1) Having been on metoprolol for many years before switching to a different beta-blocker and I definitely noticed when I would "hit the wall" when it came to aerobic activity. As I got into better and better shape, I found that I could push through the wall so to speak, but not sure if that was an issue with my heart becoming more efficient, or switching from aerobic to anerobic as I continued to exercise?
2) Funny heart rate monitor story: Had surgery in 2002. Was young(er) and pretty active so my docs let me work on my own rehab, plus insurance didn't cover it at the time. Found I was hitting a wall when exercising so purchased a HR monitor to help monitor what was happening. Stupid thing never seemed to work right and had trouble monitoring any sort of rate as I exercised. Went to my cardio to find out more, so he gave me a stress test, and his eyes bugged out of his head as he watched the EKG change as I ran on the treadmill; turns out I had some scarring of my natural pacemaker post-op at some point in the healing process and my heart was beating at it's own intrinsic rate. (It was delayed too, which is why they never caught it soon after post-op, and I felt so much better after surgery than I did before I went in, the "wall" I was hitting seemed like nothing compared to my symptoms pre-op.) My EKG on the stress test looked like a crackhead got hold of an etch-a-sketch. Luckily when I was hitting the wall I didn't fib out
Needless to say a) no wonder the heart rate monitor wasn't working since my heart was doing the macarena every time I did more than walk, and b) my cardio scheduled pacemaker surgery pretty soon afterwards. He's keeping a super-close eye on me after my second surgery, given my penchant for weird issues post-op.
--Dan
2) Funny heart rate monitor story: Had surgery in 2002. Was young(er) and pretty active so my docs let me work on my own rehab, plus insurance didn't cover it at the time. Found I was hitting a wall when exercising so purchased a HR monitor to help monitor what was happening. Stupid thing never seemed to work right and had trouble monitoring any sort of rate as I exercised. Went to my cardio to find out more, so he gave me a stress test, and his eyes bugged out of his head as he watched the EKG change as I ran on the treadmill; turns out I had some scarring of my natural pacemaker post-op at some point in the healing process and my heart was beating at it's own intrinsic rate. (It was delayed too, which is why they never caught it soon after post-op, and I felt so much better after surgery than I did before I went in, the "wall" I was hitting seemed like nothing compared to my symptoms pre-op.) My EKG on the stress test looked like a crackhead got hold of an etch-a-sketch. Luckily when I was hitting the wall I didn't fib out
Needless to say a) no wonder the heart rate monitor wasn't working since my heart was doing the macarena every time I did more than walk, and b) my cardio scheduled pacemaker surgery pretty soon afterwards. He's keeping a super-close eye on me after my second surgery, given my penchant for weird issues post-op.--Dan
