irregular heartbeat

[Erik A]

so just recently i had about a week where i had several instances of irregular heartbeat and one extended period of nearly 18hrs. when i went to the drs they did an ECG and took blood and everything came back normal. this weekend i had another instance where i woke up with elevated heart rate and heart was really pounding. i coughed and my heart rate went back to normal
i have a fitbit that does the sleep evaluation and syncs with my tablet but while it does do heart rate it doesnt upload the stats so i am thinking about getting a more capable smart watch that does take heart rate and blood pressure data along with the sleep info so i can monitor whats happens. as the usual case is as soon as i make a drs appointment my issues seem to disapear. half the time i think my drs are thinking im making stuff up.and having the data from a smart watch would sort of prove that something is going on.
so is it worth the extra cost getting a smart device or are they a waste of money and the data is not really worth getting???

[Ripples]

Is it worth getting one? I sure think so.

Here's seven incidents where a smart watch saved lives: https://www.hackread.com/7-times-apple- ... ved-lives/
That's just one link. My search brought up pages and pages of similar examples.

[winniewinser]

I have a FitBit Ionic and it does as you say record the HR. I can then see this in the app across the day and review any blips.

HOWEVER, I don't believe it is very accurate and wouldn't rely on it to capture any HR issues . Fitbit vs Polar belt during exercise is light and day different e.g. Fitbit will say I maxed out at 140 and in reality I was running 170+ for minutes. Fitbit is only really good for casual use IMHO. It's great for those wanting to track activity and getting up and about but for scientific capture of HR data it's poor.

My Polar belt is far more accurate for exercise and may be a better bet to capture HR for longer periods with greater accuracy. Not sure if there is a time limit on a single period of capture or not. I've considered a Polar watch too but at the moment I can't be bothered to change.

I have been tested for HR issues previously and they left me on the ECG for a prolonged period. In fact I have had 2 episodes while rowing where my HR jumped over 210 and it was captured by the Polar belt but whether this was a blip or a real issue I'm not 100%. I'm still here so hopefully just techno blips.

Hope you get it sorted soon.

[jamesg]

At night I can listen to my heart beats. Missing one now and then seems normal. The cardiologist didn't go so far as to tell me to stop wasting her time, but was decidedly unfazed.

Yesterday I did some tests within Uni Verona research into fit (haha) oldies. The eco-doppler machine used has a sound output and I missed a beat every ten or so. No one seemed worried and without a qualm they let me continue to the stress tests.

[Yankeerunner]

At night I can listen to my heart beats. Missing one now and then seems normal. The cardiologist didn't go so far as to tell me to stop wasting her time, but was decidedly unfazed.

Yesterday I did some tests within Uni Verona research into fit (haha) oldies. The eco-doppler machine used has a sound output and I missed a beat every ten or so. No one seemed worried and without a qualm they let me continue to the stress tests.

I'm glad to hear that. I miss beats occasionally, and although I haven't changed anything that I do I've wondered if I should. I will most likely carry on as usual.

[KeithT]

Years ago when doing a pre-surgery screening I had some abnormal tests and a very low resting heart rate. This led to many more tests and trips to Cardio Dr.s. Long story short, I have PVCs, where my heart contracts before it should and its more of an "electrical" issue - I rarely notice it despite it happening all the time, when I do its a heavy beat where heart tries to "catch up" for the missed beat. Anyway, Dr. fully aware of my CF and ERG workouts and training and basically said it's just something I have and it shouldn't cause me any issues. I know not all heart issues can be thought of this way but there are some things where they don't really do much for or worry about.

[Erik A]

thanks everyone. i have had a look into the various smart watches and while the apple watch appears to be the most capable i prefer an android one. so far the Ze tech watch looks to be quite good and a reasonable price. might give myself an early xmas present (along with the other things i have bought myself recently)
like a new fish finder for my kayak and a new phone

[Erik A]

bit of an update.
recently i have slacked off the exercise mostly as i am in my head not wanting to do anything that may cause something to happen... ie heart attack. well i had another bad week last week with lots of pain in and around my upper chest and irregular heart etc. had a meeting today at cardiology and went through everything including another ECG.
everything came back as normal.
heart rate normal
BP normal
all the bloods ive had done in the past month or so are all normal. cholesterol etc etc all normal
so the only thing i can put it down to is stress. and a freaking strong inner chimp lol.
time to kick myself and get back into it

[Dangerscouse]

Take care Erik. I'm in no way trying to offer medical advice but my wife lived with a bad back for so long that even when she had successful disc replacement surgery her body was almost hardwired to expect pain and discomfort.

Hopefully your issues are also psychosomatic too and when you gain confidence your mind will drop out of the possible self preservation mode that it may currently be in. With an issue of such severe magnitude it is very reasonable if your mind is being over cautious and in a negative feedback loop.

[Erik A]

Thanks Stu
im thinking its all stress related and just need to get on and keep exercising. as the cardiologist said... any exercise is good for me so just go and do it