ICD and wrist monitors

[KG176]

For anyone thinking of buying a wrist monitor to give them early warning of an ICD event - don't! My ICD fired yesterday (the trigger limit is 230) while the watch showed 143. Conclusion - the wrist monitor does not pick up atrial fibrillation.

[laura_dropstitch Heart Star]

Oh goodness, that must have been frightening. Hope you are OK. x

[KG176 in reply to laura_dropstitch]

Thanks Laura,

I used to be relaxed about this, but now it's a mixture of fear and anger - not to be recommended!

[Bazza1234]

What kind of "watch" ??

[KG176 in reply to Bazza1234]

A Garmin forerunner 235

[Bazza1234 in reply to KG176]

OK - this is actually a sports watch designed for people exercising to track their heart rate BUT it is not actually a heart rate monitor at all, but is a pulse rate monitor. Now I know that heart rate and pulse rate are normally linked together and I don't know very much about atrial fibrilation but I can see why the sports pulse rate monitor would not pick up a state of atrial fibrilation.

[IanMK]

Hi KG. Do you follow the AF Association forum on HealthUnlocked? The inaccuracy of fitness tracker devices has been highlighted there before. This is particularly the case for AF because the pulsing of blood through the arteries is not detected very well by the tracker’s sensor.

[KG176 in reply to IanMK]

thanks Ian. I'm inclined to agree since my pulse last night hit a low of 34!

[Taylog]

Hi Kg same happened to me fitbit registering 83 and the next thing bang followed by another 20 odd shocks before it all calmed down in CCU. It appears that most of the wrist monitors do not pick up AF very well. However that was over a year ago now and I also went through the fear and anger and downright depression but it does get better as you realise it only goes off because it needs to (normally to help keep you alive) and the longer you remain shock free the more your confidence rebuilds. Good luck for the future.