BPM ??

I am now into about 4-5 weeks and everything seems to be going in the right direction. My PM is set so my heart rate does not go below 80. I feel fine and have better energy levels and I am doing tread mill 4-5 times a week for 45 minutes,here is my question,what determines the rate they are set at - ? It seems strange to have walked around with a 40 BPM AND a scary 20 found on Holter monitor,now I feel my heart is racing --

2 Comments

Base rate

by golden_snitch - 2014-05-15 02:05:59

Hi!

A base rate of 80 is pretty high, especially for someone who was in bradycardia before, and who is well trained. Most people have theirs at 50-60, some at 70, but 80 is rather unusual I'd say. And I guess with a base rate of 80, I'd feel as if the heart was racing all the time, too. I mean, 80 is at rest, so as soon as you start moving around, it will be at 100 or more quickly.

Also, when it's 80 at rest, your atria don't get much of a chance to do the work on its own. From one of your last posts I understand that you had bradycardia mostly at night. Severe, yes, but at daytime you were doing better. So, why not let the atria do their job during the day? I don't think it would hurt to try to lower the base rate to 70, then maybe 60.

Inga

Agree with Inga

by KAG - 2014-05-15 12:05:45

I think that 80 is very high. Do you know what your resting rate was before the PM? Usually they set it around that.

The upper level is usually set to pretty low at first and if you're active may need to be increased. They usually will set it slightly above what your high rate was during exercise.

Kathy

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