Medical devices to monitor heart rhythm (i.e., Alivecor, KardiaMobile)

Unless you’re always together you should each have a Kardia device. I keep mine in my purse with my medication so it’s always with me. It’s very accurate and I wouldn’t be without it.
My Fitbit also detects Afib but not right away and often hours after it has started. Apparently the Apple Watch is better at detection but I have no experience with one.

Welcome @sylviajean, Thanks for sharing. I also have both an Apple watch and a Kardia six or two lead device. I think the Kardia device is much more accurate and shows my SVCs and occasional PVC where the Apple watch just mostly shows sinus rhythm.

Do you send the Kardia reports to your doctor?

I do not send the reports to my doctor. I also have not upgraded to the fancier plan that requires a fee. Have you? I see no need at the present time. The device itself is great and has helped me verify when I’m in Afib and when I’m back in sinus rhythm.

John, Colleen knows me well because of the number of major health problems I have. Some are rare, others very rare, so I see a number of specialist. I’m going to explain my heart birth defect to you and others. For one, any person with a heart rhythm problem should be seen by a doctor who is a specialist, trained on the subject. That doctor is called an Electrophysiologist. Regular cardiologist have only limited knowledge on rhythm issues as I painfully found out. So because of my heart birth defect, my heart and me suffered the consequences for that lack of knowledge.

I was born with a bunch of rogue heart cells that are in the Right Atrial chamber. The SA Node in the upper right Atrial Chamber is the heart’s natural pacemaker that controls the speed of the heart beats. In the bottom of the right Atrial Chamber tucked in the bottom left corner is the AV Node. It’s purpose is to direct or command the chambers to pump. It’s the big boss or Commanding General. In my case, rogue (not normal) heart cells have created a separate pathway from the SA Node to the AV Node or a short circuit. So if a pulse beat gets into the short circuit, it just keeps going around and around causing my heart to go into Tachycardia. Since there is the normal pathway, my right Ventricle is commanded to pump by it too. My highest recorded is 197bpm.

To keep this short, my doctor implanted a $25,000 special loop heart recorder under my left breast. It is monitored 24/7 by Technicians out in Oregon and I’m in Pennsylvania. Then each day they report the results back here to my doctor. Because of the short circuit, I’ve experienced Tachycardia, Bradycardia, A-Fib, Spontaneous Blackouts, plus 3 heart attacks most of my 79 years on this planet. So if you have heart rhythm problems, you may want to get an appointment with a Electrophysiologist, a specialist on rhythm problems. I had the recorder implanted in August 2021 and it has caught a number or rhythm issues, just not correct problem. You see, in order to destroy all those rogue heart cells, they must map out every cell involved. Unfortunately, I have not experienced a long enough Tachycardia in the short circuit to map it correctly. So John, I just wanted to inform you and others that there is a qualified specialist that can help you. Oh, yeah, I’ve had several exterior monitors on my chest, including the wired halter kind and a Zio that’s glued to your skin. Got a 147 & 163bpm readings with the Zio.

I've shared a few with my doctor. You can save a copy of the report and send that to your doctor if needed. I haven't upgraded to the premium plan either.

No it will not

I see that this discussion about Kardia has been going on for a while now. My cardiologist just recommended this device to me. As I have an Android phone, my understanding is that I can't use an Apple watch. I'm gathering from the posts here that the Kardia device is pretty good.
I'm thinking about getting the six lead.

How frequently do you use it? Whenever you have symptoms, or on a more regular basis?

Hi Teresa, I have an iPhone and actually bought the original Kardia device when they first came out. A few years ago I bought the six lead Kardia but I mostly use it for 2 lead readings. The six lead version has a sensor on the back that you have to place on your knee or ankle then add your fingers on the 2 sensors on the top. I usually take an ECG every morning but rarely get the Normal Sinus Rhythm reading. Most of mine are Sinus with Supraventricular Ectopy (SVE). Even though I use it every day, it hasn't been much help for me. I did show it to my doctor at one of my appointments when I first got it but didn't get much feedback from them. Haven't had any occasions yet to use it when I am having symptoms. Mostly I use it daily as a check to see if I feel any different when it shows an AFIB reading which I get once in awhile but am thinking it's not an accurate reading.

Thanks, John. That's interesting. I think I need to do some more research and learn a bit more.

I've been told that some of my dizziness might be related to A-fib, but based on your experience, I'm wondering if this is a wise investment.

From what you said, it sounds like your doctor doesn't provide much feedback regarding the Kardia reports? Is this a cardiologist or your PCP?

It was one of my pcps a few years ago. He brought in one of his team to look at the ECGs on mi iPhone.