Fitbit Tracker

[LaceyLady]

Hi

Does anyone else you a fitness tracker to check their HB? Do you think it’s accurate and anyone know which one is best.

[JohnEagel]

Hi there,

I am wearing a fitbit charge 2 and it is fairly accurate. Have tested it against my Omron HCG 801 and also checked it with my EP who took my HR during the last check up and we compared his number with my fitbit - pretty much close, just a difference of 2-3 beats.

I don't know if you thought about checking for Afib but just in case, it is no use for that.

Cheers

J

[LaceyLady in reply to JohnEagel]

Not for A-fib, just pulse. I have an A&D bp machine that show Irregular hb’s. Have you noticed high HB rates on the tracker? Husband thought of getting me a better tracker, but which one??? I also have the Charge 2

[JohnEagel in reply to LaceyLady]

Well, yeah, high HR during exercise is recorded pretty accurate too. Fast walking - won't call it jogging yet - pushes it up to 130 if I keep it up for some time without break and it is well recorded on the charge 2. I am satisfied with it.

J

[CDreamer]

I don’t use it anymore but when I had one it gave an accurate average which was useful & I found more accurate & useful than the iwatch.

[pottypete1]

It only measures your pulse.

I stopped wearing my fitbit because I decided that all the increased radio waves pinging through my body was probably not doing me any good.

I find that two fingers on my wrist works just as well as anything.

Pete

[fairgo45]

I have the garvin vivosmart HR watch

It connects to an app on my phone and I can see the heart rate for the whole day how it goes up and down as well as track steps and lots of other things

I don't think the watch itself is very accurate for heart rate as the slightest thing makes the rate change

What I like it for is it tells me when I get emails and phone calls so I can check my phone

You cant beat the kardia for tracking afib

[Beffohol]

I have a Fitbit charge 3. It is good for general hr....but as it takes an average isn't very good when I am having a Aflutter attack ....have now bought a snap ECG (often used by GP s ) which is great when I am feeling off to tell me how bad an episode I am having. Bought mine second hand off Gumtree and has been amazing.....it has also helped hubby with an issue as was able to hand GP printouts which prompted a 24 hour monitor investigation and consultant appointment. Well worth the investment 😁

[LaceyLady in reply to Beffohol]

Think i’ll check the Snap out. Husband gets a bit stressed if I’m getting stressed in case it starts off an attack 🙄

[Ianc2]

I have a Fitbit charge 2. I use it to keep track of my weekly exercise and keep a track on my heart rate generally. It also reminds to me to move if I have been sitting around.

It has one outstanding value

I can see how well I am doing compared to my friends and family, especially my 3 sons, who appreciate my regular helpful comments on their inability to keep up with a 74 year old.

If they visit and start eating me out of house and home I start talking about their exercise levels. They suddenly discover urgent things to do. Seems to work every time. Worth every penny.

[Supernerogirl]

I use fit bit the newest ones and they are pretty accurate

[DevonHubby1]

My wife has a FitBit 2. As previous posts have said it wont work when she's in AFIB. However she gets s lot of benefit from it when not in AFIB both for instant values from the watch and looking back at trends. She also has it tied to MyFitnessPal to track her calories, salt intake etc.

This is purely her own theory but when in AFIB the way the watch records sleep patterns does not work and the historical reports on sleeping shows it could not report due to no data. She has consistently tied this to her known episodes of AFIB. However there were also other report holes on some nights and we suspect she may have been having an occasional AFIB session at night. She has paraxymal AF so her body reverts by itself.

[Rippletank44]

I use an Apple Watch which I love and not only gives you HR but does an EKG and picks up AFIB. I think it is very accurate and so does my cardiologist. He likes to look at the app on my phone and see what the week/month has been like. I had a Fitbit and a Garmin but lost the Fitbit and returned the Garmin because it was not accurate at all. Also love being able to use the watch for answering phone and texts and all the other things you can do on your phone.

[Flyer2820]

Hi LaceyLady

I have a xiaomi mi band 2 which my son bought me when diagnosed with af. They are every bit as good as the Fitbit but are only around £20. Make sure you get the genuine article as there may be Chinese copies of the Chinese xiaomi. It is quite accurate as I check it against my finger pulse monitor and my blood pressure monitor. I can highly recommend it and the price is right. Also the battery life is 3 to 4 weeks on a charge. It has very good reviews. Check it out. Hope this helps.

Regards Flyer.

[LaceyLady in reply to Flyer2820]

I already gave s fitbit2, it’s ok, I’ve checked it next to my boss machine and us only a few beats different

[Hidden in reply to Flyer2820]

I have a mi band 2 too. Great little device for the money, however, HR is pretty useless if you have palpitations, then it is wildly inaccurate and a total joke if you are in AF

[Flyer2820 in reply to Hidden]

I see what you are saying but when I am in af, it just keeps giving me different readings on my heartbeat, which it will. Then I check with my finger pulse monitor and that goes erratic. The next step is to try my blood pressure monitor and that confirms af. The mi band as you say is not perfect but neither is the Fitbit, but it is a good guide to the condition.

Here's to better health.

Regards Flyer.

[wilsond]

Thank for asking this question! I was going to post the same.

Enjoy your crafting..I'm a big crafter too. X

[Octaviascout]

I have worn a Fitbit for the past 4 years, was diagnosed with AF 3 months ago. I also check my AF daily using a Kardia. All these devices will have a degree of inaccuracies due to the irregular nature of an AF heartbeat. However my personal view is that the Fitbit is useful to be able keep an eye on your heart rate, particularly if you are exercising, walking etc. My Kardia usually shows my resting heart rate to be around 85 where’s my Fitbit will return often less at circa 65. I’m on a daily dose of 7.5mg of Bisoprolol to keep this in check.

[KMRobbo]

I have an old Garmin 305 with chest belt. I only knew I had afib because of this as I was asymptomatic even at rates over 200 bpm.. ( i was disnosed paf because of this) chest belts typically work on electric signals but a lot of wrist monitors measure blood flow which is inaccurate in afib. My wife's fitbit on one occasion measured less than half the rate of the Garmin. The Garmin has been measured against paramedic/ hospital ECG on 3 occasions and proved accurate .

I also have an omron m6 comfort IT BP monitor with arrhythmia detection. This also measures blood flow and is also not accurate in afib or flutter. I do not actilually think is that reliable on arrhymia also. I did however use it a lot when I had afib in conjunction with the Garmin. If my garmin reads 140 and the omron reads a lot less I knew I was in afib. At 140 and above it is very difficult for me to detect the arrhythmia manually hence why I used the method.

Having said all that if I still needed to monitor afib I would buy a Kardia. Cheaper that a lot of the fitness monitors and made for the job. I dont have one as following an ablation i no longer have afib currently.

[MtLSteven]

There are concerns about their effectiveness as ECG monitors. Some have difficulties with artifact. A finger pulse check will tell you if you have an arrhythmia.

[LaceyLady in reply to MtLSteven]

I only use it for a rough guide