You might be having anxiety... so what was your heart rate and what is it now?

I would go to an electrophysiologist (EP) if you are concerned about afib.

Pericarditis can cause afib and it can be a 1 time thing... maybe.

If you have money and are that worried get a portable ECG machine. The OMRON HCG 801 is simple to use to detect afib and it gives an accurate heart rate. petey

The OMRON is about $300. You can find an EP in your area at:

www.hrsonline.org/

petey

I would be good to find a Cardiologist. Most folks here use Electrophysiologists ( cardio dr. who specialize in currents and electrical paths of the heart) Your PCP could recommend one for you.

When I was first diagnosed with afib (18 mos. ago) my heart rate soared often. I could not continue the aerobic activities at the gym. when walking my rate would soar and then drop...It seems to have stabelized now...but still has a soaring every so often...for no reason.

Keep notes of all your concerns and write down the times, numbers and circumstances for your dr. to see.

I think we are all a bit over dramatic in the beginning of afib diagnoses...it is a big change in our lives to adjust to....You are doing just fine!

Thanks guys: one of the symptoms of pericarditis is anxiety (it's symptoms mimic onset of heart attack!) This anxiety, which I've definitely experienced for the first time in my life, has diminished dramatically of late. And of course the whole darn ER experience...

My heart rate is entirely normal when compared to what it was before this incident. I don't believe that it's soaring at all. I've just begun to perform mild aerobic activities and everything seems normal.

I guess my question is: even though my pulse checks normal when I press my neck, my heart rate monitor shows small though rapid variation. Is it possible that my heart's electrical signals are at variance with my actual pulse? Pardon my naivitee here; I'm completely new to this. (Maybe this variance is more normal for monitors than I ever realized?)

Is an electrophysioligist going to tell me more than my ecocardiogram? Or the electrocardiogram that I'll have my gp perform in his office? Again, I'm perhaps mistakenly concerned about the seeming variance between my normal pulse and variable hrm signals.

p.s. gee I hope that pericarditis has resulted in a one time only incident, but I understand that my chances or recurrence go up after a single event.

The EP will guide you through whatever the future holds. AFIB is not well understood, but an EP knows more.What IS your heart rate anyway?

Petey: when I've been up and moving around but not doing anything strenuous it's in the mid 70's to low 80's.

That's not bad and could be explained by anxiety or something else benign.

Read this (Increase in heart rate):

Symptoms of pericarditis may include any of the following:

Chest pain: this pain is different from angina (pain caused by coronary artery disease). It may be sharp and located in the center of the chest. The pain may radiate to the neck and, occasionally, to the arms and back. It is made worse when lying down, coughing, or swallowing, and is relieved by sitting forward.
Low-grade fever
Increase in heart-rate
No symptoms may be present

Most patients recover in two to four weeks.


petey

I have used a chest strap HRM while concurrently using an oximeter during afib and found that the chest strap monitor has a more difficult time displaying a number (you will still see a flash of the little heart symbol but it takes a while to show an actual number) and also displays a higher heart rate.

I get similar readings when taking my pulse rate and comparing it to the oximeter results.

My theory is that the electrical signal from the chest strap may be picking up activity from the atria in addition to the ventricles and without the ability to filter these out your displayed heart rate would be higher. You could try wearing the heart monitor's electrode strap in different locations to see if you find a location with satisfactory readings.

It could also be that you are in and out of afib and your HRM is displaying your heart rate when in afib and when you did a pulse check you were not in afib. It wasnt clear to me if you were checking your pulse rate at the same time that you were looking at your heart rate display.

I have also found that my HRM has about a 10 second lag when displaying results; I suspect this is due to the algorithms used to calculate and display a heart rate.

I suggest you bring your HRM with you when you have your next doctor visit to compare with his ECG readings.

Hope this helps

opsyn

Thanks opsyn: Yes I'm comparing my neck pulse rate while I'm observing my HRM. So I'm not in afib while my HRM is showing some rapid but small variance. I'll try the different positioning trick. I think that you're suggesting that my chest strap monitor may be picking up signals from two different heart areas, and can't decide which to display, so vacillates rapidly?

What is a typical (healthy) "moving about the house" heart rate?

I will take my monitor in to my doctor's appt.

hegel,
I think what you see is okay and there is nothing wrong with your monitor. When I had my afib, that was the case for me sometimes too. Meaning, the HRT would show small and rapid changes while my heart beat at my wrist appeared okay. The reason is, the HRT measures electrical signals from the heart and you measure the flow of blood in the artery when the heart pumps. So, it appears that your heart goes into afib for a very short time (no pumping, just vibrating) and then comes out of it quickly (pumps and you can feel the pulse). I think your heart is upset :-) Just kidding.

That was the case with me for 15 to 20 minutes before I would go to full afib. Fortunately, you are okay and you don't seem to be going to a full afib (keep it that way). So, trust your instrument, it is showing you how your heart is behaving. I am sure this will show on an EKG (or a holter monitor) too. It did for me.

Just curious, what are you taking for your heart inflammation condition? Ibuprofen to bring down the inflammation? I heard that was the way that somebody else dealt with this case, taking ibuprofen.

Scott

Whoops, in my post I said HRT. It should be HRM (Heart Rate Monitor) rather than HRT. Sorry.

Opsyn,
Oximeters also measures the blood flow rather than electrical signals. So, it would the same as taking the pulse at the wrist or neck. I agree with you about what "hegel" sees is going in and out of the afib.

By the way, my HRM does NOT seem to have any delay. It seems to be very fast showing the changes in my heart rate. What it shows really correlate with how I feel. Mine is a Suunto watch with built in HRM feature. I use the strap (electrodes) on my chest. Of course, for best results and conductivity, the electrodes on the strap MUST be a little dump. So, I just wet my fingers and run them on the strap, where it touches the chest. Otherwise, the HRM is intermittent. Yes, you want a good connection between the skin and the strap.

Scott

I think the electronic HRMs just aren't as accurate as mechanical methods. Here is an excerpt of a test of the accuracy of the electronic monitors done by the National Institute of Health:


When tested on the bench using electronic equipment, the machines rarely exhibited errors exceeding 2-3 bpm over a measurement range of 30-240 bpm. However, when tested with subjects walking or jogging at low speeds on a treadmill, typically 20-70% of the readings given by the machines had errors of greater than 20 bpm. In some cases over 50% of readings had errors exceeding 50 bpm.
Conclusion
None of the machines examined can be described as either accurate or reliable. Only Machine D met the lenient performance criteria on only one subject under all three test conditions. The machines assessed were unable to detect an exercising subject's pulse without picking up interference due to movement and giving grossly erroneous readings. This problem needs much attention if accurate and reliable heart rate monitors are to become available in the future.

petey

I've used a chest strap monitor in the gym for years. On the eliptical I'll often check my monitor's readings against those built into the machine. They agree very closely. Also, over the years my hrm has shown consistently predictable readings for what I've come to expect during different periods of my workout. So it would have to be very consistently wrong in the same way that the hrm on the machines are wrong. I hope that this makes sense.

"going in and out of afib" sounds very scary to me. I'll see my gp next week. I was hoping that I could put this down to the monitor's quirks. But again my monitor never did this before my episode.

Petey,

Just like hegel, I have been using my HRM for over 12 years. It seems very accurate as long as the strap is tight on my chest and it wet (damp) where it contacts with the skin. For good conduction, the electrodes on the strap must be damp. So, I wet the strap, if I am using it at home to measure my heart rate. However, at the gym, during the workout, sweating naturally damps the strap and provides a good connection with the skin.

I am NOT sure about the reseach from the NIH. It just does not sound right. The HRM strap is just like the probes of the ECG. They have to make good contact otherwise the number on the display jumps around and it does not look solid. Also, the strap must be very snug around the chest so during running it does not move around.

hegel,
I am pretty sure what you see on your HRM is real and it is caused by temporary inflammation around your heart. I would think you will go back to normal after the inflammation subsides.

Are you taking anything for it?

Good luck,
Scott

I think you are right about the temporary inflammation, Scott.

BTW, I have a True Treadmill that has hand grip type heart monitor and a belt. I tried to use the belt for the first time in 3 years. Is there a battery or on/off switch on these belts?

petey