I recently had a Wellue-monitor report tell me that I had a minimum heart rate of 26. That allegedly occurred during a 15-hour episode of afib. This took place during a five-hour period with low readings of 33.
Those five hours were while I was in bed, using the strap, not the electrodes.
Because of my moving about on top of the strap, I wonder whether the monitor loses count.
There are times when I'm in bed, using the strap, when the monitor will buzz. I guess the buzz indicates a connection problem, and sometimes I will get three or four separate reports for a period of sleep.
However, my 26s and 33s were reported within a continuous 23-hour session.
So my questions are:
Have any of you reason to doubt the accuracy of Wellue counts, especially very low ones?
When the monitor is on the body and buzzes, does that always mean that the connection has been lost, or are there other meanings?
Written by
Corazon17
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If your Wellue is the same as mine it also produces an ECG recording. If so you can look up the time of the low HR on the ECG and see what it has recorded. I expect it to be a recording error as a consequence of poor contact when moving around in bed, as you suspect. I presume it will show gaps in ECG when contact was lost... or flatlining?? I'd be interested to know the outcome
I gather that the device does not buzz except when it first acknowledges successful contact.
Many times I have seen the monitor stop and start several times during a 24-hour period, without any action on my part, sometimes producing reports that last only a few minutes.
Thus, I have the sense that the monitor is quite quick to stop entirely. This "fact" makes me more inclined to regard those low readings as something that actually occurred.
A properly designed device should operate this way, in my opinion. A device should not undercount a pulse because the connections are weak or temporarily a bit loose. A device should stop completely when there is any doubt about the quality of the connection.
First off, what an excellent device it is and unique for home use. I haven't had that kind of low reading, but the "buzz" indicates a break in recording caused by movement and poor connection, I believe. I would use the gel electrodes when any movement is likely during use as the chest strap will simply come adrift and likely also cause too much electrical "noise".
If you have an Apple Watch, then that can be worn all night and will read heart rate accurately but only intermittently.
For me, the gel causes a bad reaction to my skin. Were that not the case, I would use the electrodes constantly.
I have tried two types of electrodes, with the same result, although one of them was less bothersome.
Actually, when you say "gel," are you referring to the glue on the stick-on electrode, or do you apply an additional substance to the skin? I have *not* been doing that.
Maybe worse for my skin reaction is that I have reused electrode pads three times. I have a very hard time adding waste to the landfills. After the three days, the electrode glue becomes a bit more liquidy, and then I throw them away and deploy brand-new ones.
I'd highly suspect it is the strap moving around as you turn over or move in bed, hence why they have the electrode option. I've not worn mine overnight for this reason. Tend to wear it 12 hours in the day if concerned.
I would use the electrodes, except that both glues that I have tried cause a skin rash after a day. I tried to "power through" these rashes, but they got pretty red, so I went to the strap. Too bad, because the electrodes worked beautifully. I may try another formulation of glue.
In my experience, most strap movements have ended a recording session, and a few minutes later, another recording session began. That said, I'm wondering if anyone has had a different perception, and *knows for certain* that it is possible for recordings to be grossly inaccurate.
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