Need a Heart Monitor? Why?

79 yrs, pm 8 weeks ago; Walk daily, yoga and golf - twice weekly.

Would a monitor be helpful? How?

What numbers are important?

Most valuable to those who bike or work out?

Some posts say the pm will adjust to your body in time.

Some say the monitor output was used to change the pm settings.

azviking

8 Comments

monitors

by Tracey_E - 2014-07-23 02:07:25

There are people who actively monitor their heart rate during exercise to make sure they are working hard enough. If you are having problems, it's a good idea to monitor and see what your heart is doing when you have symptoms. This can help them adjust your settings appropriately. I don't bother! If you are able to do what you want to do and feel good, then it's safe to assume your heart rate is fine. You don't need a machine to tell you that.

Pm adjusting to your body has to do with one particular model of pm and it's very sophisticated rate response.

I wonder too!.

by azviking - 2014-07-23 02:07:25

No one recommended a heart monitor for me..

I am slightly more SOB in the am walk - but it may be more marginal than actual. The Arizona heat, perhaps.

I may increase my exercise activities to strengthen my heart/lungs. Is a monitor most useful then?

Kathy, your experience says the monitor records were necessary to get the doctor to adjust the settings.
Are the pm records inadequate? Not convincing?

In a few weeks I will see mine when I meet the doctor.

Thanks for your comments, Kathy

Azviking

monitor

by wjs1954 - 2014-07-23 02:07:39


I have always used one, for no good reason..

just a nut I guess gives me something to look at..

because I use it all the time I did have lots of Data to show my Cardiologist from day one, was also help later, but necessary NO..

MY 2 cents anyway..

I am a runner, I like the data mine does much more the HR if it was only HR would not have been using it last 15 years again just me....

Thanks Tracey

by azviking - 2014-07-23 03:07:25

I am generally feeling good - not lightheaded as before the pm.. So I will see how I feel as time goes on and what the pm records show.

I like the advice - your body itself will say if it is not well.

Were I to have a monitor I would need experience to learn that a certain HR is appropriate for a specific activity - and any change from that general level may be cause for concern.

I can also see a monitor's usefulness for recording irregular and random actions..

Thanks, Kathy. I am learning

azviking

I'm in AZ too

by KAG - 2014-07-23 09:07:05

so I know about the heat and the terrible humidity this time of year. Thought I'd throw in the terrible humidity of 30 to 40, even as high as 50 % for our friends out north, east and south.

I have a Medtronics PM and the everyday normal data reported can be fairly coarse. They tend to look in detail at episodes, like AT/AF and VT.

When I needed the adjustment I found that in walking up a steeper hill I'd be fine at the start, HR in the low 100's. My HR would start climbing as I climbed the hill and when it got to 140 it dropped like a rock into the high 60's. I felt terrible, SOB lead legs. My PM was doing exactly as programmed since at that time my upper rate was set at 140. The PM would sense that the upper rate was hit and think it needed to slow the ventricle pacing down to prevent a to fast HR. When I went in I had this detail with me and the techs knew immediately that I needed my upper rate raised, now at 160. No problems since then.

An activity log can help if you do have episodes like AT/AF or VT in that it can help identify a trigger. If I noted feeling funny I'd jot it down and it could help explain. In the beginning I kept pretty detailed logs but now I don't bother. Mostly I just use my calendar to know what I was doing. At my most recent PM check I had 3 events and the report gives the date, time, duration, average and max bpm, and the activity at onset (rest or active). For the 3 minute AT/AF event I know I was doing some serious yard work at that exact time, and it was hot and humid. My events were "clinically insignificant", so I don't think I can use them as an excuse to stop yard work.

Hope this helps
Kathy

Wondering

by KAG - 2014-07-23 12:07:28

who's recommending a monitor? and why?

Are you feeling bad when doing your activities?

If you're feeling bad when exercising then maybe a HR monitor would be helpful to figure out what's happening. I used a finger pulse oxy meter at first because I was getting SOB when walking up hills. It helped me to gather data to take to the PM tech and get my PM adjusted. I also kept an activity log. What I was doing and what my HR was. It helps to have some hard data to work with your PM tech or Dr, versus just saying "I feel bad".

Kathy

Kathy

by azviking - 2014-07-24 12:07:18

Thanks for sharing your experience. It is very helpful to know how monitors are used by pm folks.

It was helpful to you initially and now it is not required.

In the last 15 years wjs1954 - the runner - used a monitor to collect a lot of information. He finds it interesting for his sport and found it useful, but not necessary, for adjusting his pm.


azviking

Another reason

by Grateful Heart - 2014-07-24 12:07:50


I use a Polar HR monitor when I exercise. I have a CRT-D and I took an exercise class with a friend and was able to keep up with the routine while modifying some moves due to a bad hip.

I always listen to my body and it was telling me I'm getting a really good workout but nothing where I had to stop.

My monitor tells me the lowest and highest HR during the workout but not the duration for each. At the end of that workout my monitor showed I reached 220 at one point! When I had my next interrogation it showed 8 different "events" during that hour of class with 217 being the highest for 8 seconds.....pretty accurate to me!

My defibrillator is set to shock at 220 after 14 seconds (I think...possibly a little longer). I haven't been shocked in the 5 years of hosting a device and was so thankful that it did not happen but.....much too close for comfort.

So now I try to really pay attention to my monitor but not always easy to do when exercising.

Grateful Heart

You know you're wired when...

You have a little piece of high-tech in your chest.

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