I am going to throw it away😡

[Linley]

Get a fitbit watch says my friend you will feel more confident. Sitting at my reception desk today it was fairly quiet and I felt very calm and happy but a bit bored so I looked at my watch 119 bpm it says! Next second down to 94 then 86! I am now stressed out.

[BobD Volunteer]

Like I always say if you let them they can realy wind you up. I won't give such things house room.

[jeanjeannie50 in reply to BobD]

Nor me!

[Karendeena in reply to BobD]

Nor me Bob, never had one and never will

[BobD Volunteer in reply to Karendeena]

Speaking from experience. I only ever started to feel normal when the batery went flat! lol 😁

[Linley in reply to BobD]

😁👍

[Snowgirl65 in reply to BobD]

Ditto!

[Goosebumps in reply to BobD]

I thought we were meant to ‘wind up’ watches, not the other way round.🤓

[pd63]

Bin it

[Linley in reply to pd63]

Think I will😁

[Still_Breathing]

I use and have used a smart watch for a lot of years.When I first got my troubles I got fixated with it, once I realised this I stopped doing it.

I still use a smart watch, and still pay a bit more attention to my heart rate during exercise but no where near the fixation I had.

As suggested bin it...... or get a better more accurate watch.

[OzJames]

you have to realise that if you don’t have perfect contact you could have a misreading. They are a guide at best. Look at it over a 5 minute period it’s usually a misfire. I use Apple Watch and more consistent although I have these odd readings and cardiologist says not to worry

[Ducky2003]

I've had a Fitbit Versa 2 for nearly 4 years and have found it very useful. You have to be mindful though, if you use it on your dominant hand, any vigorous movements make the watch think the heart rate is up so I remove if when washing hair, for example.

Otherwise, I like to monitor what's happening in my sleep and it has picked up a couple of issues, not least my going back into AF in April.

AF detection was a feature they added about a year ago and it was spot on when it happened.

I look at my pulse stats for the day in the evening unless I feel a bit odd, then I'll check it at the time.

They are great to have, imho, but not if you're going to be obsessed with them.

I learned that lesson when I first started with AF and spent more time with my pulse oximeter than my husband 🤣.

[wischo]

They can be obsessive and a stressor, I have an apple watch and my VO2max went from high to average in a week and stressed me out no ends until I realised that a watch can never measure the amount of oxygen your body uses. Any miscalculation in the watch has the potential to stress you out.

[Cavalierrubie]

The best advice has been given by yourself. “throw it away.”

[Broseley]

I never look at my fitbit watch. I have the basic one and I can't see it without my glasses or outside in bright light. I use the app to monitor my sleep though, which I found very useful when my dose of amlodipine was recently doubled. It affected my sleep - my deep sleep went down to virtually (and actually on one occasion) zero. I have now been put on ramipril, though that has a different set of side effects!!

You can set the app to focus on whatever you choose. It still monitors the other things, but for me, sleep is at the top of the page now and I rarely look at the rest. I am, however, reassured that it will flag up any Afib - it hasn't yet in over two years.

[beach_bum]

I never trusted the FitBit for consistency and accurate readings or alerts. My Apple Watch has always matched my LifeSource UA-767 BP monitor cuff. Just another tool in the drawer of monitoring and providing info and data for my Dr’s. I can pull my my history and email it to him, print it, or show him in the office. Peace of mind.

[SuziElley]

I have a Fitbit and like it! I check my stats most nights but not always. I have found it doesn’t pick up my arrhythmias though, but I can do that by taking my pulse when I feel a bit out of kilter! I check my steps, monitor my fluid intake, yes, I can set mine si I can read it outside in bright sunlight as well….

[Sixtychick]

I sold mine. It was making me very anxious.I just have an EMay ECG monitor, that I can record any odd rhythms on and put the ECG’s on my phone to show the Doctor.

[AlliswellinVA]

I can understand the anxiety that these readings can provoke. However, I owe my early diagnosis of a-fib to my Garmin watch. When it congratulated me for finishing an intense workout, I knew something was wrong! I do go to the gym, but my "old lady" exercise classes are definitely not intense. I scrolled down to check my pulse, and when I realized it was 163, I knew I needed to follow up with a doctor. I had no outward symptoms! I assume they would be coming. I sent Garmin a Thank You note. I probably would have continued on until experiencing some sort of symptom. (The symptoms did come later, even with medication. Had an ablation in March 2024 which has helped immensely!)

[Mugsy15]

Send it to me, I'll 'bin' it for you! 😂

[pd63]

I have a bp monitor haven't used it in ages annual che k at GP is always normal but a one off appt my bp was up so I bought one, used it few times and got stressed once when ahad a one off high reading.Our mind is not always our best friend.

[MikeThePike]

I won't jump on the bandwagon and tell you to bin it until you can first kindly clarify why you felt you needed one in the first place. I too have used a fitbit and know that poor contact can affect readings but mostly I found the readings surprisingly accurate. I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss them just because they make you feel uncomfortable. Best wishes.

[Linley in reply to MikeThePike]

Because I was susceptible to my friend suggesting that it would help me with my new PAF diagnosis but I have always had some anxiety which she didn't know of thus it caused me to stress out. Thank you for your concern

[marcyh]

My wristband broke last week so that's it. No more Fitbit for me.

[Ppiman]

I find my Apple Watch utterly marvellous and so useful - but interpreting what it tells is needed or you could, as you have, become upset by it.

If you have had the various checks and be seen by a specialist, you will likely have been told that what you have is an atrial conduction issue. This means the main part of your heart (the lower ventricles) is "safe", but this art can be affected somewhat and be caused to beat overly quickly or irregularly.

Most people here seem to find these devices a help not a worry or a hindrance, but as Bob and Jean here say - they can, I guess for a very few, be the latter. I wouldn't be without my Apple Watch and would replace it tomorrow if it broke!

Steve

[ochinee]

My Fitbit watch is a great tool for me! Very useful. Like any other tool you have to use it correctly and if it's broken, fix it or replace it.

[clifetta]

I love my fitbit.so does my gp. Without it giving me an alert to see my gp about possible af I would probably still be walking around completely unaware I had any heart problems. I have paf,flutter and leaky valves. All symptonless.

[SuziElley]

contact Fitbit support of it breaks. The strap on mine broke, about a year out of warranty. They gave me a 50% discount on replacement.

[Fastandlow]

In my experience, regular heart rate monitors, like Fitbit, pulse oximeters, or the bpm on digital blood pressure cuffs just can’t deal with afib because of the irregularity. To date the only thing I’ve found that works is the ECG on an Apple Watch and even that struggles.