Kardia Clinician report just in! It says Keep Calm and Carry On! Despite very odd looking Kardia report submitted for review 24 hours ago.

[Raylpa]

Kardia taken after an unexplained period of rapid heart rate (145 bpm for 3 or 4 mins while sitting down, no notable symptoms my typical resting bpm is 58-68) The ‘wave’ form differs from my usual Kardia report in the hacksaw like appearance of the ‘wave’ between the heart beats. Taken a few more since and all back to normal. Any informed Kardia user feedback appreciated.

[deniseinmilden]

It does that if it gets interference from other muscles - it looks like you might have been feeling slightly shakey.

Did you go and get your Kardia gadget after you'd had your episode of fast beats and then take the trace? (It's what it looks like to me).

If I do something like that I usually need to wait a while - 3 or 4 minutes or take several readings for the muscles in the rest of my body to settle down so that it will give a clear reading, unaffected by them.

My Aunt has mild hand tremors and these show up like that too.

Sometimes it is just because you aren't getting a good enough contact to start with too and it helps to lick the fingers/thumbs you are using, first.

The first trace or two that I take if I haven't used it for a while tends to be more erratic too - it's as if it has to perfect its reading technique again - and I think in a way it probably is: it's learning which electrical impulses from you are causing anomalies and which are the heart ones and it takes a few traces (usually 2 - 3) to establish the correct signals to read and hence produce a "clean" trace.

If you had taken the reading during the run of fast beats these would still have shown up - as close-spaced high peaks, even if there were still lots of wriggles in between.

The good news is your heart doesn't seem too bothered about having had this spell and has righted itself and gone back to normal rhythm afterwards.

The git is that you don't have a trace of it to show anyone to prove it. I totally believe you though - mine used to do it a lot and it took years to get a reading of it to prove it to the cardiologist before the Kardia Mobile was invented!

I now get AV block instead and have used my Kardia to show my current cardiologist. He was impressed because my traces were so clear because I have learnt to keep ultra still and calm while I'm taking them and delete the ones with anomalies.

I try to set up my position with my phone so I don't have to let go of the gadget's electrodes and I only have to move one finger as little as possible to press the "buttons" on the phone screen.

It's much easier with AV block because it goes on for some time giving me a chance to get set up and calm. I get the odd run of fast beats and don't think I've managed to get those even on an implanted recording device where I just have to press a button on a toggle round my neck yet, so be kind to yourself - it's not as easy as you'd think!

Good luck - keep going and you will get there!

[Raylpa in reply to deniseinmilden]

Good morning Denise ☀️ thanks for your very informative reply, along with the Kardia tech response you have settled my mind that the trace is ‘ok’ and I don’t need to rush off to join the 14 hour queue at the local A&E 😂 (if only that were really funny) the shock of finding a 140+ bpm while sitting did likely cause a few muscles to twitch. I also have a heart block, fortunately only first degree. Best wishes and good health.

[deniseinmilden in reply to Raylpa]

Thank you!I used to have SVT a lot and there have been several posts on here that seem to suggest there may be some sort of link with AV blocks. I think the control system might be a bit faulty in some cases but it doesn't seem to be anything to worry about, if inconvenient.

I was passing out with it on average 6 times a week (still hard to get it recorded before Kardia) and had a double ablation for it in the end coz although the SVT bit isn't dangerous, regularly passing out can put you at risk depending on where you are or what you're doing.

That was nearly 30 years ago and it's been fine ever since - I get the odd "slow" one like yours where I don't pass out but they only happen occasionally and I don't mind that.

Definitely worth speaking to the British Heart Foundation people and your GP so you have some immediate advice and you are also in the system for a thorough check.

There are various physical techniques you can do to get your heart rate to come down (pressing your eyeballs, squeezing your thumb pads on your hands, sucking ice, splashing your face with cold water, etc) but you should only do these under medical guidance so that you don't trigger your AV blocks when doing so. Worth asking about though!

Good luck with everything!

[Eldot]

Hi Raylpa, I laughed out loud when I saw your post as I had a very similar experience today. I've been recently fitted with an ILR looking for repeat bouts of my fast beats (nsvt) leading to presyncope. So I bought a Kardia 6L to start recording my ecg for my own edification. It arrived today so I did my first test.

I was surprised because my trace looked nothing like the textbook traces I've been reading about and yet my Kardia said Normal Sinus Rhythm just like yours. Also like yours, my R waves are regularly spaced so it is definitely is NSR, but I wasn't prepared for the other squiggles between the R waves. (My T waves are much bigger than my P waves).

Reading your post reminded me to accept the good news of NSR, and ignore the squiggles. I'll also try the tips others suggested like licking for better contact and sitting still. Thanks for posting!

[Raylpa]

Thank you Eldot, its good to know I helped a LOL (-: and we are on the same wave length (-: lets keep on ticking. That's me all 'joked' out for today. Thanks for posting!