Still trying to accept my AF diagnosis and still in very early stages, I have been looking into a smart watch to monitor heart rate and oxygen levels. Are these devices a good thing or nothing more than a posh toy, or maybe they are good for some people and not for others. I know 2 people personally that have them and although I've known them both for many years I did not know they had AF or wore a smart watch for it, that probably sounds odd !!!
I would appreciate any feed back good or bad.
Thank you
Written by
raymondo555
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
My main concern about these sorts of gizmos is that in many cases they become something that focusses the person on their AF not getting on wth life. Kardia is a useful device to assist diagnosis by capturing events as an ECG but again in moderation. I know only too well how easy it is to get fixated . People had AF long before money making devices came along and continued to live long and produtive lives provided that stroke prevention by anticoagulation was sorted. .
Hello again raymondo, I have no knowledge or expertise on the smart watch but I know it is used by many members here. However, I do know from personal experience that the Kardia mobile system produces accurate information which is accepted by almost all cardiologists and EP’s. There is also a facility for having reports medically analysed for a small fee. The single lead unit which I have does everything I need and I believe they are currently available for less than £100.
The only thing I would add is that these gizmos can become obsessive and that’s not always helpful. The Kardia can be kept in a drawer and only used as and when necessary 😉
Mine was brilliant and without it keeping tabs on me I wouldn't have had my ablation. I only bought it because I had had a fall and it has 'fall detect' on it. I haven't fallen since!
After a while, I cottoned on to the ECG feature and I was well away putting the information I got from it on to a spreadsheet so I knew what was happening.
Now I just use it as a watch. You only realise how often you look at it when you are not wearing it. Actually, I also record other stuff now, my steps, hr and things like heart rate variability. Not sure what good that does but it doesn't hurt.
I use it every day as a timer. I get WhatsApp messages on it, not that that's such a good thing and I can answer phone calls on it.
Fortunately, I'm not obsessive like some other people. I feel a bit lost when I am not wearing it and I'm someone who has never worn a watch in all of my life before.
I have the Fitbit 5 and love it. My husband wanted me to buy an Apple Watch but I did not want to spend $$. Fitbit 5 cost under $150.00. Fitbit has EKG, HR, Oxygen, Timer, Alarm, Steps,etc. I wear my Fitbit to bed and a month ago when I woke up @ 3 am with rapid heart beat, I confirmed Afib without getting out of bed. At 7 am, I used my Kardia to confirm AFIB. Luckily it ended by 9am.
Fitbit, and most other smart watch formats for step counting and pulse monitoring, do not work well when you are in AF. The system relies on the little (usually green) lights flashing on the back to detect the colour of your skin and reveal the pulse which makes the skin blush slightly. However, they are looking for a 'normal' pulse, and when in AF cannot detect any rhythm and miss many of the pulses. Not all heart beats will even produce a pulse, as the heart beats without enough blood still in it.
The only watches that are good for AF use an electrical signal detection down both arms, hence you have to touch the watch with the other hand to make it work. These are made by Apple, Withings and Samsung, there might be others, but cost substantially more than a Fitbit.
I find them invaluable in both documenting and differentiating different arrhythmias both for me and my ep. Also very educational.
I have both Kardia and the Apple Watch. If I had a pick one, I'd probably pick either the Kardia mobile, or if you want to spend a little more, the Kardia six lead. But nothing beats the convenience of the Apple Watch.
While it's true some people can obsess with these devices. On the other hand, you can also obscess over not knowing if you're in or out of a particular arrhymia. A portable ECG monitor solves that.
If it's solely for cardiac monitoring, my understanding is that the Apple Watch, like the Kardia, is medical grade and the Fitbit isn't. Also more likely to be accepted by your doctor.
I like the Apple Watch for it's convenience as it's always on my wrist and one can record an arrhythmic event within seconds. Also, when on "workout" mode, you can get a real time heart rate readout. I like the Kardia because it seems slightly more detailed.
Both are limited by the number and accuracy of their diagnoses/determinations, but again so is a 12-lead at your doctor's office. My ep told me he rarely looks at what the machine determines because it's often wrong. What he looks at is the ecg tracing itself -- and both the Kardia and Apple Watch have a very accurate single lead tracing that either you and/or your doctor can use to diagnose an arrhythmia.
In the beginning, I got confused by what the Kardia said, but with experience and going over ecg's with my ep, now I know how to at least diagnose my own arrthymia's, I ignore what the Kardia says and just look at the ecg. I can usually tell the difference between for example NSR, afib, tachycarida and aflutter, within the limitations of a single lead ecg.
That said, the Kardia does have one advanced determination, "Wide QRS" that I would not have been able to diagnose because it is beyond my pay grade, but working on it!
It's a useful determination now that I'm on flecainide which can have a tendency to widen the QRS interval. In order to get the advanced determination feature, like Wide QRS, you have to pay a monthly fee, but I feel it's worth it until I get better at measuring the QRS interval myself.
I don't have experience of a Kardia, but I've used heart rate monitors (that people now refer to as smart watches) for many years in cardio exercise (I have mostly flutter). Most consumer electronic devices have a problem accurately measuring heart rate whilst in AF or flutter. A specialist nurse once advised me that Polar heart rate monitors (HRM) are OK. My current HRM is a Polar Vantage V. During rowing machine sessions I use it with a Polar H10 chest strap, as peak heart rate can be in the 180s. That's an expensive set up. Much cheaper (£20 to £35) for occasional checking is an oximeter with a pleth display that shows the pulsed blood flow as a wave form, and therefore arrhythmia. As Bob writes, don't get fixated on it. If you're in hospital at any time not related to AF, you can find that some clinicians make a thing about AF. Sometimes I've been given troponin tests and wired up to multi-lead monitoring. Provided I don't get given amiodarone or dronedarone, I let them get on with it.
I wear a fitbit sense , my doctor has just increased my beta blockers because I was able to tell her that my heart rate kept spiking high, she seemed to think it was a good thing to wear one. I like to know how many steps I do in a day too .
I have a Fitbit Sense, it is fine for heart rate readings and has loads of other health metrics that it measures during the night, but it is not particularly good at providing ECG determinations. I have a Kardia 6L and this is excellent for detecting Afib, the readings have been used by my EP to make a diagnosis.
Agree with your comments about the FitBitSense, especially the lower quality ECG readings. My Kardia (one lead, <<$100) gives much better ECG reads, and in fact was used by my cardio guy for the diagnosis of PAfib. Yes, I did "overuse" it at the start, but once the "toy" factor wears off, I use it more responsibility and don't get all hung up with it.
I have a Withings ScanWatch that has AF detection and an ECG capability. I'd say it is useful if you haven't been diagnosed yet - but I've got permanent AF and it just warns me every day that I have it!
I think the heart monitor and sleep monitor functions are useful but I don't need all the bells and whistles. I think it is useful to be aware of what your heart is normally doing but, as others have said, don't get obsessed with it, only check it when you feel something is wrong.
I can remember when you and I first met at Epsom back in 2014. I had only just been diagnosed and had been religiously recording hourly checks with my BP monitor only to be told by the speaker that home monitors for folk in persistent AF didn’t work 🤔
You won't necessarily benefit from one, although I wouldn't be without mine. It surely depends upon what issues your heart is having and how concerned you are about that. I find the ECG function very useful, but don't use the blood oxygen app.
I bought an Apple Watch after my ablation for atrial flutter ion 2019 as I wasn't sure what was happening to my heart when I felt it racing, palpitating or when my chest felt uncomfortable. Along with information from my MRI scan and the cardiologist I saw, I found the watch showed that what was happening was safe and so it was very reassuring. Later, I bought a Kardia 6L as this is able to pick up a wider range of arrythmias which, to me, has proved a very a useful aspect. I've been able to send traces of the ECGs from both the watch and the Kardia to my doctor for him to view, and that has been very useful and reassuring.
Uncomfortable levels of anxiety accompany arrhythmia conditions in many sufferers and I think these home ECG devices play their part in alleviating this to an important degree.
I wore one before diagnosed, so the afib/HR monitor and alerting was just a bonus. It is accurate enough for my cardio and GP to appreciate. And the results are printable and can be emailed. Apple Watch just received an update to improve accuracy...and it was pretty accurate before. I also spend a lot of time outdoors, and don’t like hauling my phone out whenever the kids or grandkids text or call, so I find it just more convenient to look at my watch to see what’s important, and what can be answered with one of the built in quick replies “sorry I’m driving/riding” “ok” “sure” be home soon” etc. Also the calendar reminders, pill reminder, game reminders, grocery list, calorie and step counters are also a bonus.
It also has a fall detection function which makes my wife happy....it checks to see if you are ok...if you don’t respond in 30 seconds, it calls whomever you have programmed it to...emerg, spouse, etc. I go hiking alone in some pretty rough stuff (here in rural Canada, one can go for weeks without seeing another human on a trail) so it’s just another bonus.
That’s just me though, some folks I know don’t wear regular watches 🙂
Hi Raymondo555, like you I’m very new to Atrial Fibrillation club, I picked up the issue with high readings on my bike computer. I have absolutely no symptoms other than high readings on the computer that uses a chest strap to monitor the heart rate. I can’t use it when I go on a decent walk in the hills so I bought myself a Garmin watch to use whilst walking. When I first had the watch I used it at the same time as my bike computer,now here’s the rub, bike computer: Average HR 160 with a peak of 185.Watch: Average HR 127 with a peak of 178, near enough normal for the ride. I’ve checked the watch against a blood pressure monitor and they are the same. This will be my first question when I eventually get to see a Cardiologist.
I have an Apple version 6 watch - if i look at it I think I am due half an hour with the undertaker.Great for a once a day check but will drive you mad if you keep checking it.
Once you have AF - your watch will happily tell this all day every day whoopee.
The best way to deal with AF ( in my very humble opinion ) is to ignore it until your AF tells you you need to do something. I am 63 and do two full-time jobs.
We bought a little device from Lidl about 6 weeks ago for about £20, it is absolutely brilliant and can fit in a pocket or hung on a belt with the loop and only takes about 2/3 minutes to use.
Hello, my husband was recently diagnosed with Afib and this is a new journey for us as well. Our Dr is not a fan of “smart watches” due to EMF exposure. However, it is possible to buy a device where the Bluetooth can be turned off, or the device can be switched to Airplane Mode. However, there may still be EMF exposure… but it may be decreased with the Bluetooth turned off. I found this article helpful: beatemf.com/are-smart-watch...
However, I always encourage people to do their own research. My husband chose a Garmin watch which allows him to enable the Bluetooth feature while he is wearing it and will not wear it while sleeping right now. I think there are many ‘pros and cons’ to consider based on each individual’s circumstances.
I am thankful for this community and have learned so much. Wishing you all God’s blessings.
Kardia is a useful device, I do not use a smart watch as I believe I would watch it all the time and that would not be healthy, also it would probably keep telling me to call an ambulance!
I have an Apple Watch series 7 that does ecg and blood oxygen. I use it for both, although more often I just check my heart rate. I would recommend it as a very useful device - not just because of those two features but being able to see messages or what’s app instantly and being able to answer calls - eliminates the need for hands free! It also records sleep, respiratory rate, walking unsteadiness etc etc, as well as having the fall detector.
Hello there. I too have been diagnosed with A Fib. I feel every lurch/flutter/quiver of my heart and now finding that being tired/long walks/overexertion starts it off. What I do is keep I diary when it happens, what I was doing at that time and how long the episodes last for [several days usually] and any other symptoms I have [ie dizzy spells], especially if I stand up too quickly. I feel that way it doesn't control me and become less obsessive by it all. Everyone is different and learns to cope with it I guess but whatever makes you feel safer then I would say get one but eventually you will become less worried by it. I know I did - I was scared to go to sleep initially, but now have relatively good sleeping pattern but left side aggravates it so don't sleep that way any more.
I have a 6 series Apple Watch and love it. Had a Fitbit for awhile which also found useful but it was earlier model and did not have ECG feature. Full disclosure, I drank the Apple Koolaid a long time ago preferring them over non apple technology. I have found the heart rate monitoring to be very helpful. I can often tell when my afib is just starting to get going and when I check my watch, bingo, there it goes. I’m also a data junky so I do love seeing the numbers and charts and in general it corresponds to my subjective experience. It helps me to get a better handle on when episodes are occurring, length, highest/lowest BPM .
I agree with those who caution you can get overly obsessed with it…checking constantly…and that can lead to worry which as we all know can make our heartbeats skip around even more. I think it’s not for everyone but for me it’s been great. I also like that it will sync with fitness apps like myfitness pal which I used to help me lose 24 pounds last year and the health apps which will give me more info on my heart rate, variability, range, etc. I have found the measure of blood oxygen to be less useful as I frequently get “inconclusive” results.
Also, I use the watch for lots of things not just afib monitoring (monitoring exercise levels, timer, easy message check, tons of apps, as well as a good old fashioned clock. If your only need is for afib can probably find less expensive options.
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.
Apple Watch and AF notifications 
Apple Watch Af reading 
Apixaban dosage and heart watches 
Smart phone reading
