Bp machine

[Deb1838]

Has anyone tried this bp machine that claims to detect Afib?

Question is does it work?

[Kwenda]

On a page showing reviews and questions about this blood pressure monitor I found this information:-

Product Questions

Why is the irregular heartbeat function not to be used for diagnosis?

Question by: Mr T on 7 Nov 2018 13:21:00

The irregular heartbeat function does help by indicating irregular heart patterns, however we do suggest any diagnosis should be confirmed by a medical professional as they qualified to confirm any heart conditions. This may require further testing such as an ECG test.

Answer by: Kat Goode (Admin) on 9 Nov 2018 15:20:00

If you check on say Amazon you will find several portable ECG machines.

Prices vary from about £ 85.00 and up to £ 250.00 for those with big displays or printouts.

The ECG that seems to be recommended by many doctors is the Alive Kardia which works with any smartphone. Costs are about £ 96.00 and available from many sources including Amazon or the manufacturers.

What price is your health worth.??

Dick

[Deb1838 in reply to Kwenda]

Thank you Kwenda for that information.

I understand that the kardia is better but I don’t want to get one as I know I will be permanently attached to it due to my paranoia.

This just popped up on my Facebook page and I know bp machines are not that accurate when in a fib.

Just wondered whether this was worth a try.

[PhyllisK in reply to Deb1838]

I have a similar machine. The machine indicates if I am in AF and with the advice of the Arrhythmia Nurse I can tweak my medication, thus hopefully preventing full blown AF 😱. Hope this helps. Very Best Wishes. Phyl

[Deb1838 in reply to PhyllisK]

Thank you phyl very helpful. Best wishes to you too

[Hidden in reply to Deb1838]

More often than not, Kardia is reassuring. Just use at fixed times each day and when you suspect Afib.

[fairgo45 in reply to Kwenda]

I have the omron machine because it's the one the doctors use and i also have the kardia as well

Together they give me a good idea if my BP and heart rate are normal or I'm in A/Fib it's something I do every morning no need to get paranoid about it ,as DIck says what price health and it really starts the day off well when the readings are good

[pottypete1]

I don’t need a machine I know immediately it rears it’s ugly head.

Pete

[Florence-Nightingale in reply to pottypete1]

So do I. Don't need a machine to tell me.

[Profound15]

Hi Deb I have a UK Boots blood pressure monitor which cost around £95. However, anytime I’ve been in afib it hasn’t registered and just shows error on the digital screen. Mine takes your blood pressure three times and then averages the reading. Hope that helps

[Kwenda in reply to Profound15]

The Withings blood pressure monitor is the same, it just shows as an error if the heart rate is not constant. Took me a long time to work that out a few years ago...

However some wrist based heart rate monitors, such as the Garmin or the Polar will average out the readings to provide a heart rate.

Dick

[Buffafly]

Omron 3, but I can't see the point unless you need to check your BP anyway? Kardia is the gadget to have if you want to keep tabs on your AF - am I imagining it?, how fast, how long, how often, resting HB (helpful if you can tell your GP that 95 BPM may be in normal range but not for you!), are those bumps AF or ectopics? All useful, whereas getting a shaky heart symbol isn't very 😀

[Hidden in reply to Buffafly]

I would argue that pretty well everyone, Afib or not, should check their blood pressure regularly. Checks at a GP surgery are often infrequent and may not give a typical reading. Blood pressure is crucial for heart health.

[Happymomto4]

Hi ! I have Kardia mobile which does a ecg/ekg at anytime and it's very easy and simple to use. It let's you know when your in Afib. I use it all the time and it works great, it works with my cell phone and I can send the results to my doctor if neccessary. It is reliable and my cardiologist highly recommended it to me. Hope this helps.

[JaneChapple in reply to Happymomto4]

Hello Happymomto4

I looked at the Kardia machine but it says you have to pay £9.99 a month subscription on top which makes it more expensive.

JaneCx

[Colin1409 in reply to JaneChapple]

The subscription is optional.

[JaneChapple in reply to Colin1409]

Hi Colin

If subscription is optimal can you still print of ECG readings to give to your doc please and if so what extras do you get for the monthly fee?

Many thanks

Jane

[Colin1409 in reply to JaneChapple]

Look under "Premium features"

shop.gb.alivecor.com/produc...

[fairgo45 in reply to JaneChapple]

That's true but worth it

As a early purchaser I got the premium free for life ,if that wasn't the case I would still have paid for the extra info it provides

[MS444]

Everyone may be different, but taking your pulse the old fashioned way with your fingers on your wrist works for me. I can immediately feel whether the pulse is steady or not. And if it isn’t I detect it immediately because I can feel it. To me it is odd that anyone would by a BP meter with this function because you would only use it occasionally, and it would be easier to put your fingers on your wrist to verify whether the pulse is steady or not.

[Hidden]

You would do better to buy a Kardia if you don’t already have one as you get a single-channel ECG: these devices are recommended by the British Heart Foundation, and doctors seem to like them (my GP has one). My GP practice recommends Omron blood pressure monitors (which should be *sleeve* not wrist monitors). Omron monitors-or at least the more advanced ones- will pick up an irregular heartbeat, probably quite accurately, but you can do that anyway by feeling your pulse. If you don’t want to spend too much, you can buy an Omron monitor for about £40- a bit more than the one in the picture.

[Hidden]

In fact Omron do an M2 monitor (on Amazon) reduced to £23.26. I’ve used this, and can vouch for its accuracy. My GP practice also has this model to use with patients.

[KMRobbo]

Not that one but my omron m6 detects arrhythmia, as do most of the omron range, and the boots range.

[Kwenda]

This conversation thread now has several personal recommendations for some blood pressure monitors, and also ECG equipment.

Where is there a list of recommended equipment and what each one does.

For example:-

Brand X ; works as blood pressure monitor but just that

Brand Y ; works as blood pressure monitor, but also will detect heart rate fluctuations

Brand Z ; This blood pressure monitor will NOT work IF there are heart rate fluctuations

Brand A ; This works as a home ECG, and is often used by doctors

Brand B ; This is reported to work as a home ECG, but sold as a copy of the Kardia machine

Brand C ; This is an ‘up market’ home ECG, with a small screen to view

Brand D ; This is a luxury home ECG, complete with screen and paper printout.

I did a check on the British Heart Foundation website BHF.Org.UK, but did not see any recommendations on home equipment.

Does anyone know of a website with this useful information..??

OR

Should the administrators start a thread where we all can add our personal experiences with home heart testing equipment.

Dick

[Deb1838]

Thank you everyone appreciate all views and opinions.

I have to keep a close eye on my bp. I just wondered if the afib feature worked.

[Flyer2820]

Hi Deb1838

I use the Omron M3 and it mostly detects irregular heartbeat. My doctor and cardiologist both take notice of it when it shows my heartbeat is irregular. The Omron is one that is used in doctors surgery and in hospitals. I also have a finger pulse monitor which shows my heartbeat irregular by going up and down. My cardiologist told me however that the Omron does not always catch af and as I count my heartbeat I sometimes find it doesn't. The last time I went I was talking to him normally and he sent me for an ecg and I was irregular and in af. I also have a xiomi miband 2 which shows my heartbeat and when pressed several times shows my heartbeat differing, indicating af. As others have said however an ecg is the best way to detect af.

Hope this helps.

Regards Flyer.

[Deb1838 in reply to Flyer2820]

Thank you very useful

[56-er]

My BP instrument is Made by OMRON, and yes it has the sensor for AF. It works just fine.

[Ianc2]

I have permanent AFib and have yet to find a BP machine that gives any sort of reliable reading. At my last cardiologist's appointment the machine kept on inflating to the point where the reading was 240/160 and my arm had turned a delicate shade of purple.

As this happens every time I go for a blood pressure check,(chemists, GP's, Tesco's, at home) I requested that It be repeated with a 'pump it up' manual machine. Sure enough 140/80. A note has been made on my medical records that every 6 months a manual reading by the practice nurse must be recorded.

My resting pulse rate is a fairly steady 54 /55 on my fitbit. If I want to check this I use my fingers on my arm.

[Snowball6537]

Yes it works. I have it for awhile now

[Deb1838 in reply to Snowball6537]

Thank you snowball

[Flutterbird]

I have a blood pressure monitor I bought from boots which shows arrythmia which I have found useful when unsure whether in afib or not but mainly use it to check whether my bp has got too low as this is a problem for me. I have found an oxyometer, not sure I spelt that right, I got off amazon much more use and can easily keep by my bed so I can check how fast my heart rate is and you can see from the rhythm whether you are in afib or not. Got it after having to go into A and E in the middle of the night because rate so high couldn't breathe but haven't had a problem since, very reassuring.

[jusjay9]

I bought a "Microlife WatchBP home" device about 8 years ago after being diagnosed with long-term persistent AF. It was quite expensive, so I checked out the published research on it first, and found good data on it producing a very small percentage of false positives or false negatives (in addition to BP and pulse ate it tells you whether or not you display fibrillation). You can find it at the address below (or just Google "microlife").

medisave.co.uk/microlife-wa...

[Deb1838 in reply to jusjay9]

Thank jusjay will take a look

[Hidden]

I have one like that but from Boots. I got mine after being recommended by an American friend who had recently been diagnosed with Paroxysmal AF like me. However, at the time, I did not know that AF is a fast irregular heart beat and the machine sometimes said mine was irregular but the heart rate was in the 50s and thus taking a beta blocker (from my GP) was not a good idea as it knocked me out for the entire day! I went to see a lovely EP privately and he advised getting a Kardia, for which you need a far smarter phone than I had at the time in order to use it, with an app. He didn't think I had AF as I am pretty fit and healthy, but after I sent him the first reading taken when I had an episode, he could see that it was AF and sent a letter to my GP telling him to prescribe flecainide which I just take when I have an episode (and have checked with my Kardia). It sorts things out in a couple of hours at most. I still use the blood pressure machine to check my blood pressure which is not a problem but use the Kardia each morning as suggested to find that I am mostly fine and also if/when I am having an episode of AF. Hope this is helpful. Of course, your machine actually says it can detect AF but having compared the readings on both my things, the Kardia is far more accurate for AF.

[Deb1838 in reply to Hidden]

Thank you Sandibee most helpful

[Hidden]

Of course, we area all different and have to discover for ourselves what suits us best. Good Luck with yours!

[Deb1838 in reply to Hidden]

Thank you