Smart watch to monitor heart

Hello @tomsmayoconnect - I combined your discussion with an existing discussion on smartwatches titled, "Smart watch to monitor heart" - https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/apple-watch/.

Many members have discussed Apple watches as well as a few others. You can read through some of their experiences.

@gloaming brings up a good point. There are a lot of good devices out there now, but pairing devices up by brand and your smart phone can help make the initial process of setting them up much, much more simple.

@tomsmayoconnect - what are you hoping to monitor for in particular?

Thanks @JustinMcClanahan for redirecting me this existing discussion.

I'm currently in the process of a cascading holter monitor test. I just completed the 1st 24 hour segment.

I've been experiencing light headedness, weakness and a rapid pulse when exerting myself while cutting the lawn and walking briskly. My pulse was at 160 BPM and weak the last time this happened. Not sure if I have any irregular heart beat issues or any other thing going on. That why I'm doing the cascading holter test to see what exactly might be going on when one of these events happens.

I also have sleep apnea so it is helpful to monitor that as well.

One of sleep apnea's unfortunate outfalls is atrial fibrillation. Happened to me. Not a sure thing, not for everyone, but it is common enough that cardiologists will ask their patients to take an at-home test or to go to a sleep lab over night if there are no obvious signs of ischemia.

Your stated pulse rate is quite high for just walking. When I climb all 300+ steps at our local ocean-side bluff known as the Goose Spit Steps, my HR climbs only to about 144 by the time I am 2/3 of the way up. This isn't a quick pace, but a steady and unbroken assault on the bluff until I reach the top. I don't want to stress my already addled heart unduly, and when using the formula for Max HR based on one's age, I'm right at the max of 220 (age plus HR = Max HR). If you are reasonably fit, not above BMI 26, And under 50 or so, a walking pulse of 160 might indicate AF. This is likely because you claim that it is not only rapid, and weak/hard to detect, but it is irregular...the classic sign of AF. This would account for your weakness, and probably some breathlessness as well..?

For your sleep apnea, you should know what your weekly and monthly averages are for your AHI (apnea-hypopnea index(. You need to poll the data on your machine's SD card. If it doesn't have a card, get any standard SD card from your local drug store or digital supply outlet with at least 2 gigabytes of data capacity. Even so, your machine should tell you on its display each morning.

Thanks for responding. So far we haven't been able to detect any irregular heart beating. I've had the sleep studies. I just completed the 1st 24 hours of Holter Test Cascade. I also had other tests like ECG, blood tests etc. So far everything is fine and with acceptable ranges.

As for my sleep apnea, I don't tolerate the CPAP machines. I sleep on my side which seems to do ok.

The problem is that when I exert myself while walking (hills and such a quick pace) or cutting the lawn when it's hot etc. I feel weak, light headed and have a rapid pulse. I can tell that I need a break at that time so I sit down, drink some water. I've be able to continue after about 15 minutes of rest.

We're hoping to capture an episode of this while wearing the Holter to see exactly what's going on.

'...I sleep on my side which seems to do ok...'

I don't know how to interpret that statement. What metric are you using to demarcate 'ok' from ' a poor sleep?' Going by how you feel next morning is a mistake, as I learned in November of 2017. When my polysomnography results were placed on the table before me, I was shocked to learn that I had severe sleep apnea. I felt great, except for the two bouts of AF in June and in September. I felt great, but my heart didn't. It was in fight-or-flight response all night long trying to keep me alive. It finally became vexed enough to complain just a tad...with my first bout of AF near the end of a 10 km run.

If you don't mind continuing to engage me here, would you explain about your intolerance to CPAP therapy? We help scads of poorly compliant or failing patients over on apneaboard.com where there is a wealth of experience, savvy, and good will to help people struggling with one or two aspects of their prescriptions (which are often wrong!).

I tested a good number of CPAP machines in a number of overnight sleep studies over something like 20 years. I just haven't been able to sleep with one one. When I sleep on my side I've been able to avoid problems so far. This has been observed on overnight sleep studies in the clinic. My garmin watch monitors my sleep. I have an app on my iPhone that does a pretty good job of presenting data to me from day to day.

My doctor ordered a Holter Test Cascade. After the 1st 24 hours of the Holter Test and a slew of other tests that all came out fine. No signs of AF or other heart malfunctions at this time during sleep or daytime.

At this time I'm pretty satisfied with my Mayo Clinic health team.

Thanks for reaching out.

I have ordered and will be picking up a Series 9 Apple watch today. I am quite anxious to understand the pattern of my AFib. I have been told I am in it all the time. My Cardiologist seemed to focus on my past alcohol consumption as the key concern. I have stopped drinking now and hope for improvement. I also have mild sleep apnea, am 30 pounds overweight, get out of breath easily and often sleep during the day. The next step for me is an eco-cardiogram to determine heart muscle strength and pumping volume. I hav also ordered the AFIB Cure by John Day MD. and Jarad Bunch to try to learn more about my condition. What a crazy situation to not have known about this condition before. I have not had a family doctor for the last 3 years (he retired) and now find myself having to poke around the Ontario health care system to find practitioners who can help out by pointing me in the right direction. By your own advocate.

Hello, I am from ontario as well. Good luck in finding a dr. Here. They are few and far between, also seem to have gotten choosey with selecting there patients. Canada is broken. As for your AFIB , past alcohol consumption I have never heard of for that condition. You should seek a different opinion. Good luck

I recently purchased an Apple 9 watch, mostly to monitor my Afib. It is very easy to use and accurate. One study showed it is 98% accurate compared to professional monitoring. I drink very occasionally (maybe a glass of wine once a month) and find that it can be a trigger, but not always. Stress can be a trigger. Sometimes there seems to be no trigger--I'm sleeping in bed and Afib wakes me up. Good luck finding a doctor.

Excessive alcohol consumption, especially binge drinking, is well established in the cardiology literature as a cause of AF. It has a name, and it is 'Holiday Heart Syndrome'. The ERs have reported for decades now that the morning of 26 December , Boxing Day, and January 01, New Year's Day, are often times when people present at the ER after heavy drinking and reporting that their hearts feel funny, or that they know something is wrong.