Heart rate settings

What is your pacemaker set at for heart beats per minute and what is your age? I am getting a new pacemaker next week. I had the old one for 8 years. The old one is set at 70 BPM.. I am 75 years old and feel lightheaded at times. Would raising the BPM to 75 help with lightheadedness?

2 Comments

Island Girl

by IAN MC - 2015-12-19 12:12:45

The normal range of resting heart rates is between 60 and 100 bpm and interestingly resting heart-rate doesn't change much with age . ( unlike blood pressure which does ) You don't need a higher heart-rate setting just because you are older.

We are all different. I am a little bit older than you ( dammit ) and my PM base setting is 55 bpm . I started off at 50 and had it increased to 55 . I was surprised what a difference that made to me but it was more a case of feeling less tired ; in my case I wasn't at all light-headed at the lower setting.

The higher the base setting , the more you are likely to pace so the shorter the battery life . This can influence them when they decide on the settings.

You really need the minimum setting that you feel comfortable with and we are all different ! Why not try 75 bpm and see if it makes any difference. It may of course be a blood pressure issue.

Best of luck

Ian

Hey Island Girl

by Dave H - 2015-12-22 02:12:50

My situation for which I'll be seeing a Cardiologist who is also the hospitals #1 echocardiographer in a couple days has plans to "fine tune" my Medtronic VIVA PM/ICD. He claims he can read an echo (which, BTW, is mostly subjective) better than any EP. I'll be on the "bed" with the sonographer doing what the Doc instructs her/him while a PM "mouse" hangs next to my heart and the Doc instructs the device nurse to do his bidding. Over the past few months, while performing mundane chores (car washing, mowing the lawn, etc) I would feel some shortness of breath. On the other hand, when I get on the treadmill (which I do every day 5 to 6 miles @ 3.6 to 4mph) and get past that 1st mile and my pulse above 95, I have NO shortness of breath issues. So, we all need to be "fine tuned."

Talk to your doc regarding heart rate!

--Dave--

You know you're wired when...

You take technology to heart.

Member Quotes

So, my advice is to go about your daily routine and forget that you have a pacemaker implanted in your body.