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Can a Vivosmart5 show me my heart rate with high granularity? I need to see heart STOPPAGES a few seconds long.

8435510
5 months ago

Short version:

Can I "zoom in" on a specific time and look at my heart rate over a 5 second or 10 second period ?

Long version:

I have a bad heart .. the "pacemaker" area of my heart sometimes goes nuts and my heart starts to beat at 150 or 160 or 200 BPM while just sitting quietly.  It will stay at that high rate for hours or days or at one point, a whole month.

I have taken many meds to control this.  Most didn't work, but one worked TOO well.  On occasion, it lowered my heart rate to ZERO.  Usually it was only for a few seconds and I just got really dizzy.  A few times I would just pass out. 

Thankfully, it always restarted! 

Well, almost always.  Twice in the ER it stopped for over 20 seconds; I was technically dead, until a fancy defibrillator brought me back.

Surgery last summer and yet another drug seems to have fixed it.  Or so I thought.  Starting a week ago, I've again had a few dizzy episodes.

Now,  these episodes could be caused by a number of things; very high or very low blood pressure, sleep deprivation, something neurological or that pesky heart stopping thing (aka, dying).

I'd like to rule out the latter if I possibly can.

To that end, I bought a Fitbit (simply because I could locally.  I'm about 6 hours away from an urban center.  Frankly, I'm astonished I could even buy a Fitbit .. screws are considered hi-tech around here.)

Well, the Fitbit claim of "continuous heart monitoring" is a joke.  Heartrate is captured as an average over 5 minutes, and an alert is only generated after 2 captures.  That is, my heart would have to stop for at least TEN MINUTES before Google thinks there's a problem.

I'm wondering if the Garmin is any better.

Mod note: , your other post was a duplicate, which is why it wasn't approved.

Top Replies

  • 5 months ago +1
    8435510 said:
    I'm wondering if the Garmin is any better.

    I am sorry for your health issues. Recent Garmin watches poll the HR continuously (it used to be once each 15s with older devices), and then…

All Replies

  • 0 5 months ago
    8435510 said:
    I have a bad heart .. the "pacemaker" area of my heart sometimes goes nuts and my heart starts to beat at 150 or 160 or 200 BPM while just sitting quietly.  It will stay at that high rate for hours or days or at one point, a whole month.
    8435510 said:
    Twice in the ER it stopped for over 20 seconds; I was technically dead, until a fancy defibrillator brought me back.

    If you have a medical problem, you should discuss options for monitoring it with your doctor.

  • 0 5 months ago

    From the manual : 

    ….“This feature does not notify you of any potential heart condition and is not intended to treat or diagnose any medical condition or disease. Always defer to your health care provider for any heart-related issues.“…



    https://www8.garmin.com/manuals/webhelp/GUID-8674F17E-62B2-48DE-927A-251611664658/EN-US/GUID-B0C3FBE5-56CE-472D-8042-3579C9789323.html 

  • 0 5 months ago in reply to bluefish

    I did, I spoke with my cardiologist, a pretty top flight guy.  He said, rather casually, "get a Fitbit or a Garmin".

    You see, I've had numerous 24 hour Holter monitors and once SUFFERED through a 7 day monitor.  (No good sleep and no showers for a week.)

    But we're looking for something that might not happen for months, and indeed, might never happen, and the options seem to be a ridiculously uncomfortable Holter monitor .. not really an option .. or a Smartwatch .. if I can find one that does what I need .. or crossing my fingers.

  • 0 5 months ago
    8435510 said:
    I'm wondering if the Garmin is any better.

    I am sorry for your health issues. Recent Garmin watches poll the HR continuously (it used to be once each 15s with older devices), and then log 2 minutes averages for later reviewing (unless you are recording an activity, where you can get up to 1s samples). However, I am afraid that for you particular issue (a complete stoppage of heart beat), fitness and sport watches like Garmin or Fitbit are not the right choice. They cannot easily distinguish whether your heart really stopped beating, or whether you just simply removed them from the wrist, or used them over the sleeve. Hence, the missing HR signal would not trigger the unusual HR alarm, even at these watches polling it continuously. 

    Besides that, when the heart stops, you'll probably not hear the alarm anyway, and even if you do, it is unlikely to help you.

    That told, even if the built-in HR alert won't work for this purpose, there are some Connect IQ apps from 3rd party developers, that could perhaps work even for the complete HR stoppage. I recommend searching the Connect IQ store - I see for example this app for Heart Alarms: Connect IQ Store | Heart Alarm by JulienRoux. I recommend contacting the developer, and asking whether the stopped HR can trigger the alarm too.

    However, please bear on mind that the fitness watches are not medical devices, and the 3rd party apps come usually from amateur developers. Personally I would rather indeed consult a specialist for medically approved options available for you, as @bluefish recommended.

    Whishing good luck and strong health!

  • 0 5 months ago in reply to 8435510

    I don't know why I keep getting these emails. You clearly don't want me to post here

    Hi . All new user posts are moderated, regardless of the content. Nothing is published for public view until a moderator, whether it's me or someone else, approve the post. I'm sorry for the inconvenience, but this is how it currently works in order to keep the forum civil and free of spam. Thank you for your contribution to the Garmin Forums.