Pacemaker range and exercise

My pacemaker is set with parameters of 60-130.
When I walked yesterday I checked my settings to see what range I was in after my walk and I was between 165- 178 for 20 minutes of my walk.
Is this the way my pacemaker works? It allows you to get way above the top setting?
I am just confused about how it works???
Thank you!

4 Comments

I addition

by BillH - 2016-01-19 06:01:12

to what GoodDog said.

You did not indicate what kind of pacemaker you have or for what heart condition, age, condition, etc.

But, in general 165-178 is very high for simply walking.

It is certainly something to talk to your doctor about. But it could be normal for you.

The way it works

by Good Dog - 2016-01-19 06:01:52

Yes, you are correct.The pacer monitors the beats and it only kicks-in as necessary. So when you are exercising and your heart apparently beats fine at the upper limits, the pacemaker does nothing.
This is exactly how mine worked when I was younger. I used it only on the lower end, mostly while I was sleeping. However, if you have days when your heart isn't beating on it's own in sync, the pacer will take care of that. I have had mine for 30 years! As I have gotten older, I depend more on the PM.
It is amazing technology and extremely reliable.

Sncerely,
David

limits

by Tracey_E - 2016-01-19 07:01:09

We all have an upper and lower limit, but most of are only practically affected by one of them. In my case, I have av block so I pace ventricle all the the time. My sinus node doesn't slow down below the lower limit, my problem is the signal not getting to the ventricles. Upper limit affects me because it will only pace the ventricles as high as the upper limit. Mine started out 130 but my atrial rate gets higher than that during exercise so they raised my upper limit to 175. If your rate drops at rest, it's just the opposite. You need it to keep you from going too low, but once you get going, your heart is fine on its own.

ask a doctor

by holtd3 - 2016-01-19 07:01:20

Im not sure what your condition is or what the model is but this actually happened to me where it was going above the normal pace. I ended up going to the hospital and found out I was in AFib - not saying that is whats going on but it never hurts to check.

You know you're wired when...

You play MP3 files on your pacer.

Member Quotes

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