Heart Rhythm Conditions – Welcome to the group

@martinzerr I’ve tried Kardia mobile, Samsung Galaxy watch and Apple Iwatch. All 3 did well recording my heart beat traces. In most cases these devices are pretty accurate at diagnosing AF and Sinus rhythm . None are good at identifying PACs and PVCs, instead erroneously labeling these 30 sec traces as AFIB even though rate is low. However the traces are stored as PDFin smart phone and can show the quality of heart rhythm which you can share with EP. The Kardia sensor is separate; I carried it in my wallet but 2 of them stopped working within a few mos. I recommend using whichever watch that syncs with your current smartphone.

@chickenfarmer

@martinzerr Thanks

@martinzerr
Hello
I'm 76; former sufferer of Afib which lasted 10-12 hours, and led to passing out. Had a pacemaker, which I don't believe was the solution--the ablation was, that I had done at a local University Health center. I don't take any prescription drugs; got off Eliquis; and quit any alcohol, which is a main trigger for Afib. I use an iPhone with program to my Cardiologist, and iWatch to monitor my heart beat. Highly recommended.

Hi. I discovered that I have nighttime afib episodes about a year ago. I have a fitbit watch that was alerting me to afib happening at night while I am asleep. It always happens at night when I'm sleeping and I am not aware of it. It only happens once a month and lasts a few hours. My cardiologist put me on a monitor which was able to record one of the episodes.
He then put me on Eliquis 5 milligrams twice a day. I've been on that for a year and have recently switched to 2.5 milligrams twice a day because of my age at 78 and the bleeding risk. Has anyone else had to do that?
I still am not sure what triggers it although I believe sometimes it's from anxiety or difficulty sleeping at night.

@robbarts Along with problems the aged have sleeping, our aged minds are surprisingly active often thinking of problems that we would like to solve. I find myself instantly active mentally as soon as I awaken to turn over or to free my arm or hand and get blood circulating again if I have sagged over it and put it 'to sleep.' But most of us manage to dream if we sleep for more than 100 minutes solid. The REM cycle happens roughly every 90 minutes or so, and sometimes the dream will raise cortisol levels, adrenalin, raise the heartbeat, raise the body's temperature...all cues that also happen, or were meant to, about 0600 when so many of us naturally awaken.

If you have a health app on your phone, and your wearable device is Bluetoothed to it, that app will tell you, in all likelihood, what the duration and quality of your sleep was the previous night. This is true for Apple and Android Galaxy watch wearers. There would be a graphic depiction of timeline with columns showing the stages of sleep and their total and relative percentages of the total time slept. If you have an SPO2 analytic, like my Galaxy watch has, it will be easy to correlate the times depicted when you were in REM sleep cycle and when your SPO2 and heart rate changed commensurately. In my case, my HR spikes when I am in REM, a surefire indicator that I am dreaming and something is making my sympathetic nervous system spike...including spiking adrenaline production. As you may already know, beta-adrenergic receptors are what sometimes trigger arrhythmias, and it is the drug like metoprolol that is meant to suppress that response if/when the heart commences to fibrillate.

So, AF can be triggered by adrenaline, and adrenaline is an sympathetic nervous system's response to whatever visualizations your sleeping brain conjures up.

But, there are other possible stimuli for AF. Acid reflux or GERD can set it off. Some people have the unfortunate habit of eating late, sometimes an hour or more before bed, but too soon. Before their stomachs have digested and begun to clear the contents, the person reposes and falls asleep. But, while they are relaxed, and prone or supine, or on their right side (duodenum facing downward), their pyloric valve has relaxed, or never closed completely, and it leaks acidic contents into the esophagus. You may not awaken, but your esophagus begins to scream. You can figure out the rest.

@robbarts THere is significant correlation between sleep apnea and AF. If you haven't been tested I recommned that you have sleep test. I found a pulse oximeter that would record continuously during sleep and the resultant traces were quite intersting. everytime I hade a breathing spell my heart rate became erratic. UNfortunately the traces were only rate and not rhythm. My EP said that the results of the sleep study which showed mild apnea when I slept on my back was not significant enough to be the source of my AF episodes. I now sleep on my side and no more issues. My wife is also happier because I don't snore.
My EP took me off Elliquis after the ablation. There have been some recent studies which show that anticoagulats aren't needed for those post ablation. Not sure of your situation but recommend you read the studies OCEAN, ALONE-AF and ARTESIA and discuss with your EP.

Hello,

I am a 63 year old white male whose Father had many heart related issues. I stay fairly active despite my age but have been experiencing more frequent periods of low pulse rate with usually "pausing" every 10 beats or so. Accompanied with those periods my breathing is more labored. Yesterday I had a nuclear stress test and was told I had no blockages. However prior to the stress test I wore a heart monitor for one month. I have attached the results from the monitoring below:

FINDINGS: 30 DAY EM (24 days) 12/18/2025-1/17/2026 AVG HR 61, MIN HR 36, MAX HR 143 NSR 61.79% SBrady 33.40% SVE 4.80% VE 0.01% Pause/Block < 0.01% 7 pt triggered events-no symptoms associated with Bradycardia NO AFib Minimal Ventricular ectopy SVT longest 12 beat sequence; fastest @213bpm 9 beat sequence both in the afternoon No new meds and no additional meds.

I understand that 33.4% of the time my heart was beating at less than 60 bpm. But I am not extremely clear on the SVE for 4.8% of the time. Is this the actual "pausing" I'm experiencing? If so what causes it and what if anything can be done to minimize / correct to the problem, and do these results WARRANT anything being done. I do exercise, (treadmill), pretty frequently so the max HR of 143 is understandable. Also are the 2 episodes of SVT of concern? I do not see my cardiologist until late May.

I appreciate any insight.

Sincerely,
Greg

@pamandgreg First, I am NOT an expert in this...no training. None. However, I believe that SVE stands for 'supraventricular ectopy', meaning.....probably.....PACs, or premature atrial complexes. You get a pause, then a catch-up beat that is especially powerful and feels like a surge or a thump in the chest.

Those results do say no bradycardia, even with that one low reading. It depends on what you reported was going on at the time. When they read the data, they also try to match any recorded events of note. If you were asleep, or seated, slouched, relaxed, hadn't eaten in three hours or had a coffee or a soda with caffeine....a reading of 36 for a fit heart is not out of the ordinary. My HR would often fall to 38 after bounding up two flights of stairs to a washroom. Climb, sit on the john, waited 30 seconds or more, then took my pulse. 38. I call that a great recovery, not bradycardia. And when physicians took my pulse for some reason, they'd raise an eyebrow and ask, 'Are you a runner?'

Your 'burden' of SVE, if it is PACs, is not dangerous. Everyone has them, some more than others, and for some, who find them rising in both number and frequency, it often means a slow slide toward atrial fibrillation. I hasten to add that the burden can rise to a point where it becomes consequential if not treated, and this is where an electrophysiologist would want to take a look at your heart. Mostly, it is what you tell that person...how you sense the events, how they make you feel, and how much you'd really prefer to be rid of them, or at least to have their number strictly controlled. IOW, your symptoms matter....a lot. To most patients, THAT....is the real burden...not how many ectopic beats you get in a 24 hr period, which is how they decide when your burden is getting onerous.
https://biologyinsights.com/what-pac-burden-percentage-means-for-your-heart-health/
https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/circj/85/8/85_CJ-20-1277/_pdf/-char/en