before the heart block. Well, at least when I just kept doing what I was doing; if I slowed down or paused, the heart rate would decrease. I guess what's most important is how you feel. Has increasing the upper rate helped with your running?

I have never had problems with my Polar heart rate monitor, but have heard that others had problems with other manufacturers.

Best wishes

Inga

hrm

by Tracey_E - 2013-10-13 10:10:52

I have tried both Garmin and Polar as well as several others, returned them because they were never accurate. Some people have good luck with them but I found either they pick up the pacing spikes as beats so the count is too high, or the pm interferes and it shows nothing. I either count manually or I have a pulse oximeter in my gym bag. I don't work out with it, but if I feel bad I can pull it out and get a quick read.

How do you feel running with the adjustments? If you feel ok, it doesn't much matter what your rate is. Assuming the hrm is accurate, it sounds like they turned up the sensitivity so it gets your rate up quickly when you exert.

High Heart Rate Shown on Garmin

by engineeringden - 2013-10-29 11:10:44

Hi
I have a Medtronic dual lead too for AV block. For running, I have a Garmin 410 and had your exact issue for months. It has been frustrating. I thought my PM was injecting extra beats or my heart was racing on its own, but like you I could not take my Heart rate while running! I felt ok so I went back to the pm clinic and they said the rate response was turned off and the pm only provides my base 50bpm. A week ago I decided to try relocating my Garmin chest strap much higher on my chest as I have always worn it at the bottom of my rib cage before. Now I notice after the last 3 -4 runs that my heart rate readout on the Garmin 410 does not go nuts and shoot up to 165 after I just start running for a couple of minutes. yes my heart rate goes up but not crazy to 165 . So I will continue to monitor and report back say in a week.

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