Rate Response settings wrong again

A big thanks to all for great communications in the past. Frank, Tracey,Patch and Smitty..... Met with cardio and complained of h/r not exceeding 118(with a heart monitor and a pulse monitor on the treadmill at my club) which was leading to syncope when playing tennis. Upon any exertion the symptoms would start. Doc says rate response will override my "natural pace maker" and they will not compete. The setting for my r/r is 150..........
Being confused, I called Medtronic and spoke with several techs before finding the right one. We reviewed several pre and post r/r reports and he said that 3 of the settings were incorrect and that Medtronic has a program that tests the pm on a treadmill to get accurate r/r settings................Soooooooooooo easy ..why do you have to go the extra miles to get proper info..
So for those who hear from the docs that you are "obsessing" stay with it......... I am going to have these tests done with a new cardio and work with the very knowledgeable Medtronic tech who even gave me a direct number!!
Last interrogation, tech could not answer questions about adl settings and did not know what they were for. I was pacing 90% atrial and 0 ventricle.

Thanks for your thoughts and comments...

-Philman

3 Comments

techs

by Tracey_E - 2009-01-21 06:01:56

Not all techs are created equal! Some are definitely better than others and a good one is worth his/her weight in gold! Sounds like you're making the right decision getting a new doctor.

Why?

by ElectricFrank - 2009-01-22 01:01:36

It is quite simple. Most doctors and cardiologists haven't a clue when it comes to programming a pacemaker. A technician just follows the docs orders so no better.

This isn't to put down the cardiologist. It is just that he/she is out of their field. The pacemaker is a very intricate electronic device that requires a knowledge of sensing and synchronization theory. The cardiologist is skilled in dealing with the plumbing and chemistry of the heart.

You did the right thing in contacting Medtronics. I am lucky that my checkups are done my a Medtronic rep and it doesn't hurt that I am an electronic engineer to boot. He and I get along famously and the cardologist has learned to just stay out of the room after he make a fool out of himself once.

frank

How did you get Medtronic to talk to you

by New2this - 2017-08-30 00:18:49

Hi there I have been suffering for two months now.  I passed out at work and hit my head hard,  they said I had a concussion. Then one week later bam I hit the concrete wow did that hurt. Every time my pacemaker goes off I get this pain in my chest like someone  is squeezing my heart. I have been in countless times thinking I'm having a heart attack they say nothings wrong; nothings wrong with your pacemaker yet they keep changing the settings. They have it set to where my heart rate does not drop below 60 I have a dual chamber medtronic pacemaker.  I keep telling them that there is something wrong with my pacemaker I know it's my pacemaker I feel it. Today I had a TEE done.  As I was waiting to go back for the procedure  The heart monitor caught my heart stopping for four beats then the pacemaker would kick in and my blood pressure would go to 115/100.  It did this  multiple times to where they shut off the alarm. The cardiologist said there something wrong with your pacemaker so he called the pacemaker clinic and then the nurse came back in and said well the pacemaker clinic knows about your pacemaker but said do not call them. See I have been calling them constantly and they keep telling me to stop calling them because nothing is wrong. If I keep passing out and hitting my head I'm afraid I'm going to end up with brain damage.  I know for a fact that there is something wrong and I need help I have Kaiser and I'm out of work  on medical leave so I have nowhere else to go and no one to turn to I've called medtroic and they told me that they don't follow patients so they can't tell me anything about my pacemaker do you have any advice for me. 

          Thank You PM placed 7/8/17 for  complete heart block TEE was clear 

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