Question for the pacemaker crowd. . .

[epstns]

I've had my pacemaker since a few days after surgery. Now that I'm 11 weeks post-op, I've been "pushing it" a bit more in my daily exercise. The problem I'm running into is that with my pacemaker, NONE of the electronic heart rate monitors seem to work reliably. I have a polar and another brand (SportMart house brand) which work for others, but not for me. The treadmills at my gym have hand-grip sensors connected to heart rate monitors - which don't work for me. I've even tried one of those wristwatch devices that you touch with two fingers to get a reading, to no avail.

I'm sure my heart is beating :cool2: but none of the monitors can seem to agree.

What experiences have you others had? Which monitors seem to work?

P.S. The monitor on my wrist-band blood pressure monitor works, but I can't take THAT to the gym. . .

 

[mainframe]

Hi Steve,

I do cardio with a HR monitor and don't have a problem. I have a Medtronics pacemaker. I use a Polar transmitter (non coded) and the receiver in the treadmill is able to pickup the signal without the use of the watch.

Have you contacted your pacemaker manufacturer and if their product would interfere? The battery in my pacemaker is down to 5 months and after only 1 1/2 years it seems time to get another. So I may be running into the issue you have in a few months as well, depending on what kind I end up with.

 

[epstns]

No, Chris, I never asked the manufacturer. I should, as I think their tech support folks are good. I called them to ask whether my amateur radio transmitter would interfere with pacing (before transmitting!) and they were able to discuss it with me from a good technical standpoint. (No, there is no interference from my 100-watt transmitter to my pacemaker.)

I will try to remember to call them - Boston Scientific. IIRC, they are the result of a merger with one of the other manufacturers. Hope I can find an answer, as I don't like "running in the dark."

 

[Greg a]

Hi Steve,

I do cardio with a HR monitor and don't have a problem. I have a Medtronics pacemaker. I use a Polar transmitter (non coded) and the receiver in the treadmill is able to pickup the signal without the use of the watch.

Have you contacted your pacemaker manufacturer and if their product would interfere? The battery in my pacemaker is down to 5 months and after only 1 1/2 years it seems time to get another. So I may be running into the issue you have in a few months as well, depending on what kind I end up with.

Steve, I could have written that same post for Chris as I too have the Medtronics under the hood

 

[camgough]

I have a Medtronic Adapta ADDRL1 pacemaker and a Mio Ultimate HR monitor. They seem to work together fine! I also don't have any luck with the hand grips on cardio machines.

 

[epstns]

Well, it seems that the Medtronics units work with monitors, BUT pacemakers aren't something we change because the other one has a better feature set. :rolleyes2:

It also seems that nobody having a Boston Scientific pacer has yet checked in here, so I can't tell yet if my experience is unique or common.

I guess I'll have to try to find time to call Boston Scientific (BS?) customer support and ask them what should or shouldn't work.

 

[AgilityDog]

I've had both a Guidant pacemaker and a Medtronics pacemaker/defibrillator.

The hand grips HRM on the gym machines don't work with either. But the Polar HRM with the chest band works just fine, with both, and can be picked up on the elliptical machine or treadmills at the gym or cardiac rehab joints just fine, as well as on the wrist watch.

However, the wrist HRM where you have to hold the contact points with the other hand??? That didn't work for SHI !T with my pacemakers.

I think Medtronics is now Boston Scientific. They're the once done sent me the sticker for the back of my cell phone!

 

[camgough]

I think Medtronic is still it's own, I believe Boston Scieftific and Guidant are the same now.

 

[ElectLive]

Sorry to be a little late chiming in...but here's my experience with my St. Jude pacemaker:

I was startled when putting on my Timex watch chest strap for the first time and it registered 20, then 200, then back and forth.
I was furious when I discovered my Schwinn exercise bike chest strap did not register at all, my primary means of exercise - target heart rate mode.

I found two things that worked: one of those watches you hold 2 fingers on and a finger pulse ox device. The watch was always a pain, and didn't seem that accurate. The finger pulse ox is what I use now. It seems to be accurate, no features obvously, but better than nothing I guess.

 

[epstns]

Yeah, I know the feeling of frustration when the monitor says something I know can't be true. . .

I tried one of the two-finger monitor/watches. No reading at all.

I thought about a fingertip pulse/oximeter, but I can picture it flying off while I'm on the treadmill. Not so funny.

So far, my Polar chest strap monitor seems to "sort of" work. If I wear the chest strap lower than usual, it lessens the interference and I get a reading. I still sometimes get unbelievable readings like 30-120-260 and so forth. If I watch it for a bit, it settles down within a believable range, and I believe it to be accurate - until it wigs out again. I called Polar tech support and they said that their simpler monitors were tested with Boston Scientific pacemakers and if the user moves the chest strap around, they generally found a spot that worked. I have a new Polar monitor and will geive it a try.

 

[ElectLive]

I've learned to do manual heart rate control. Heart rate too low, bump up resistance, heart rate too high, bump it back down. Sure not the same, though, always loved the automatic resistance changes of the Schwinn pre-surgery to maintain my target heart rate. Of course, my preventative metoprolol daily has lowered that target rate...that was an initial surprise too.

My pulse-ox has a fairly snug spring closure, but haven't tried running with it. I have mowed the grass with it, though! (There was one red flag downloaded at my 3 month pacemaker clinic appt, and I backtracked it to the first time post surgery I mowed the grass) Excessive sweat, maybe more than movement, might just lead to some flying off, though, it does get a little loose. It's my only good option, so I'd probably tape it on if I had to. I should mention that the instructions say specifically not to wear it continuously. I haven't noticed any accuracy issues long term, though. Hopefully, there's not a hidden danger I'm not aware of, I would not be happy if my finger fell off one day from excessive use.

My biggest frustration with having a pacemaker is that I had to change from an inexpensive internet phone service back to an expensive land line phone. It was the only connection that worked to do my remote downloads. Crazy, I think, with technology these days, that they've basically given me a glorified modem. Maybe when the battery runs out in 8 or 9 years, things will at least be wireless. Hey, let's think big, maybe they'll be GPS equipped, too!

 

[ElectLive]

Forgot to mention, moving the chest straps around didn't do anything to me. I even found a recommendation on a pacemaker forum to put the sensors on the back, instead of chest, but no luck. Perhaps I should have done a little pacemaker research Day 2 and Day 3 after surgery, wasn't much else going on...

 

[epstns]

I didn't get any choice as to brand or model of my pacemaker. After seeing my cardiac monitor go flat-line for 15-20 seconds a few times, I didn't argue about getting the pacemaker, either. That is NOT something you want to see. . .

I also was told that some users wear the monitors backward, but mine doesn't work at all that way. I plan to try out the newest one (a Polar FT-1) to see if it works the way they say it will. If not, who knows? I'll have to go by how I feel - just like I did before I got a monitor.

If my EP wants to monitor my pacemaker via phone, no problem here. My "broadband" internet is carried over a phone line, so landline is here for a while. Also, my satellite TV needs a landline to call home to upload pay TV data for billing. Even though the copper here is about 100 years old, I'm stuck with it. Oh, well, at least my DSL is on a conditioned data line.

 

[ElectLive]

Yeah, post surgery pacemakers and patient self advocacy just don't seem to mesh. My discussion with the pacemaker team went something like this: "Ok, I just made it through open heart surgery, all surgical issues taken care of, yet you're telling me that these temporary wires here are actually keeping me alive. I can't get out of bed, I pretty much can't do anything ever again, until you put a permanent pacemaker in. Hmm...tough decision...where do I sign?" I probably didn't have a choice on brand/model either, didn't even ask.