Using a Heart Rate monitor chest strap after Ablation

[Simoni]

Has anyone used a HRM chest strap after a pvi ablation and had strange readings even though a manual pulse check is regular and in control?

I was wondering if the strap picks up the electrical activity still going on in the Pulmonary Veins but cant get past the ablation sites into the heart to cause chaos?

It could of course be a dodgy strap that need replacing, im curious to see if anyone else has experienced this.#

Cheers Sam

[Buffafly]

Ditch the strap. It’s not doing your heart or your head any good 😊

[Simoni in reply to Buffafly]

good idea... ha ha

[john-boy-92]

A specialist nurse told me that Polar HRMs are less affected by AF. When using a rowing machine I can flip flop between fibrillation and flutter. I use a Polar Vantage V HRM with a Polar chest strap and H10 transmitter. I make sure that the electrodes on the chest strap are wet. Check whether the transmitter and HRM are using the same protocol: ANT+ or Bluetooth LE.

[mjames1]

Chest straps can be great for working out but what you're asking is beyond their pay grade. If you want to know what is really going on, get a Kardia 6L or an Apple Watch. They will generate a very good ekg that you and/or your doctor can read.

Jim

[KMRobbo]

I used a chest strap from.my Garmin 305 all through my AFib journey, in fact it was the reason I was diagnosed. It was pretty accurate in Afib. So no I have not experienced that.

[johnMiosh]

In what way strange?

If your AF was caused by excessive exercise and after your ablation you want to return to fitness then I would suggest using a chest strap is a wise idea.

The strap will pick up all electrical activity across the heart. You will probably have ectopic beats, which can confuse the reading, but generally it should be accurate. I used a Garmin soft strap, but found they became unreliable after a year or so. I then swapped to a polar strap instead and found this much better. Since then, my Garmin transmitter failed and I am now using a Polar H10.