Apple Watch

[Aegean56]

Can anyone share their experience with Apple Watch picking up episodes of asymptomatic A-fib? Also , what make/ model/ version of the Watch are you using?

Much appreciated.. thank you

[mjames1]

Depending on how you set it up, the Watch will look periodically throughout the day for afib, if certain criteria are met. This can be very useful, but it also means that it can miss episodes. The notifications are also not real time, if that's a concern. Alternatively a 7-14 day ekg patch will monitor 24/7, but of course, will only monitor during that time frame. No reason not to do both.

I need a new Watchband -- I wear the Watch a lot -- so, it's somewhere in the house other than on my wrist, but it's about 4 years old. It has the ekg function, where you can take real time ekg. I also have a Kardia, which does the same, but will not monitor like the Watch.

Jim

[Aegean56 in reply to mjames1]

Thanks this is helpful. I do have a Kardia that I use each morning. I'm hoping the watch would be useful while sleeping to see if any episodes occur...trying to determine my true "Afib burden" as I've been asymptomatic for 3 years.

[mjames1 in reply to Aegean56]

Just don't get upset if your burden is computed as "under 2%". Apple Watch will never give you a zero percent burden, even if that's the case.

Jim

[Rainfern]

Hi Aegean, I have version 9.6.3 bought as a new but reconditioned iwatch direct from Apple. Until I had an ablation recently I was in persistent AFib and that’s what my watch recorded. I took regular ECGs on my watch and shared these with my EP Cardiologist who seems to rate the iWatch for this purpose. Ever since the day after my ablation when he held my wrist and told me I had “a nice steady beat” I haven’t dared check things out on my watch in case something silent is lurking!

[Aegean56 in reply to Rainfern]

Thank you for your response. Were you asymptomatic at the time the watch indicated your persistent A-fib?

[Rainfern in reply to Aegean56]

Certainly for about 40% of the time I’d say I was asymptomatic unless climbing hills or trying to run upstairs when I experienced tiredness and breathlessness. The worst part for me was feeling the wonky heartbeat, but this did improve with the right medication. So yes, I had some times when the Afib could be silent.

Devices such as iwatch do pick up silent Afib which is no doubt saving lives and creating huge waiting lists for treatment. However, if you haven’t done so already you should check out with medics who can do far more accurate and in-depth tests.

[Rainfern in reply to Rainfern]

Sorry I should add I didn’t get the watch til after my diagnosis!

[Buzby62]

My Apple Watch 6 alerted me to possible AF in November 2020, I’d had the watch about 2 months then. I’m pretty sure this was not the first episode while wearing the watch, supporting what others say that the watch only checks periodically and in my experience only when at rest. It took 5 background checks that indicated irregular beats over a period of about 5 hours or so while sitting down in the evening before I was alerted. If I had gone to bed half an hour earlier that episode would have been missed too. I don’t wear to bed. What I learned is that while in AF the heart rate variability recorded on the watch is always high, I can see these spikes in HRV for every episode since and only when having episodes but I also see a few of these spikes in the first 2 months having the watch and believe I had episodes of AF that I was unaware of. HRV is irrelevant when in AF due to the irregular beats but of interest if you struggle to identify episodes.

I now know the signs of slight symptoms and find the watch really helpful for confirming AF or not but it is definitely not a 24/7 catch all.

It’s easy to get obsessive with looking at the watch and I would advise to learn not to obsess over it as the anxiety itself can be a trigger.

I now have my watch set up for AF history which is the alternative set up to AF alerts for people already diagnosed with PAF. In AF history mode you get an indication of your AF burden for the episodes captured, mine reports weekly and 2% or less is the lowest reading when no AF, so don’t expect zero.

Lots of help on the Apple support pages, here’s a link

support.apple.com/en-us/HT2...

.

[Aegean56 in reply to Buzby62]

Very helpful. thanks for the link

[Buffafly]

I have a ‘health watch’ - Xiaomi MiBand set to record my heartrate every five minutes and show my resting HR, average HR, highest and lowest rate, time in ‘exercise zones’ and has a little chart showing variability. From this I can easily see when an episode started and finished because the numbers are up and the chart looks slightly different. It’s using green light technology so not entirely accurate on rates but shows beats strong enough to register whereas Kardia shows electrical impulses which don’t always translate into a noticeable beat.

[Autumn_Leaves]

My watch has never picked up AF running in the background because I think it needs to be happening for at least an hour, but please correct me if I’m wrong. It’s value to me was being able to record episodes of irregular heartbeats with the ECG app and this is how I found out I was having an episode of AF the first time I became aware of something not being right. Until then I’d been living with a lot of ectopics for some years. Didn’t quite expect AF, but if I didn’t have the watch I may still be undiagnosed and none the wiser. I had an Apple Watch version 6. Just make sure you buy a model with the ECG app.

[Aegean56 in reply to Autumn_Leaves]

So I take it from your comment you were awar "something not being right" that you were symptomatic or you "felt" an irregular rhythm or ectopic beats.

[Cyclejoan]

Best ever it detected my AF every time. Also oxygen levels. Wouldn’t be without it.

[Cyclejoan in reply to Cyclejoan]

Also gives historical data to show Doctor

[opal11uk]

I have a Fitbit watch and it states very clearly that those who actually have A/F cannot use it for this purpose!

[Mrsd_uk]

I have Apple Watch Series 7

I have persistent AF - no pain just breathlessness and vibrations in chest

Cardiologists have accepted ecg from watch as evidence & after ablation set watch to monitor AF and notification confirmed my fear that AF had returned.

Useful to monitor heart rate, but have now switched off AF notification as in persistent AF getting messages all the time!

Find it reassuring to wear it. Often wear overnight to monitor sleep apnea & heart rate. Charges quickly in morning .

Best investment

[macymoo007]

hi. I have the Apple Watch Series 7. I’ve found it excellent. When I’ve been in hospital, it has been spot on with its readings compared to their equipment 99% of the time. The 1% it didn’t pick up during the last episode it read that I was sinus after 2 days but still showing a pulse of a steady 130. The hospital readings were afib. So it still showed the high HR but not that it was afib. Other than that, it’s been spot on.

[Hairem]

Hi, I have an Apple Watch 6. I believe in one of the updates it picks up AFib on a daily basis and sends out the info once a week, when investigating further it tells me that Tuesdays are my highest AFib days. I averaged 9. % on the week. Checking on Google I find that 13% is the danger zone.!! Where I live I have to go through my GP to get on the Cardio’s wait list to ask any questions!!

Sue

[Aegean56 in reply to Hairem]

TY.

[Jetcat]

I got shut of mine after two months!!!! , they require charging far too often , Iv gone back to a trusty Fitbit and just use my kardia ecg device if needed.👍

[KentAndrew]

hi,

I am asymptomatic with paroxysmal AFib.

I wear my Apple Watch 6, 23ish hours day & night.

I run an ECG every morning when I wake and if I feel something change during the day, my Watch also alerts me if I have an episode whilst wearing it.

My Consultant has viewed my ECG scans and confirmed they are indicating episodes.

I wouldn’t be without it!

[Aegean56 in reply to KentAndrew]

This is how I am planning to employ its use....ty

[OzJames]

I have an Apple Watch 8. A week or so back felt ectopics and some hours later I got a notification of possible AF. The way I understand it If the Watch picks up irregularities it then does several more checks. Mine indicated 4 checks over a few hours. When you match that up with HRV it showed a huge spike up even before the first measure was taken. I don’t sleep with it on otherwise I’d be up checking it all the time 😆

[Ppiman]

As I understand it, the ECG monitor has been the same since Apple Watch Series 4, although the app has change over time, I think. I updated my 4 to a Series 7 last year as the battery on my older watch wasn't lasting a full day (although my wife's v.2 is still going strong).

I have found the Apple Watch entirely reliable and accurate when reporting AF (better even than the Kardia 6L on two occasions, strangely) but I don't use the monitoring mode. I gather that this checks not for AF itself but for heart rate variability and does so intermittently to save battery, reporting potential AF if irregularity shows up at the point the watch checks for it. If the AF is fleeting, I suspect this could be missed - and I've read from others who have found this.

Steve

[waveylines]

I decided on the Kardia 6L. I already have a lovely watch that I'd rather wear. Finding the Kardia great. Really useful & can send straight through to specislist.A high heart does not necessarily mean Afib..... As the recordings have show on my Kardia and my specialist has concurred.

[Aegean56 in reply to waveylines]

Agreed

[Aegean56]

Agreed

[Peacefulneedshelp]

There are 2 settings on the Apple Watch. One monitors for AF the other for irregular heart beat. I prefer the irregular heart beat setting because it seems more real time in that case. It will eventually pick up the AF but I feel it much sooner than the watch does. I would take a reading to either confirm AF or confirm sinus. Also during the night when I check in the morning it can show what happened during sleep.

[Teresa156]

Hi,

I have a series 5 watch, so not the latest model, bought in 2020. I’m paroxysmal and have only one episode a year ( currently) though I’ve had Afib for about 18 years.

I’m paranoid about Afib happening in my sleep, which can happen, so wear it in the hope it would wake me up if it detected afib. I’m symptomatic when I have afib, but I can also get off to sleep if I’m in afib ( eventually), even at a very high HR, so I do worry that I won’t always wake if I’m in it. I haven’t had afib in my sleep since having it though.

I did take off the fact I had Afib for the monitoring, because it always said I was 2% or less. Instead I have it on the detect ‘irregular rhythm’ and also ‘high heart rate’ notification instead. Again, both those checks are periodic and not in real-time, I just hope it does the checks fairly regularly though.

[Aegean56 in reply to Teresa156]

Thanks Teresa: I was diagnosed with paroxysmal in February 2012 and had 2symptomatic episodes ( near syncope) over next 2 years . Was on put on beta blocker and Flecainide for next 7.5 years and remained symptom free. Then 3 years ago at the start of Covid, had an episode of tachycardia with heart rates of 150-160 with no clinical symptoms , in the ED no A-fib detected after 5 hours of monitoring . Flecainide was discontinued ( concern that it was inducing increased rate and could possible induce irregular beats ) . So now only on a beta blocker am and pm . I occasionally will have heart rate elevation to the mid 80s when I first get up from sitting for while or when I first get out of bed . These episodes last for less than a minute. So similar to you I am trying to determine if I am having A-fib episodes during sleep and/or during wake hours even though I am asymptomatic.

[Teresa156]

Hi Aegean56,

Yes, we do seem to want the same thing from an applewatch don’t we? I’m also on a beta blocker - Bisoprolol.

One thing I picked up from what you said is that you say your heart rises to mid 80s when you get out of bed or from when you’ve been sitting for a while. This does sound completely normal as the heart would beat more when getting up from resting and react as such. Mid 80s is not very high, or suggestive of tachycardia and is within normal range? ( if in rhythm of course).

[Aegean56 in reply to Teresa156]

Teresa you are correct that mid 80s is not an elevated rate. However, is higher for me as my baseline is low 6os and when I am "getting up", I am very much aware of my heart beating, so more correctly I should have noted this as a palpitation.

[Teresa156]

Hi Aegean56,

My baseline is low 60s too, even going to 55/56 ocassionally at rest or in front of TV etc. I really wouldn’t want you to worry unnecessarily about this, but if you’ve been lying down, sitting in front of the TV or anything for a while then get up ( sometimes perhaps even too quickly) your heart should start beating more to react to that change. To rise to mid 80s is fairly normal, ( even on a beta blocker, as I am) honestly and you would sometimes be aware of it. The heart has to increase to allow for the change in posture. We, who are always aware of our hearts are more tuned into them through the anxiety we have about our hearts anyway, so this also plays a part. I honestly think the short rise to mid 80s is nothing to worry about, even on beta blocker, especially as it’s in relation to rising and then it settles quickly.

But, yes, obviously check this out for your own piece of mind, but I wouldn’t regard it as a palpitation.

[Aegean56 in reply to Teresa156]

I totally agree that this is a natural physiologic response. But as you say those of us with this beast are much more aware of our hearts. Currently I am simply trying to determine what my AF burden truly is, I have been "symptom free" for some time ...just trying to determine if I am actually AF free.!

[Teresa156 in reply to Aegean56]

I do understand- I wish you all the best and hope you get to the bottom of it 😊

[Janelr]

I’m an apple 6 watch wearer it has the ecg on it but I rarely use it. As I’m in persistent af it alerts me it’s like my little friend that’s says I’m still here. Haha. I don’t wear at night.

Have noticed they check at hospital my resting rate from it .My favorite bit about it is I like to close my movement and exercise rings everyday keeps me active 😊

[Afibflipper]

I began using Apple Watch 7 series when my AFib got quite severe. I just let it do its own thing at alerting me it was picking up Af (some I felt physically some not.) I’d take ECG usually when I’d feel pretty unwell & note what I’d been doing/eating at that time to see if patterns developed. I’d give copies to my EP. I’m now 11 months post 3rd ablation - still wear it but, I’m fine now 7months NSR & use it as a fitness tracker, maps where I left my car, &get messages from my phone etc - I love it

[Aegean56 in reply to Afibflipper]

Thanks....I was told that using the Apple watch requires having an IPhone. I have an Android . Is that problematic?

[Buzby62 in reply to Aegean56]

Only works with iPhone but there are other makes of watch work with Android.

[Afibflipper in reply to Aegean56]

That’s a shame, hope you get something similar

[Elli86]

Apple watch is superb for me. Can’t speak to picking up asymptomatic af as mine is most definitely symptomatic 🤣 but picks it up every time for me. I have the series 6 I think. Brilliant! Love it! Make sure it’s neither too tight or too loose and it’ll work like a charm 👍

[Aegean56 in reply to Elli86]

Thanks