The UK National Institute of Health and and Clinical Excellence (NICE) is recommending the below BP machine for detecting afib:

http://www.microlife.com/products/hypertension/professional/watchbp-home/



petey

I don't see what microlife does the OMRON doesn't and the OMRON often says I don't have an irregular heartbeat when the ECG says I do.

petey

Scott:and Petey: I hope very much that your 'diagnosis' is correct; that is, that it's the inflammation around my heart that is causing the irregularity. It's been three weeks since my incident; I took a two week dose of high level ibuprofen and that seems to have helped. I've read on-line that pericarditis typically lasts two to four weeks, or longer.

Feel free to elaborate on your 'diagnosis'!

petey,
Yes, the belt has a small sealed battery. In mine (Suunto brand), you can actually change the battery. Just please make sure it is snug and damp around your chest. To me, the belt is better and more accurate than holding hands on the handles. The hand thing never works right for me. Besides, I don't want to hold the handles, which takes away from my workout.

As far as the Microlife BP machine, I would stay away from that one. 2 years ago, I got it exactly for its afib indicator feature. But, its pump mechnism went bad after 4 months. I returned it and got an Omron with afib indicator (the same feature as in Microlife). My OMRON still is working :-) Both machines detected when my heart was irregular. So, no difference.

hegel,
Okay, I found the article about your condition. It happened to the CEO of the Life Exttension (a vitamin shop). Here it is:

http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2011/may2011_My-Recent-Life-Altering-Event_01.htm?source=search&key=Pericarditis

More than likely that is what you have and you will be okay after a while. I keep my fingers crossed for you. Please let us know of your progress. Thanks very much.

Scott

hegel,
Sorry man, I did not read the article again before posting it here. I forgot that William Faloon really bashes the hospitals in this article. He is pretty funny in his writing and may be truthful as well !!?? I don't know, I have not had any bad experience with hospitals.

Any way, it appears that afib can be one of the side effects of the "Percarditis" according to his cardiologist. So, I think you will be okay after the inflammation gets better.

Take care,
Scott

Just for what it is worth, my cardiologist uses the OMRON brand but I use a cheaper Microlife model at home for checking pulse, irregular rthythm, and BP. I use the Philips INR monitor which is on permanent loan and I only pay a portion of the test strips. It is a good program and saves people from monthly hassle of hospital visits when you can safely test from home. Once you call in your test results someone from your doctor's office will call you back. I test twice a month but they will try and talk you into once a week. Talk to your doctor about this and what is best for you individually. If you are interested try the link below.

http://www.inrselftest.com/

Sunssol, What is the monthly cost?

wow, that is better than the vampire bite i get. i tend to conveniently forget

They charge by the test and what your insurance or medicare covers determines the cost. Just give them a call and they can tell you exactly what it would cost for you. They will also call your doctor to get the ball rolling and to make sure you are a long term user of Warfarin.

Once approved and the paperwork is done, they will send out a nurse to instruct you how to use the machine. It is not hard to use at all. The machine has to be coded according to the strips but it is not a problem. I messed up two strips by not letting my monitor warm up before adding my drop of blood, the second time I didn't give enough of a sample to read properly. This takes a large drop of blood for the strip. If you do get the monitor, get a warm bowl or glass of water to heat the finger up you are going to use the lancet on. Use one of the large lancets which comes with the machine and strips and smear it on the contact area of the strip until the machine starts reading it.

I swear it is better than driving to a hospital and waiting in an office to get your finger stuck or blood drawn. It will save money for you even if your doctors visit is covered by insurance, the gas and time travel back and forth will more than likely be less than one test strip. Remember, they charge by the test, not the strip, and also the monitor is on permanent loan meaning if it ever stops working or needs servicing you call them and you send yours back and they will send you out another monitor FedEx.

Hope this helps, it won't hurt to call if you are interested.

Your response definitely helps. I'll give them a call.
The monthly blood test isn't a problem for me. The lab is just 5 minutes away. but I think It's always good to have an alternative plan.
Thanks for sharing,
Annette

Before I had the ablation for my afib the heart rate monitors BPM changed every second in a 4 beat loop even though my pulse felt normal. From what I have experienced it is normal for this to happen. It's because of all of that crazy electro activity and you very well may not feel it physically in your chest or thru your pulse. Since you have just developed afib you will not be able to tell the difference right away by just checking your pulse.

DeTalentedOne: so I just finished seeing my GP. I had and EKG. Everything was normal. My Echocardiogram was normal. This is all great news. I'm good to go.

My heart rate monitor still changes in the way you describe, especially when I first put it on, less so as I increase my heart rate. I'm a bit confused if you mean that "this is normal" in the sense that it's normal for the monitor or your heart; or "normal" for someone with afib. It seems that this is "normal" normal in the sense that I've been cleared to go. But in my leftover anxiety I wonder if the EKG is picking up my electrical signals in the same way that the "other" test whose name I forget does. Forgive my ignorance here. I understand that I'm a bit like someone for whom great news is not good enough! Also, despite a crash course I'm still not entirely clear about how afib works.