Has anyone gotten one of these devices? You use with your smart phone to take an instant ekg at home or any where?? My cardiologist told me today to get one and help me know whether I am in afib or if rhythm is normal? Before I spend 99.00 on one I would like to know what any of you think of it...Thank you so much.
The Kardia Mobile : Has anyone gotten... - Atrial Fibrillati...
The Kardia Mobile
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scardycat
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I bought mine just after my ablation. It is great for identifying afib. I use it daily.
Just insure it is compatible with your phone.
Okay, I have an older iphone it is a 6splus, getting a long way away from the 8, & 9s But is works really good. Hope your ablation has done wonders for you <3 Thank you for your reply also, gosh this is wonderful news.. You all on here have been so kind to to send a reply~ Any tip's on using it will be appreciated... I will check on where for sure to order and order one today! Thanks again!
I got one after a brief episode in hospital last year ( AFib episode) - the cardiologist advised me to get one. Also attached to a 6 S - older phone and it works just fine .
I am new at this techy stuff, but it looks like I didn't have a reply to you~ I am sooooo sorry if i just missed it yesterday, but I wanted to thank all of you that replyed... Again~ IF I already did, well 2 thank you's are better than one :)) But if I didn't that would make me feel terrible!!! I have a 6splus too, so glad to see that! Thank you for your reply.! *-*
I have had my Kardia for 2 years and find it invaluable. Best thing I could have bought. I find it very reassuring . Highly recommend.
scardycat• in reply to
All of the reply's here on this Kardia has been wonderful! I will find out if I just buy it from kardia.com or?? YES! Reassurance would be wonderful , Hard to believe we can get one!! Thank you also for your reply~ Any special things I should know, please let me know:)) Thanks so much!!
The instructions are good but you must be sure to keep completely still when using or you will get what are called 'artifacts' which are lots of zigzags which give the impression your heart is going mad! Also if you damp your fingertips slightly you get better contact. Great gadget, may have saved my life as it showed my medication was causing pauses. Enjoy!
Oh Buffafly, great piece of information to know! I appreciate any bits of info just like you gave, some little things that those like you have figured out from using your Kardia...That was a real great piece of info you sent to me, and I thank you very much and sincerely!
Well worth having, I have found mine invaluable n catching my arrhythmias. I download and send to my EP as needed and he gives me feedback.
The other week when in a and e the young medic was fascinated to see it in action. You will be glad you invested in one.
BobDVolunteer
Very useful as a tool but be careful you do not become obsessive about using it.
Okay, that I will try to do~ I am one who is so scared all the time it would be easy for me to do~ I will remember what you said :)) It will help me to only do it once a day unless I feel something wild! Thank you too!
• in reply toscardycat
I would say get it-but also remember BobD's advice. Up until about a year and a half ago I used my kardia and my pulse ox like there was no tomorrow. At present am in permanent Afib with a successful ablation and a pacemaker, On no meds and stable so I feel comfortable with less technology. Surgery was 2 1/2 years ago. Anyway early on I went a little 'machine nuts' for a while. Funny story. I had both devices in my purse. (Had 2 pulse ox's-one for home and one for my purse.) One day was in Walmart and my pulse felt funny. Looked for my pulse ox and found I had left it at home. After a mini anxiety attack in the store I calmed down. Shortly after I realized I had to stop being so tied to my little machines. Now I feel more comfortable with my afib. And I believe you will too down the road. Meanwhile let technology help put your mind at ease. Take care. 😊 irina
scardycat• in reply to
THANKS! THAT WAS FUNNY YOUR STORY AT WALMART! SOUNDS EXACTLY LIKE ME~ INSTANT I GO INTO ANXIETY ATTACK, AND THEN CALM DOWN,HAHAHA... YOU SOUND LIKE YOUR'S IS NOW UNDER WONDERUL CONTROLL. MY CARDIOL. MENTIONED PACER~ SURE SOUNDS SUCCESSFUL ! THANKS IRINA1975:))
• in reply toscardycat
Your very welcome. Am sending you a PM. xx irina
scardycat• in reply to
I am not savy with computer "stuff", but what is a PM? :))
• in reply toscardycat
Private message. I'm not good with computers either. Go to the upper left hand of your screen where you see Home My Hub Chat and a bell icon. Click chat and you will see message from irina to scardycat click on it and you will see your private message. Sometime chat will signal you have a PM but mine doesn't always so I check it now and then. Let me know if you were able to access it.
I bought mine four years ago when elusive arrhythmias were making my life difficult. The traces it produces are accepted by both my cardiologists and GP. I use it with my iPad and find it invaluable and reassuring - Kardia also provide an overview analysis for a small fee.
AF app is suppose to be coming on Apple watch soon also.
Thank you for your info! I will get one ordered from Kardia.com..
Do they work on android phones such as Samsung ?
I have a Kardia and find it so reassuring and I am glad I spent the money on it. Well worth it. Simple to use.
I bought one and think it is brilliant. My EP is a fan, too, as I can e mail readings to him. The usual story of PAF and it never showing up on an ECG! The device was recently featured on BBC South Today news and I was lucky enough to get involved through my local Patient Group. The intention is to roll them out to surgeries in the Hampshire, Dorset and IOW area to assist in diagnosis. The cost would be offset by the savings in care for those who are undiagnosed and are unfortunate enough to suffer an AF related stroke.
I’ve had mine for 2 years and it has been invaluable to me. Good luck
Personally I would feel quite reluctant to use one... might make me anxious/ obsessive. Would welcome other views.
As I have said many time before this is a risk Staffsgirl. I don;t need a machine to tell me my heart is out of wack but I do understand that some people really like this idea. Mine is somewhere in my office as I prefer to get on with life. Not enough time to waste.!
I managed to capture Some ‘funny’ beats on mine and showed it to my EP on my iPad a few months after my ablation. I thought it was AF but it wasn’t and he was able to analyse it there and then. I now only do my EKG when kardia reminds me (weekly) which works for me as you can get obsessed with doing it as previously mentioned. 👍🏻
My heart failure is still under investigation but my ecg always seems to be interesting to whoever looks at it. AF and ectopic beats have been mentioned but I can’t relate them to the sensations I get so I’ve been thinking of getting a Kardia Mobile to help me identify when these issues occur. A concern is that I am the sort of person who obsesses about these things. For example, I’m obsessive about my Fitbit Charge 2 even though I know my condition causes it to record unreliable HR details.
I also have a Charge2. Last time I was in AF I checked the Fitbit against my Kardia, and it just tells you rubbish. The Fitbit recorded AF at 164bpm, while the Fitbit showed around 75bpm. While this is very high for me resting (usually ~55) it is NOT accurate while you are in AF.
One has to bear in mind that the Fitbit is designed as a fitness tracker and to keep size and cost down one of the assumptions will be that the user's heart beats follow the pattern of a normal healthy person. I had originally bought the device expecting that I could keep an eye on my heart rate during exercise to ensure I didn't push myself too hard, but it's not really useful for this for me after all. Instead, I take the advice of my cardiac nurse to 'listen to my body'. I use it to keep a track on my resting heart rate (low 40's as depressed by my meds) and I suspect that this is reasonably accurate. I use the Fitbit more in conjunction with my smartphone to track distance and time of my walks.
Incidentally, the cardiac exercise class I attend uses sensors that clip on the finger to measure heart rate and oxygen levels. I suspect that these, too, are designed for healthy people as for the Fitbit. Additionally, my cold fingers (courtesy of the bisoprolol) also stops this from working correctly.
Because my arrhythmias are not AF these days all I get if I try to use it during a rare event is "unclassified" which in itself is damned annoying .
I eventually got a Kardia with the expectation of correlating the sensations I feel from time to time with events on my ecg. I haven't been able to correlate anything though. The Kardia seems to almost always register a double ecg waveform although these don't seem to register with anyone taking my pulse. It diagnoses my recordings as 'Possible atrial fibrillation'.
I've managed to not be obsessive about using my Kardia 
.
I've been thinking about getting a Kardia. Is it a one-time $99 fee (or close to that) or are there other fees? I thought I had heard there were monthly fees but from what I am reading, I only read one comment where there is an optional fee. If it is just $99, then I will definitely get one. Thanks.
The optional fees are for a reading and report, not necessary IMO as the device tells you if you are in AF and with a small amount of research you can learn to spot ectopics, possible Flutter etc and you are prompted to seek professional advice if the rhythm is weird. Also you can pay to store your readings but you can store them in your own cloud storage instead.
How and wear do I research and learn how to spot these flutters, ectopic, svt's ect..? I am lost out here but feel I do need the Kardia my cardiol. told me to get.. Thanks for your reply!!!!!!!
Great info and made my mind up, I will be ordering mine today. Many thanks
Everyone with Afib should have a Kardia.
When I walk to A & E with my Atrial Flutter, it makes life so simple for the receptionist to understand that I genuinely have a high rate. On every occasion I have been taken straight through to Majors for an immediate ECG - no waiting.
Also great for emailing the Kardia ECG to your EP, to keep him up to speed with what the heart is up to during attacks which of course never happen when you have an ECG in the hospital.
One downside is that it does not always accurately diagnose Atrial Flutter but does pick up AFib.
I have had one of those for a long time. My cardiologist likes it. I find it very helpful in that I can record my ECG and add notes as to what I had been doing and I also take my bp and record that too, I have an IPhone with which I use it and it is very small light and portable so I carry it in my handbag. Hope you are doing well.
From being in persistent AF, after a successful cardioversion I only get very rare episodes now which usually last about 30-40 hours. I use my kardia to record these and have been able to print off a summary of my episode. I’m only under the care of my gp now so if ever an episode doesn’t stop by itself and I have to go back to her I can show her what’s been happening.
I use it occasionally if I feel a bit off side or breathless, 99% of the time it shows as normal, this is very reassuring. I would say I am fairly anxious and can obsess about things but I don’t find this to be the case with my Kardia.
I got one on the advice of my cardiologist after being diagnosed recently with AF. It correctly diagnosed me going back to Afib after a cardioversion. I emailed my cardiologist with the ECG and he was able from that to re list me quickly for more treatment, as opposed to waiting for another referral and then being listed from there for treatment. So for a modest investment it has the potential to save you time on waiting lists as well as keep your cardiologist in the know. And it works great IMO
does it tell you if it is A-fib???
Hi scardycat,
Hope you are ok, this is new to me also but I have the Kardia plus the app for a few weeks now and both work very well. It will confirm you have a ‘normal’ rhythm (in green text) if it detects no abnormalities, but stops short of making a ‘positive’ diagnosis of Afib, choosing instead to inform you (in orange text) of ‘possible Atrial Fibrillation’. However, it does then give you an option to send your suspect ECG reading to a clinician to analyse/confirm - this is at a price though. By far the best and most viable option is to not have the ‘premium’ subscription and monthly charge, but to use the ‘email EKG’ option on an ‘as needed’ basis (for free 😀) to your EP/Cardiologist.
As some people have indicated on here already you can even email yourself or Dropbox the readings each time you take one to build up a picture with ECGs and notes for your consultant. I have persistent AF so this is not so important for me but would be useful for someone who suffers random episodes that are hard to document to the doc.
Hope I didn’t send you to sleep and you found this useful in making a decision! Good luck!!
I sure did find it very descriptive, and full of info.!! Gosh, Snez1973, thank you sooo much I imagine you know how good it feels to get some positive help on this great site.. I just can't navigate well, so I glad we get notifications when someone reply's:)) Thanks again!!
Yes the site is very useful and covers a lot of different topics associated with Afib. Some of the people that post sound very experienced so there is always something to discover or learn.
Plus it’s comforting knowing you’re not alone of course.
Good luck again
Hi, what the advantage of a Kardia if one is in permanent AF. Does it let one know is you are in heart failure? Thanks
You got to laugh when you go to your doctor & tel him your in afib,he checks your pulse,puts stethoscope on you & says,doing about 75,sounds fine lol.
Then you pull out your phone & the kardia. & show him it's doing over 150 & he says what's that,where'd you get it from! Think we'll have a proper ecg done.
Been invaluable & love checking other people's heart too,wonder if it works as a lie detector too!
You will have gathered that many of us on here own a Kardia. Me too. I bought mine just a couple of days after my very first AF event, and never have regretted it.
What I don't think anyone else has mentioned, is that for the first month, you get free upload of your readings to the Kardia website for storage and instant access, after that they ask for a fee of £10 per month to continue the service. There is NO NEED to pay for that. The Kardia allows you to store your readings anywhere you wish (using the confusing 'email' service). This allows you to 'email' the reading to anyone, your GP or cardiologist immediately come to mind. But don't do that - 'email' it to whatever cloud service you already have (I use Dropbox) and then it appears in your cloud folder on every device you own, and you can send it from there to anyone interested and keep a full record for yourself.
I use my Android phone (second one for this Kardia) to make my recordings, and then use my tablet to show them to anyone who wants to see them.
I am on my second one. The first one broke after the 1 year guarentee so I had to buy another one. If your heart rate is under 50, it will not record. Also, there are some places where it will not record due to electrical interference. Frankly, I have found my polar heart rate watch with chest band to me more useful and reliable.
Sounds like I should get a Kardia mobile. I am curious where those who replied live. I am from Minnesota USA. We call the emergency room ER- On the posts I see a and e mentioned- is that an ER? This post has been very helpful- but I see myself as becoming obsessed- I use an Orion brand BP monitor that detected my AFIB- before and after my first ablation- (almost four years)
But after my episode this past March 2018- I have atrial flutter and that monitor goes wacky- I also had a lot of pacs-I now am 12 days out from my second ablation and the subsequent two cardio versions that followed ( in two days). I haven’t used a device to track my BP. Makes me anxious 😟
However I now am on the dose of 225 mg three times daily of Propafenone (Rhythmol) I and not adjusting well / sometime things feel wacky- I wonder if it is the medication. I followed up with gp visit and EKG was in NSR.
EP called and said I could change my medication which could be used for short term of the three month blanking period (damage to liver and thyroid )
I am sure I will be purchasing the kardia mobile- purchase on their own site?
Thank you posts are very helpful
.
Yes, I am from Newport Beach, California.. You can get Kardia mobile on line at Amazon, or at Alivecor.com Thinking of getting one now Better than me calling the Paramedics and going to ER for sure:)) Good health to you, hope you get one too.
Yes here in UK where this forum is based we call it Accident and Emergency (A and E). Of course AF is neither of these as it is a chronic condition. Many of us old stagers would rather cut off an interesting part of our body than go there as we probably know more about ourselves than any junior A and E doctor but there are a very few people who are so badly affected that they do need treatment when they have a serious event.
It can sometimes be the only way to get diagnosis by ECG (EKG to you ) if like most it vanishes as soon as you open the door to your GP!
I bought my first one about 5 years ago on the advice of my then EP. It's been very useful. Just beware of becoming obsessed with it.
Thanks I will watch out not to get Obsessed with it~ My tendency for sure :))
Hi scardycat i bought my kardia mobile just over 1 year ago the battery lasts a long time and is cheap to replace. You can download the Kardia app from google playstore on your phone. 99% of my readings show up as unclassified as my heart rate is usually below 50bpm (my resting rate is 37-42) and a lot of my possible etopics skipped beats etc also show up as unclassified but it does seem to show AF correctly. Regardless it will give your doctor some kind of proof that your symptoms are real as it will record any strange activity.
Sometimes it can be tricky getting a good strong reading depending how you hold it and it has to be real close to your phone too. I have a fold over wallet case for my samsung s7 edge and i stuck the kardia to the back of it
overall it has given me peace of mind and at least provided some proof to my doctor that my symptoms are real, currently i am waiting for an appointment with a cardiologist. The kardia has a built in report and diagnosis function which they charge money for instant analysis thats a waste of money DON'T use that function . If you get one just use it to record when your heart rhythm plays up so like me over a period of time you will have more than just words to back up what you are going through.
Welcome to the forum this has a wealth of friendly knowledgeable people all here to offer advice and support. You are not alone. Wishing you all the best
Lee
Thank you Lee49uk for a lot of good info. I am totally in the dark about these things, so I greatly appreciate the time you took to inform me.. Does it tell you if you are in A-fib or just says abnormal? I usually had svt's, only 2 times, but once the emergency room told me I shouldn't come in there for this as it is not an emergency~ So the 3rd incident I had, I would not go to er and feel like a fool, that was on Sunday morn~ so I just kept waiting and waiting for Monday to make an appt. with my cardiol. The appointment was for 3:00pm and I was so tired from the pounding heart, I passed out on my way to appt. never made it but paramedic picked me up and took HR was 160 and from waiting so long it went into flutter, and A-fib.. So I was told neverrrrrr wait that long! So being financially poor they often treat HMO's like we don't deserve care
Terrible how some people can be.. Anyway, I wanted to get kardia as Dr. suggested, but if it doesn't tell you that it is A-fib or ? what is it used for? I am a little mixed up with a lot o those replys. At any rate I am grateful for your time and reply~ Still spookin' *-* Thanks!!
More than happy to help, anytime.... my pleasure :). It's not nice to be brushed off by health care professionals been there done that got the T-shirt know how you feel.
Funny how it likes to rear it's ugly head early hrs on a sunday morn been there too at local emergency dept who were sadly less than impressed to see me at 4:30am a few weeks back.
The kardia mobile app WILL tell you if you are in A-Fib mine has with me while it's taking the reading and then it saves it to your kardia mobile account which is saved online so if you lost your phone or it got broke you could still use the kardia app on say a tablet device or another phone log in and all your readings will still be there.
Good thing is from your phone you can email any of the readings to yourself to save them on a PC or laptop or even email them to a cardiologist etc very handy.
So sorry to hear what you have been going through, your not alone,my thoughts are with you .x.
Lee
Oh heaven's lee49uk! You have been going through much much much worse than I ! How is it possible they can't catch and identify what your heart beats are doing! You should wear a Monitor for a month as I had too, to catch it so they didn't think It was imaginary~ as I know they did~ I can't begin to understand what it would be like not to ever get a "Diagnosis, you need an Advocate to push getting you diagnosed no matter what it takes! You're living under terrible stress and frustration, and yet here you are trying to help all of us<3 I may not know what is happening with your heart, but I know I can diagnose one observation and that is your heart is full of all the good stuff~ it's caring, thoughtful, it's empathetic, and it is a quailty heart~ Alot of us have problems with our's, but can't claim the goodness & quality yours has! And yes! it does seen lee49uk that it rears it ugly head in the am!! Had to have paramedics come get me at 4:20am a week and a half ago.. I pray every night that I won't get it during the early morn... And every night I go to sleep I pray it, and then give thanks every morning that I didn't get it in those early morning hours... I am glad to hear you say that the Kardia mobile you have will tell you if it is afib :)) That would be a great relief right there! I will think of you when I go to bed and also ask in my prayer that you won't get them in those early morn's either... Thank you again lee49uk, and I hope others may see your post and come up with a way to get you diagnosed so you can get some peace...Again, thank you for all your generous, thoughtful,help you have given me and I am sure a lot of others. <3 *-*
Thank you for such a kind and generous reply sounds like you have a pretty big heart there yourself You had paramedics at your house a week ago !!! are you hooked up with a cardiologist ?? to help diagnose and treat it ?? please be kind enough to keep me / us updated in the future. Would dearly love to hear in due course that you have had a formal diagnosis and a treatment plan put in place that would definitely put a huge smile on my face to know you are over that major hurdle.
In my case i am still waiting for a referral to a cardiologist 2nd time around for me.
I went to the docs around 4 years ago with same symptoms etc they gave me a 5 day holter recorder to wear but my A-Fib didn't play up for it to be caught. took me another year of moaning to be referred to get a 2nd 5 day holter monitor fitted same again it didn't present itself. mine are short and aggressive so hard to catch and happen completely randomly i would need to be hooked up to a long term monitor to catch it properly. I have caught A-Fib on my Kardia mobile and sent the readings to my current doctor who has referred me back to the cardiologist yet again. this time round i'm praying my kardia mobile readings will finally be the turning point to get a diagnosis and treatment.
Wishing you all good things scardycat
Lee x
Good morning, Yes, I have the device on the advise of my cardiologist for 'SVT's. It has been very helpful in the diagnosis for my situation. Strongly suggest your purchase. You do have to purchase the app but I feel for the instant results it is well worth it-remember this is for your health and not entertainment. They also have an option to have a cardiologist/ or tech, you choose, read the results immediately or within a short time span, again, you choose. It will first of all give you a since of piece of immediately knowing what is going on and if you should seek immediate medical assistance. You can take it on the go with you and will give you the freedom to step out side and enjoy life again!
Is the app expensive? It does sound sooo neat if it tell you that it is A-fib or not~ trying to figure out what it can and can't do... Thank you for the reply, really gleening off all of it :))
Sign into your iTunes & do a search for kardia
Good morning, You can purchase it monthly (about $12-$15 monthly) or yearly for $100. It was a much better savings to purchase yearly. I looked at the cost this way. I would go out to the movies and spend $50 on tickets and snacks or $100+ on running shoes at one time and this would help possibly save my life. It was a no brainer not to have it. Be sure to get your cardiologist code from your Dr so you can email it directly to him. I email it to myself and then either printer out and hand carry to them or go thru their patient portal to get it to them. Since it will also be saved and you can bring the reports up on your phone you can also take it to the ER if needed. It is well worth every dollar spent.
Love mine...it told me I was back in Afib and 120 pulse.
Yes it is a god send. I have 2 of them first the hand held one and 2nd a Kardia band which is a watch strap to fit Apple Watch it has a small square bit in it which you place you thumb on and it records on the watch and backs it up in your Apple phone, I’ve got that one up for sale on eBay as even the small strap is even too big for me now as I’ve lost loads of weight, quite sad I can’t wear it now as it was a lot quicker to do.
My cardiologist and EP both think it’s a great gadget, you can print off the ecg or send them email etc it certainly puts your mind at rest
I purchased one after diagnosed with afib. Somehow the device able to read me 100% of the time, but when my wife places her fingers on it, it shows a flat signal and couldn't read hers. just wonder why?
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