Off the Shelf?....

[travelbug54]

Hi Everyone, sadly I am back in AF again and spent sometime in A&E the other day, I have to say the medical profession was brilliant. I have been booked in for another Cardioversion as unfortunately I have very bad side effects from taking Flecainide, I have an Angiogram booked for the 14th January so this will not take place if I am still in AF. What I would like to ask is my Hubby would like to buy a BP/BPM machine from the chemist, is this machine going to work for me with AF and give a true reading? thanks for reading....Caroline

[BobD Volunteer]

No. There machines are incapable of dealing with AF generally.

[PeterWh]

A year ago the only one was the Microlife BPWatch A (A is for Afib) and that was the only one approved by NICE. There are three or four other models which have different suffixes to the A. It is also approved by British Hypertension Society. For the HB numbers I use the alivecor. If you buy it online you can get it vat free by declaring medical use for long standing medical issues.

[PeterWh in reply to PeterWh]

Just checked monitor and full and correct title is WatchBPHomeA

[Hidden]

I bought one recently from Lloyd's chemist ..Advanced BP monitor which detects irregular heartbeat. I used this last month when I went into fast AF and it did actually give me a reading . Previously my old machine would just throw up EEE readings. My GP sent me to AE and I was eventually dc cardioverted

I would recommend this

Sandra

[travelbug54]

Thank you all for your replies, have just taken a look on-line Peter and Amazon have WatchBPHomeA for sale, will show hubby and read up on them.... many thanks to you all....Carolne

[PeterWh in reply to travelbug54]

I have just remembered that the first supplier that I looked at on Amazon I'd not offer VAT free but the second one did. The second ones ws about a pound or two more expensive initially but of course was much cheaper once the 20% VAT was removed from its price. I did have to go to the payment stage for both. Obviously the order they come up for you I'll be completely different. Also check manufcaturer's site. When I did this for my coaguchek manufacturer was (unexpectedly) cheaper.

[travelbug54]

Thanks Peter....Caroline

[Mazza23]

I have a A&D medicallbp monitor gives acurate bp and shows when hb is irregular I am in aus but it is an English monitor

[dmac4646]

Only thing I find that is close to accurate is the Alive Cor app.

[PeterWh in reply to dmac4646]

Yes AliveCor is more accurate for HB than the reading on BP monitor and it has additional functionality. That's why I bought both.

However some may not be able to afford both. The severity and symptoms and actual situation would influence the choice as to which one to buy.

[Janey11]

I have a wrist monitor (Fitbit) and although is is claimed to be up to 10% inaccurate (along with other similar devices), I find it an invaluable monitor of trends. If I'm feeling my heart is beating too fast, I just tap my wrist and if my fast hb is confirmed, I will sit down, or not climb those stairs. For me, it's like a discreet security blanket. It also doubles up as a reminder of how I need to exercise more and walk my 10,000 steps.

The Fitbit doesn't measure blood pressure but you may find a wrist device useful.

I have a blood pressure monitor (from Boots) and probably test myself once a week.

[dmac4646 in reply to Janey11]

I also have a fit bit and would agree they provide re-assurance ( or action!) I find the blood pressure devices that say they can detect af give many false positive readings which can cause undue alarm - there is nothing more accurate for me than taking my own pulse manually to confirm or deny being in af.

[PeterWh in reply to dmac4646]

I would think that is why only one had been approved by NICE (when I was looking this time last year) and is a cuff monitor.

[dmac4646 in reply to PeterWh]

yes I have had that one and fond that it also provides many false positive af readings by doing an Alive Cor ECG and having it analysed.

[PeterWh in reply to dmac4646]

Well I couldn't tell you on that score because I am in persistent AF.

Occasionally (say 5% of the time or less) both the AliveCor and the WatchBPHome don't show up AF. With the AliveCor it is undetermined usually because the heart is all over the place and incomplete or short pulses / waves, particularly if I am tired. However as you know with the WatchBPHome it just gives you whether you are in AF or not and the HB value.

With the data collection differences and I suspect the algorithms used it is inevitable that there are differences. Also I have my AliveCor setting on 2 minutes because of the fluctuation in my HB just sitting downdoing nothing. Now after my ablation the "rolling" number as I am taking the reading can change from say 60 to 130 and averages out at say mid 80s. Before ablation had swings say 60 to over 200.

However the BP readings are likely to be accurate and certainly appear so when I cross calibrated against medical ones immediately after them reading.

In my view (using my scientific / engineering knowledge) the AliveCor is much more likely to be accurate because it is a constant reading over the set period, whereas the WatchBPHome is 15 or 20 second bursts over the test time. Incidentally I got the idea of extending the AliveCor time when I was doing my comparison and analysis comparisons between devices.

The other advantage of the AliveCor is that you get a PDFs and hence a print of the waveforms over the tests. Also sometimes the AliveCor could say it is a HB wheras someone else or another measuring device might not but that is down to the erratics nature of my HB both frequency and strength. Once when I was called in by the locus GP she was very interested in how variable it was and did a paper template to check rate over 15 second periods.

[dmac4646 in reply to PeterWh]

Very interesting indeed , many thanks for that.

[PeterWh in reply to dmac4646]

Well I thought that you would from the approach, info, etc of your posts that is why i sent it. Would have been much easier if it had been on a computer but unfortunately it packed up before Christmas so I am using iPad.

[PeterWh in reply to Janey11]

Please see my comments above re wrist monitors. Don't know about Fitbit but the others are sometimes high and sometimes low so trends can't even be accurately trended. Also does Fitbit's inaccuracies get worse when someone is in AF. From a scientific / engineering perspective used to dealing with measuring devices and from what I have learnt on here I would say definitely yes if like other wrist monitor. When going my research as to which devices I spoke To manufacturers and one said unsuitable for AF users, one said didn't know but thought probably not and two never bothered coming back to me, as promised, with the answer.

[Kodaska]

My approach would be to quit the flecainide, as long as the AF isn't worse than the side effects.

[PeterWh in reply to Kodaska]

But I thought from other posts of yours flec takes ttime to manifest and that the way it effected you is non reversible??

[Kodaska in reply to PeterWh]

I don't know about the time to manifest. I started getting symptoms within 2-3 days of starting flec. Yes, the way it affects me appears to be permanent. My ongoing symptoms are the same as those when I was on flec. If flec prevents the brain's immune system from doing its job, whatever it's supposed to clean up doesn't get cleaned up. So even if there's no background infectious agent, it seems to me that a "flecainide holiday" would enable the immune cells to tidy up the place.

Doesn't the suppression of the brain's immune system sort of get your attention?

[PeterWh in reply to Kodaska]

On one of the occasions when I saw my GP after being formally diagnosed with persistent AF and she talking about possible options she said anything that can be done [ie ablations] that means the intake of drugs is not necessary or is minimised has to be a serious consideration since even drugs that have been around for years can cause side effects and may affect some especially when multiple ones are taken and people's metabolism a can be quite different.