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Hi,

I've just joined.

Have had a pacemaker since 2005, replaced battery Nov. 2012. Since getting it my life has been downhill all the way. I can no longer ride my bike without pain and discomfort.

The reason for the pacemaker was total heart block, no connection between atrium and ventricle. Basically not a serious problem as heart problems go. I have friends with triple and quadruple heart bye-pass operations who are capable of riding bikes with pleasure and without holding back their companions.

I have had numerous changes of settings without any improvement only deterioration. Some of the changes have been counter intuitive and without my consent; raising the lower bpm to 80 and lowering the max to 130. Also I have had contradictory advice. Two cardios have told me that I have the wrong pacemaker while others tell me the one the two recommend would not help.

My pacemaker, I'm told, is set DDDR and is set. at min. 50 and max 180, tracking and sensing. The AV delay paced is 80 - 180ms and sensed 65 - 150ms, Does anyone out there who is not a cardiologist in the UK know the relationship between bpm and AV delay beyond the 4ms shortening per 10 bpm increase? Further, do any of you have similar problems?

As you can guess I'm still in dispute with my cardiologists, 'we are getting weary of changing your settings'.

1 Comments

settings

by Tracey_E - 2014-01-24 10:01:12

What kind of pain and discomfort? I have av block also and have had problems with my settings that kept me from exercising, but it was never painful, just short of breath, dizzy, tired.

If your dr writes you off when you can't do what you want to do, get another opinion. I have a few thoughts but would like to know what symptoms you get first.

Ok, I will give one opinion now. :) DDDR is rate response. If you have only av block, no atrial issues, then you want rate response OFF. They say it doesn't affect you if you don't need it but that's often not true. It can compete with our natural atrial rate.

Min of 80 is crazy except when you're trying to outpace afib. Max of 130 is probably too low if you exercise. Have you been on a treadmill so they can watch what your heart is doing real time? When I did that, we found two secondary problems that were masked by my main problem.

You know you're wired when...

Bad hair days can be blamed on your device shorting out.

Member Quotes

I have had my pacer since 2005. At first it ruled my life. It took some time to calm down and make the mental adjustment. I had trouble sleeping and I worried a lot about pulling wires. Now I just live my life as I wish.