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My EP took me off Eliquis but I’m petrified I’ll have a stroke now
I’m a 53-year-old female and I heard my first afib episode in October which lasted about eight hours of my converted with mediation. I haven’t had any episode since and I was given to echocardiograms and a two week Holter monitor and the doctor said because my chads score is 1 due to being female that I don’t need the blood thinners anymore. He said if I have another episode that we can further discuss what to do then but I’m definitely afraid right now that I’ll have a stroke. Does anyone that have had one episode of a fib not on a blood thinner?
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@lenmayo curious as to your experience with Kardia vs Smartwatches. I will share mine. I had ablation for Aflutter in 2017. Next year I purchased 1st Kardia mobile- 2 fingers on this 1 x 3 in sensor. Got some good traces but sinus rhythm so not so much use. I carried it in my wallet. A few months later it was dead, replaced the battery with no success. So I purchased another and used it for a while before it too died so igave up and purchased a Samsung smartwatch to go with my Samsung phone. Very similar traces and diagnosis to Kardia but easier to carry around. In 21-24 I started experiencing a lot of ectopic beats- mostly PAC. Also had a few short spells of AF. Annoying thing is that the Galaxy watch would diagnose the ectopic traces as AF which my EP as well as QALY disputed. This made sense as the ectopic episodes did not increase heart rate as I experienced with AF attacks. I kept reading that Apple Smartwatch was best at deciphering AF from recorded traces sooo… I went through the agony of changing from Samsung to Apple Iwatch 10 in jan 2025. Pretty much the same experiences as Kardia and Galaxy- good at detecting Sinus Rhythm and pure AF but misdiagnosis for the traces with PVC/PACs in them. All three devices produce nice traces equivalent to 2 lead ECG so you can capture 30 sec traces anytime aWatches are a little more convenient plus I havent had any die on me. I even purchased another Kardia sensor that is like a credit card and fits in
My wallet without being damaged but the traces aren’t any better than from the watches. The Kardia sensor is less costly than smartwatch but one can buy refurbished watches for fairly low price on EBay or Amazon.
@chickenfarmer I agree with you but once again we have to realize that each and everyone of us is different even though we all look pretty darn similar.
@sandw40 Totally agree. Not sure what in this post elicited your response. We can each only share our experiences which clearly are not others. I'm hoping to find some ideas here which can help me going forward and also share my experiences plus what i've read and been told by medical folks as well as other patients. Each of us must choose what is germaine to their particular situation. Mine is heavily influenced by thyroid which may not be other folks issues but maybe there's a few who have similar or related experiences. I guess I'm so happy not to have issues now that I want to share my story.
@chickenfarmer It was chasing the illusive perfect thing to track and validate that we have met a certain condition or event. At times it seems that some of us have converted our bodies into a mobile cardio lab with all the "things" that are available to us to monitor our physical health.
@sandw40 true. I’m retired and can afford gadgets so your comment is spot on. Yet these sensors can tell us a lot about our conditions; Halter monitors are temp, intrusive as the wires and sticky pads are somewhat incompatible with active lifestyle and much more expensive. I’ve been able to captur traces when I feel symptoms which I can then feed back to my EP. I recommend sensors to all who have arrhythmias
@chickenfarmer
I only used the Kardia Mobil. I originally bought the two lead but now have the six lead. No difference! Save the money. The two lead is enough.
I think stress causes PVC's, etc. I'm fairly stabile now. I get an occasional early heart beat.
I also tried the Kardia mobile sensor that's as thin as a credit card and fits in my wallet. I guessed that the reason for the first two dying on me was that I carried the bulkier sensors in my wallet. Measured results were similar.
@chickenfarmer
I think you’re smart to monitor your own heart rhythm, whether Kardia or Smart watch.
I’ve had pretty good luck with Kardia, particularly the 6 Lead 6L that provides 6 traces. but, as you’ve experienced, the battery dies but I’ve found them easy to inexpensively replace. I’ve received different reviews from EP’s regarding Kardia.
Although with ablation I’m now afib free I’ve been considering a smart watch I’m reluctant to replace the 50 year old watch I’ve been wearing daily since 1976
So you might spot me as the geek with two watches!
Again, you’re smart to self monitor. I appreciate and will consider your experience with a smart watch.
@rdevries I feel I’m flying blind without the Iwatch, I initiate a 30 sec trace at least daily and when ever I feel symptoms. This knowledge has allowed me to fine tune my thyroid hormone to eliminate ectopic beats which had become prevalent in 2024. EP prescribed Halter but that is temporary plus he wasn’t enthusiastic about managing my PVCs - “everyone has them.”
I did change batteries in Kardia- in my case it didn’t work. I carried the sensor in wallet and assumed that may have damaged. Kardia is a little more difficult to access than watch
@chickenfarmer I had a Kardia 6L and kept it in the box it came in on my dresser- far as I know, it wasn't disturbed by anything. I didn't use it excessively, just occasionally when I was feeling palpitations and wondered if they could be A-fib- mostly just out of curiosity as I have a pacemaker with a remote monitor that sends reports to my pacemaker clinic/cardiologist on a regular basis and when an event occurs that's outside programmed parameters. So they know better than I do when my A-fib occurs and how long it lasts.
Anyhoo, my Kardia 6L died less than a year after I got it- my husband changed the battery and that didn't bring it back to life. Their customer service wasn't much help, and I decided I didn't need a Kardia mobile anyway, and tossed it. I'm reading yours and other comments about your Kardias doing the same thing and have to figure it must be a design problem.