just curious if anyone’s Apple Watch heart rate has been different to the monitor. On my husband Apple Watch his heart rate went from 42 up to 130 in the same 24 hour period When I phoned the heart function nurse for results on his 24 hour monitor he wore she read out thst his lowest was 70 and highest 117 . Just curious if anyone had experienced the same difference . Thanks
Jackie
Hi, assuming he is in AF for all those readings it could be down to the inaccuracy of the Green Light technology using the optical sensor on the watch. I think you said previously you also seen a difference between the optical and the electrical readings using the finger on the wheel. The Holter will be electrical measurements and be accurate. You can’t take a continuous electrical reading with the watch so I guess the watch is just an indicator rather than an accurate monitor in his case.
I find the optical measurements from the watch can be inaccurate when I’m in AF.
Also, I’ve read that some people can’t get an accurate radial pulse at their wrist and have to take their pulse from their neck.
Hope this helps
Thank you yes , I’m so glad I found this site it has been a real help and support for my husband and myself , as he can’t read at this time because of his stroke I read some of them out to him . X
Really not a significant difference between "130" and "117" when you're in afib, as the heart rate bounces around anyway. I find the Watch to be pretty accurate, but you have to understand the limitations when it comes to 24 hour monitoring, because unlike a Holter, Apple Watch does not monitor 24/7, just periodically.
Jim
Yes true .
I think my iwatch is consistent even if it doesn’t measure quite the same as more sophisticated medical equipment. So for me I know I’m in trouble if resting HR is above a certain number and I know if I could walk a bit faster on a walk without straining and it’s like having a close friend who may not be a fully qualified medic, but they know me!
Totally agree, I use mine the same as an indicator but it’s good to be aware of the limitations around the accuracy of the numbers while in AF. When my HR appears higher than expected I hold my finger on the wheel to switch over from the optical sensor to the electrical sensors for more accuracy. If you are in AF you will see the HR jumping about every second instead of every 5 seconds or so on the optical sensor.
A couple of links to Apple support
support.apple.com/en-us/HT2...
support.apple.com/en-gb/HT2...
Hope this is helpful to all.
Thank you yes he s in permanent AF
I think in that case as you’ve proven the optical sensor on the wrist to be inaccurate for his AF heart rate then you have to assume that the HR readings without using the finger on the wheel are permanently unreliable for him. As on the apple support page, some cannot get accurate readings and have to think about another device, I’m not sure that would be helpful in his case but it’s an option. Hoping he improves and soon, best wishes.
Yes . My confusion is thst my husbands heart rate today was averaging 60s 80s but the ecg seems to be a lot higher . If we didn’t have the ecg component on his watch I would be thinking ooh great, heart rate is ok.
you cant rely on the Apple Watch for accurate pulse readings
I have PAF for a long time and wear day and night an Apple Iwatch (8 and recently the new 9) on my left wrist AND a FitBit Charge 5 on my right wrist. In my experience both wearables measure my heartrate, heart rate variability and the hear beat irregularities alarms comparable and reliable. I also use the heart and health apps on my Iphone 12, which shows me averages and trends daily, weekly, monthly and annually.
Thank you , yes my husband has the Apple Watch 8 series and wears it day and night
