I got a Samsung Galaxy 6 watch for Christmas that has ECG monitoring.
It has found 3 times (2 of which was last night) atrial fibrillation which I've not been aware of before and never diagnosed with.
Are the watches results reliable? I didn't feel much different really but could feel my heartbeat.
On a side note, I wonder if this is due to my increasing my nortriptyline (for back pain). I've been increasing it by 10mg a week since Christmas and am now on 60mg.
Just wanted to know if I should trust my watch and contact the GP or not to worry about it.
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LucyBoo21
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ECG recording on a watch is notoriously unreliable as you must remain very still for the recording. That said, I would still get an appointment with your practice and ask them for a full 12 lead ECG. Always better to get it checked out. You might also check your pulse if it is irregular defiantly you need this checked out.
As much as leisure wear is not regarded as medical standard I would still contact your GP. The one thing with the leisure wear stuff if that they are usually constant in their recording , they can give a baseline to work from so it is probably recording /detecting changes even if they are not up to medical standards. Get checked anyway 👍🏻
I am a little biased as my Atrial Fibrillation was detected by my smart watch. I had spent a few years wondering if the occasional dizziness I had could be AFib, as it runs in my family. Coincidentally, I had just raised the dose of Amytriptiline for back pain.
Definitely go to your GP. Of course they might still not be able to catch it on ECG if the episodes are short.
Smart watches are ok as a rough monitor (depending on the make, model, users skin moisture etc etc) but are nothing like as accurate as the real diagnostic equipment. If you can I would speak to your gp service. A nurse may be able to run some simple tests to reassure you or point you in the right direction if anything is untoward
I recd the same Galaxy watch for Christmas. Shortly afterward, I too got an AF indication. It so happens that I have a pacemaker and a monitoring device on my bedstead collects large quantities of data from the pacer and reports it to my cardiologist.
I called them about the AF reported by my watch and they reviewed the data from my pacer. Later in the day, they got back to me saying that there were no AF events in the data at all. They ascribed the Galaxy indication as being due to a very conservative programming of the device aimed at protecting the manufacturer legally. (They would rather over-report the AF than under-report it and be more subject to law suits.)
They also noted I have other known benign irregularities in my heart rhythm and the watch can be confused by them and report them as AF.
In the same spirit, I share this with caution and emphasize that it's best to consult with your own doctors when getting these kind of indications from your new watch.
As all the comments before said I agree, see doc for piece of mind, but to be honest with you I have a Apple Watch and my cardiologist said I would throw it away, that’s his opinion. It’s good for monitoring steps and running distances, I’ve had AF for about 13 yrs and I know when a episode is going to happen, don’t need a watch to tell me, good luck !!!
Hi LucyBoo21 I think you should see if you can send the ecg to your GP. That is if your watch generates an ecg on your mobile and then can you email it?
I was the other way round really, I realised I was having episodes of AF as my heart was thumping as if about to burst out of my chest, I monitored my heart rate, it was so irregular and jumping from in the 40s to over 100 and back and forth.
So I bought a Withings watch to capture it which I did the next time it happened and followed up by arraging to see my GP. Each time I felt the symptoms starting, I took an ecg.
I am now on anticoagulants and awaiting an echocardiogram.
I was offered betablockers but as my heart rate dips below 60 at rest I declined. I am to be referred to a cardiologist.
The nurse who fitted me up with a 24 hour ecg had doubts about watches diagnosing AF but as I know that I was in AF due to the symptoms I believe that my watch was accurately capturing AF. That said, apparantly some people have AF and don't feel any symptoms 😬.
I think if smart watches detect AF its a must to follow this up.
Its difficult to get an AF diagnosis if the episodes are only intermittent ( paroxysmal).
If you see your gp you should have vital signs checked, bloods taken to look for underlying health issues that could cause AF. You may need a 24 hour ambulatory ecg or one that you wear for a few weeks to check, then an echo.
Devices such as smart watches and KardiaAlive do accurately detect AF. The Apple Watch and KardiaAlive devices are FDA approved: my wife has both. That said, you will struggle to find a GP that trusts the output that these devices produce without supporting evidence from a 12 lead ECG or a holter or loop monitor.
Following episodes of TLoC/syncope, my wife was fitted with a 14 day holter monitor. Whilst she was wearing the holter monitor, her Apple Watch detected a period of non-symptomatic AF. This was confirmed by the holter monitor output. Had she been ‘prescribed’ a single or 3 day holter monitor, the AF would probably have gone unnoticed . She is now on Edoxaban.
In sum, do not ignore what you are seeing. It can though be frustrating getting a diagnosis - particularly, if the symptoms are occasional.
I will contact my GP and let them know, I need to give them an update on my nortriptyline anyway as I was suffering with heartburn so they got me to trial different medication for a few weeks to see if it helped.
I've been doing a daily ECG when I'm in bed relaxing and always kept still. The first one was recorded on 06/01/24 and then two straight after each other on 21/01/24 (as I wanted to see if it was correct).
My dad had atrial fibrillation and his episodes were very extremen and he ended with heart failure and having a ICD fitted.
I have been getting night sweats which I put down to perimenopause but I wonder if they are AF episodes. I'll do an ECG next time I get them to see!
Watches are not reliable for ECG or Blood Pressure readings, especially at night when you could lean on them or the watch becomes too tight or too loose.If these situations are happening despite cleaning the back of the watch and putting it on firmly, possibly swapping it to wear on your least dominant arm , and the arm you are least likely to lean on at night or if you are concerned , especially if you are experiencing symptoms when it happens contact your GP and arrange for a check up.
If you want a more reliable indicator for ECG a Kardia is better.
And use a blood pressure machine with a cuff for accurate BP.
The watches are good for keeping a record of heart rate , especially useful while your exercising but BP is calculated from the heart rate you have not recorded in itself , so it can be very different from your real BP if you suffer with Tachycardia or Bradycardia. That's mean medically researched.
Watches quite often give false indications if there is a lot of body movement or electrical interference from other devices, I've noticed a few AF readings pop up when I know my AF is not playing up . This can actually happen with most ECG devices but is more common on a watch.
But you are right , Triptans don't suit everyone and some people can experience increased palpitations and heart rate , and insomnia using them even though they are commonly prescribed to have the opposite effect( myself included I was of Amitriptyline within a month) , a large number of people can't tolerate these medications so you may need to lower the dose again , be careful about the time you take it or change to a different pain medication.
Just for info. My Withings watch does not automatically detect AF. It works that if you feel symptoms, you activate the ecg on the watch and it is saved on the mobile.
I know the Withing Watch can be slightly different to others as many of them are Analogue / Smart Watch Hybrids. They look really nice in comparison to the usual flat screened Smart Watch too.They are still like other watches in testing and even with symptoms can only be used as a reasonable guideline of any heart rhythm or arrhythmias with the results requiring to be reassessed by a medical professional and the condition checked with a Kardia if it's available and then a medical grade ECG.
Although you touch them to test they still suffer from the accuracy problems of all Smart Watches for various reasons like lower lead contact , wrist sensitivity, proper placement and increased likelihood of interference from movement , battery level, and other nearby electrical equipment.
They are automatic in the sense that they rely on automatic algorithms to give the diagnostic result when you activate the ECG which can often be unreliable for the above reasons , just as the blood pressure readings they give do the same.
Watch recordings of all types , including the top range Withing were thoroughly tested in research by Swiss Medic whom also checked how accurately Medical Professionals from Medical Students to Senior Consultants and EPs could evaluate whether a patient had aFib based on looking at the watch SL-ECG recording.
No watch was accurate above 63% , the lowest accuracy around 43% when checked against a Medical Grade ECG taken at the same time for diagnosing aFib events.
Kardia units came in with accuracy between 70-80%, not that much lower than a Medical ECG ( which also has a level of inaccuracy and causes inconclusive readings as well).
With most watches the number of inconclusive decisions by Doctors checking the watch readings recorded ECGs showing aFib were around 25% some watches were over a third.
Basically , most Smart Watch medical research tests for anything other than heart rate usually conclude that they all make a good guideline and can be useful to check for various diagnosed conditions when symptoms are present but any reading of aFib on watches needs to rechecked by a Medical Professional or Medically approved unit and test.
I'm glad your watch has helped you to get the help and extra tests you need at the surgery level, that's exactly the way the watches information can be helpful. Take care , Bee
For just over a £100, a 6 lead KM device is a sound investment. My wife now has a Pacemaker and she uses it to check that she is still in sinus rhythm. Her Apple Watch does show occasional low heart beats even though her pacemaker is set at 60bps minimum. I suspect this is because the watch is not tight around her wrist.
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