“Heightened awareness of ectopics” / are there any home devices for recording ECG for an hour?

[Mejulie69]

Tomorrow I will be 5 months post first ablation, and so far so good - no AF since the ablation, although the occasional ectopic / flutter / something else, particularly noticeable when I am warming up for exercise. The AF nurse called this “heightened awareness of ectopics”, and she might be right, but I’d like to “see” for myself for peace of mind. I already have a device that records for 30 seconds, but I need something that will record for an hour which can be worn when exercising. Any ideas?

[GordonS]

Hi Julie, great news about the continued lack of AF. I am sure that you have read the advice about recovering from ablation on the resources section. It is quite normal to feel all sorts of things going on for many months after the ablation and of course we are all more aware of how the heart is performing/re-acting. I think that as you say that it is more noticeable when "warming up for exercise" that tells you something. My advice for what it's worth is to stop stressing about it but get yourself a HR monitor to wear during exercise so you can see what is going on. It won't record everything but at least it will give you the basics. I am on the list for my second ablation (First one 7 years ago) and cycle regularly with a HR monitor to assist me in "overindulging" in exercise. Good luck with your continued recovery. take it easy. Regards Gordon

[Mejulie69 in reply to GordonS]

Hi Gordon, I wear a HR wrist strap which communicates with my Garmin so I can see my HR at all times. Obviously, these devices are not designed to detect / display what the heart is doing other than in terms of beats per minute. Hence I wanted to "see" on an ECG what is going on when I get the strange kick in my chest. Good luck with your second ablation. 7 years is a reasonable duration between ablations, let's hope the second one is as or more successful!

[momist]

Hi Julie.

If you are referring to your Kardia, then the settings menu on the App will let you increase the recording time to 1,2,3,4 or 5 minutes. 30 seconds is simply the default setting. Of course, 5 minutes is not an hour, and also it's a _very_ long time to sit still with your fingers on the pads. You might just be lucky to catch out the 'kick' though.

Even at 30 seconds, I've seen the odd ectopic beat on mine.