Is over 200 bpm normal?

My daughter is 11 yrs old and has a pacemaker, she had it placed 12/26/08 for 3rd degree heart block which came on very sudden... she is an avid basketball player and plays on a traveling AAU team... everything had been going good except the last two interogations they have showed a few times each month her heart is beating over 200 times per minute, this does not seem normal to me... and ideas if this will cause any damage or if it is ok!?!
Also does anybody know where I can find something that will guard her pacemaker while she is playing basketball, she is so small and the adult paceguards just won't fit her...
thanks in advance for your time.

5 Comments

probably normal

by Tracey_E - 2010-01-30 10:01:06

Did the dr seem concerned? If she's active in sports, it's not surprising she sometimes gets her rate up there. As long as it comes back down and it's regular (not fibrillation, etc), it's perfectly fine. I am 43 with the same condition as your daughter and I occasionally do the same thing- get my atrial rate up to 190 or 200. It's only a problem if she feels bad when it happens. Even then it's not dangerous, just annoying. I get dizzy when it happens to me.

It shows up on the interrogation report because her pm likely can't pace her that high so it shows up as an incident. Most pm's only pace up to 180, and they're hardly ever set that high. Mine is at 175, they don't want it any closer to the upper limit than that. You might want to ask what her upper limit is. Sometimes they start them really low- 120 or 130- which will not do if she's athletic. It's easy to turn it up but some doctors have to be asked.

There is a company that makes guards for children. It's too close to bedtime, I can't think of the name! The owner has a child with a pm and posts here occasionally.

shirt

by Tracey_E - 2010-01-30 10:01:41

try paceguard.com! They have youth sizes and an excellent reputation.

suggestions

by tsimbrow - 2010-01-30 11:01:55

I agree with Tracey about if the doctor is concerned. Try asking him/her next time. I'm going to tell you, I'm a nurse and I have arrhythmias. I used to have SVT which was ablated in 2004 and am having short episodes again. I currently do not have a pacemaker as the doctors are trying to decide still. I'm doing OK, but I know how frigtening it can be to think that everything is OK, but then you see or hear something that isn't and you start to worry. The first thing I would do is talk to the doctor and ask them if they are concerned and if there is anything they can do. A pacemaker is only able to pace up to 180bpm and anything above that just gets ignored for lack of a better word. Does your daughter feel unwell when it goes up that high? She also plays sports which is an excellent thing and that can also raise her heartrate. A general rule of thumb I tell my patients is that if the heartrate goes up with exercise, but doesn't come down within an hour, get it checked and the other is that if you feel unwell with =any rhythms get it checked. As a mother you probably have a better understanding of your daughter than anyone else and if you are concerned go with your mother' intuition and get her checked. You could aslo talk to her about what it feels like and if she feels anything with it. I also always tell people to keep a diary of their symptoms. Hope this helps.
Taryn

thank you!

by asher - 2010-01-31 01:01:31

Thank you all for your comments! I have asked her cardiologist about the heart rate and she told me it was nothing to worry about. I just wanted to ask on here because anytime I ask her a question she acts like I am putting her out and i feel like she is just telling me what I want to hear. She does have a medtronic pacemaker. I think I will call tomorrow and ask what the setting are on the pacemaker and have them send me the reports so I can see if her heart is only above 200 when she is playing basketball... (a little peace of mind) :-)
I think we will also order a paceguard for her when we get our taxes back...don't have that much money sitting around after paying on all these medical bills :-)
Thank you again you guys are awesome!!!

kids have higher rates

by golden_snitch - 2010-01-31 04:01:19

hey,

kids generally have higher heart rate than adults, and above 200 when she's playing basketball is just fine. There is at least one pacer model out there (Medtronic) which even has a rate response that can go up to 220bpm, and a pediatric cardiologist once told me that this is the reason why he often choses this model. He says children need higher rates, and most other pacers can only pace up to 185bpm. But if your daughter has a third degree heart block, then her sinus node still sets the pace and the pacemaker only tracks it and makes the ventricles beat with the same rate.

best wishes
Inga

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As for my pacemaker (almost 7 years old) I like to think of it in the terms of the old Timex commercial - takes a licking and keeps on ticking.