Has anyone come across Sensate?

[BigArnie]

Hi folks, I just stumbled upon the Sensate device. For stress relief, but specifically mentions improving vagal tone, which we know is one of the possible factors in Afib... Has anyone tried it? A bit pricy, but I am tempted! Here is a review: niafaraway.com/sensate-vaga...

[Desanthony]

Not heard of it. If it works suppose it is brilliant but would it help with AF or make worse? Would be very wary until more evidence out there from reliable medical research.

[BigArnie in reply to Desanthony]

Yes, that's certainly a fair point, but TBH I think I'd personally rather try this rather gentle option compared to an ablation or some new drugs.

[jeanjeannie50]

Looks interesting doesn't it! If someone gave me one of the devices I'd try it, but would I buy it without a sound recommendation - no, afraid not. How wonderful if it does work.

If you buy it please let us know how you get on. Thank you for bringing it to our attention.

[BigArnie in reply to jeanjeannie50]

Hello Jean, yes it does indeed look interesting and (as I couldn't resist!) I shall report back soon.

[jeanjeannie50 in reply to BigArnie]

It would be great to hear what you think of it, especially if it really does help.

[Staffsgirl in reply to BigArnie]

Did you go ahead and try Sensate? I’d love to hear your thoughts..

[localad in reply to Staffsgirl]

I used the Sensate for around 6 months. I think it helped. My heart has really settled down now .....I haven't used the Sensate for over 18 months.

[Staffsgirl in reply to localad]

Thanks

[Hidden]

It doesn’t appear that this device has been scientifically shown to be effective, or approved.: “ Whilst the Technology is so new as to leave research comparatively limited, it is not absent, and preliminary trials remain hugely promising. The relevant contextual research and literature is also already well-established.” Of course, there may be some placebo effect. It would probably be better to use some known methods for improving vagal tone.

[BigArnie in reply to Hidden]

Yup, I absolutely get all of that. The thing is that I've struggled with some of the other methods and IF (and its definitely a big IF) this one does work then hopefully it should be a nice relaxing journey!

[localad]

I've got a Sensate coming next week.

I'm back in rhythm after 2 years continuous AF, after a failed external cardioversion, March 2019. Aborted PV cryo ablation, Feb 2020. Successful PV RF ablation, Sept 2020. Failed external cardioversion for flutter, October 2020. Failed internal cardioversion for flutter, November 2020 and finally successful RV flutter ablation, Jan 2021.

Still experiencing the occasional, sudden 30bpm jump after eating.......but I can drop it immediately back down (back to around 65 bpm) by 'square' breathing for a minute.

I though some vagal 'exercise' might help this 'instability' so I'll let you know now the Sensate goes! ....I know I'm just 2 months downstream from my last ablation so things might still be settling......I just was keep to help what appears to be a 'vagal' instability thing.....even if it's a bit pricy, (though not as pricy as 4 femoral vein internal heart procedures would have been. In just 12 months too. Hospital covid limitations as well, .....good old NHS ! I feel like i got my national insurance worth after 45 years payments!)

PS, the first ablation, the cryo was aborted as I went into asystole (flat lined) twice. I'm so glad for the expertise and skill of the medical team that day in keeping me going !

[Tomred in reply to localad]

Hi local lad please let us know how you get on with this device and good luck if it works for you i shall also try

[localad in reply to Tomred]

Wilco, Tomred.

[BigArnie in reply to localad]

Hi Localad, I couldn't resist either and ended up having it delivered last night! First session this morning and I must say that the initial impression is pretty good actually. I felt remarkably relaxed after just a ten minute session to try it out. I found the chest vibrations pleasant and the variability is just enough to gently keep your attention. Similar to a meditation session. Obviously too early to say anything other than those first impressions (I might hate it in a week!), but a good start.

[Staffsgirl in reply to localad]

Did you try this device? Could you share your experience please?

[localad in reply to Staffsgirl]

My heart really settled down about 6 months after my last ablation (jan '21) I used the Sensate during that 6 months. It was quite relaxing.......but I haven't got it out the drawer for over 18 months now.

Whether it helped or not.....who knows! But something worked for me !

[Staffsgirl in reply to localad]

Did your cardiologist endorse it?

[localad in reply to Staffsgirl]

I didn’t even think to mention it to him.

Would be a bit like saying ‘im doing meditiation ‘ or ‘ive been doing relaxation courses’

Its a bit like chanting … but without having to chant!

[Staffsgirl in reply to localad]

True!

[saulger]

BigArnie. Found this review of the Sensate. No great shakes (at £300) according to the article:

"It wasn't exactly profound though; there is no significant difference in my using this vs the vast number of meditation and mindfulness apps out there.

There were no physiological changes either; my blood pressure was already good, and my resting heart rate was already in the low 40s. Due to my low heart rate, Garmin already thinks that I am rarely stressed anyway, so the overall stress levels on my Fenix 6 Pro showed no difference over the past week or so. There was also no noticeable improvement in the quality of my sleep, something I have hoped to achieve via meditation."

mightygadget.co.uk/sensate-...

[BigArnie in reply to saulger]

Thanks Saulger. Yes I found this one too - it was one of the more "neutral" ones. Incidentally the cost is now £200, which is still a decent sized investment, although they do apparently operate a 40 day returns policy, which I figure will be plenty to either see some benefit or find that it is sitting in a cupboard after the first week!

[saulger in reply to BigArnie]

BigArnie. Go for it ! And, if all else fails, return it.

Came across HRV (Heart Rate Variability) before, as a measure of the vagal tone and as an indicator of the ability to regulate emotions and attention to tasks. The more pre-occupied we are, and for longer, the HRV will decrease, if I read it correctly.

I find that my AF is very much stress-induced, and all rhythmic repetitive sports: slowish jogging, swimming, rowing (on an erg) set your mind afloat and induce well-being.

Have a look at the text extract below (a bit technical and requiring a re-read), from Wikipedia. Absolutely fascinating how the mind-body balance will impact the heart:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heart....

Psychological and social aspects

A simplified representation of the neurovisceral integration model[6]

There is interest in HRV in the field of psychophysiology. For example, HRV is related to emotional arousal. High-frequency (HF) activity has been found to decrease under conditions of acute time pressure and emotional strain[7] and elevated anxiety state,[8] presumably related to focused attention and motor inhibition.[8] HRV has been shown to be reduced in individuals reporting to worry more.[9] In individuals with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), HRV and its HF component (see below) is reduced whilst the low-frequency (LF) component is elevated. Furthermore, PTSD patients demonstrated no LF or HF reactivity to recalling a traumatic event.[10]

The neurovisceral integration is a model of HRV that views the central autonomic network as the decision maker of cognitive, behavioral and physiological regulation as they pertain to a continuum of emotion.[11] The neurovisceral integration model describes how the prefrontal cortex regulates activity in limbic structures which act to suppress parasympathetic activity and activate sympathetic circuits.[12] Variation in the output of these two branches of the autonomic system produces HRV[13] and activity in the prefrontal cortex can hence modulate HRV.[14]

HRV is the measure of the inconsistent gaps between each heartbeat and is used as an index for different aspects of psychology.[15] HRV is reported to be an index of the influence of both the parasympathetic nervous system and the sympathetic nervous systems.[16] Different aspects of psychology represent the balance of these two influences. For example, high HRV is shown proper emotion regulation, decision-making, and attention, and low HRV reflects the opposite.[16] The parasympathetic nervous system works quickly to decrease heart rate, while the SNS works slowly to increase heart rate, and this is important because it applies to the different psychological states mentioned above.[15] For example, someone with high HRV may reflect increased parasympathetic activity, and someone with low HRV may reflect increased sympathetic activity.[17]

Emotions stem from the time and impact of a situation on a person.[18] The ability to regulate emotions is essential for social environments and well-being.[15] HRV has provided a window to the physiological components associated with emotional regulation.[16] HRV has been shown to reflect emotional regulation at two different levels, while resting and while completing a task. Research suggests that a person with higher HRV while resting can provide more appropriate emotional responses compared to those that have low HRV at rest.[16] Empirical research found that HRV can reflect better emotional regulation by those with higher resting HRV, particularly with negative emotions.[19] When completing a task, HRV is subject to change, especially when people need to regulate their emotions. Most importantly, individual differences are related to the ability to regulate emotions.[20] Not only is emotional regulation necessary, but so is attention.

Previous research has suggested that a large part of the attention regulation is due to the default inhibitory properties of the prefrontal cortex.[16] Top-down processes from the prefrontal cortex provide parasympathetic influences, and if for some reason, those influences are active, attention can suffer.[16] For example, researchers have suggested that HRV can index attention. For example, a group of researchers found that groups with high anxiety and low HRV have poor attention.[21] In line with this research, it has also been suggested that increased attention has been linked to high HRV and increased vagus nerve activity.[16] The vagus nerve activity reflects the physiological modulation of the parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous system.[15] The activity behind the prefrontal cortex and the parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous system can influence heart activity. However, people are not all affected the same. A systematic review of HRV and cognitive function suggested that resting HRV can predict individual differences in attentional performance.[22] Even in psychological concepts such as attention, HRV can index individual differences. Furthermore, HRV has been able to index the role of attention and performance, supporting high HRV as a biomarker of increased attention and performance.[23] Both emotion and attention can shed light on how HRV is used as an index for decision making.

Decision-making skills are found to be indexed by HRV in several studies. Previous research has suggested that both emotion and attention are linked to decision making; for example, poor decision making is linked to the inability to regulate or control emotions and attention and vice versa.[21] Decision making is negatively affected by lower HRV and positively affected by higher levels of HRV. Most importantly, resting-state HRV was found to be a significant predictor of cognitive functions such as decision making.[22] HRV, accompanied by a psychological state, such as anxiety, has been found to lead to poor decisions. For example, a group of researchers found that low HRV was an index of higher uncertainty leading to poor decision-making skills, especially those with higher levels of anxiety.[21] HRV was also used to assess decision-making skills in a high-risk game and was found to be an index higher sympathetic activation (lower HRV) when making decisions involving risk.[24] HRV can index psychological concepts, such as the ones outlined above, to assess the demand for the situations that people experience.

The polyvagal theory[25][unreliable fringe source?][26][unreliable fringe source?] is another way to describe the pathways in the autonomic nervous system that mediate HRV. The polyvagal theory highlights three main ordinal processes, inactive response to an environmental threat, the active response to an environmental threat, and the fluctuation between the connect and disconnect to an environmental threat.[11] This theory, like others,[27] decomposes heart rate variability based on frequency domain characteristics. However, it places more emphasis on respiratory sinus arrhythmia and its transmission by a hypothesized neural pathway distinct from other components of HRV.[28][unreliable fringe source?] There is anatomic[29] and physiological[30][unreliable source?] evidence for a polyvagal control of the heart.

[saulger in reply to BigArnie]

...more cut and paste from the article. Biofeedback breathing technique and playing the flute, which controls the breathing, have a positive effect:

Biofeedback

The technique called resonant breathing biofeedback teaches how to recognize and control involuntary heart rate variability. A randomized study by Sutarto et al. assessed the effect of resonant breathing biofeedback among manufacturing operators; depression, anxiety and stress significantly decreased.[67] A first overall meta-analysis by Goessl VC et al. (24 studies, 484 individuals, 2017) indicates ''HRV biofeedback training is associated with a large reduction in self-reported stress and anxiety'', while mentioning that more well-controlled studies are needed.[68]

Wind instruments

One study that surveyed the physiological effects of playing Native American flutes found a significant HRV increase when playing both low-pitched and high-pitched flutes.[69]

[Ligoluna]

I bought it last week and it really helps with my anxiety. I find it very soothing. However, I’m worrying about the impact of low frequency sound on my ears as I’ve read this article. What do you think? sciencemag.org/news/2014/09...

[Staffsgirl in reply to Ligoluna]

Are you still using this device?