Heart Monitor Picking Up Irregular Heart Beats?

[Angela]

I just noticed my omron hrbp monitor which is not that old and has been very accurate when comparing to cardiologist and neuro's monitors has been detecting irrregular heartbeats. Has this happened to anyone, is it common and just part of pots. I never noticed it before. It's usually in the a.m. after I stand up when my hr and bp go way up.

[SpinnyC]

The same thing happens to me! I also checked my bphr monitor against the doctors office and it seemed very accurate. I've also noticed that when I feel particularly bad I have a hard time getting the bp/hr cuff to read at all- it gives me several pulse errors before giving me a reading. Both these things were happening so much I got a finger type hr monitor so that I could see what was happening to my pulse with something that gave a continuous reading. My hr seemed to jump all around- very low into the 30's then way up into the 100's. I called my cardio to ask about it and they put me on a 30 day event monitor. Still waiting for the results.

[Batik]

I use a blood pressure monitor, and noticed a while ago that sometimes, when it was beeping in time with my heart just before giving a reading, the beeps were irregular. I was concerned that this meant that my heartbeat was irregular. Then I tried taking my BP a few times with my finger on the pulse in my neck, and realised that the irregular beeps weren't actually reflecting my true pulse, which was pretty steady as far as I can tell (and I used to be a percussionist, I have a good sense of rhythm). I also had one day when it gave me a HR reading of 71 immediately followed by 135 even though I was lying in bed, hadn't moved, and felt fine. The next reading was 70-something, and they were all taken very close together, so I reckon that one was an error too. Any chance it could be something like that? I hear that BP monitors really aren't the most accurate way to assess heart rate.

[Angela]

Batik, not sure how else to measure what's going on, I usually just test it to keep record of what's going on with my body and when everything reads normal even though I am having an adrenal rush to know I am not "dying" helps. My 2 week heart holter earlier this year came back showing no irregularities except for high heart rate during the day. I never saw the irregular heartbeat signal until recently, so no clue! The only difference in my life since during the heart holter is now I am off keppra (for several months) and on vitamins. I guess I was just curious how "normal" an irregular hb could be with dysautonomia and pots.

[AllAboutPeace]

Angela,

Yes, I have also had the message "irregular beats" showing up at times on my BP monitor. I've gone to take my bp when I'm symptomatic (i.e. feeling irregular beats/ chest fluttering) and it will then show up - so in my experience it has been accurate. (plus I have never had it show up unexpectedly). My docs also mentioned that if you happen to catch your heartrate accelerate quickly that can sometimes show up as an irregular beat (although it is really just jumping quickly and it can be hard for the monitor to keep up and register it as a regular rhythm). I think it's worth making a note of and discussing with your doc if you are feeling symptoms at the time - but I consider this a part of POTS for me.

[Batik]

Has anyone else tried putting a finger on their pulse at the same time to see whether that's as irregular as the beeping? Presumably there actually are people experiencing irregular heart rate as well, I'm just saying that in my case it seemed to be a weird part of the BP monitor as opposed to an actual irregular heartbeat.

[Batik]

Angela - I think that fingertip heart rate monitors are meant to be better for heart rate. I always suspect that the act of inflating the BP cuff alone will be affecting my HR in some way.

[SpinnyC]

Like All About Peace said I was also told the bp monitors can have a hard time catching an accelerating heart rate. That's why I got a finger tip monitor- to hopefully see exactly what was happening. I have also seen low heart rates while standing (lower than laying down readings) on my bp/hr monitor. I assumed were a fluke until I started using the finger tip monitor and could watch my HR jump all around. I'm symptomatic when this is happening (flutters in chest, dizzy, ect) and know that something is up... but it remains to be seen whether or not the finger tip monitor is accurate or if it's just another Pots symptom and the monitor can't handle it so it gives an inaccurate reading.

[Batik]

How do your fingertip monitor readings compare to your BP monitor readings? I've noticed that I'll get quite a wide range of readings after standing too. I reckon that's fairly usual, it's the irregular beeping that suggests that my heart beat is actually uneven (rather than simply fluctuating rapidly) which I suspect is dodgy. A heart rate which was speeding up and slowing down a lot would be one thing. Beeping that starts off rhythmical and then goes all over the place is another. It's hard to describe, is it making sense? Imagine a regular drum beat, and then the tempo changes, so that it gets faster and slower, but it's still a regular drum beat, being performed by a professional drummer. Now imagine letting a child whack a drum randomly. The first is what I think my heart is doing. The second is the way my blood pressure monitor beeps on occasion.

[yogini]

It is worth mentioning to your dr as we are all different. Many of us here have irregular heartbeats and have told they are normal (even healthy people have them). Also, I don't think cuff BP monitors are usually ECG accurate for HR. i have an Omron and i know it has been off sometimes - both with HR and BP. The Polar HR monitors are ECG accurate, but electrical signals can interfere with measurement. So there is a chance it is a measurement problem and not an actual issue with your HR.

[SpinnyC]

Batik Your drum analogy makes perfect sense! My bp monitor doesn't have an audible noise for reading the hr. My finger tip monitor does but I shut it off because I found the noise annoying... maybe I should turn it back on and check. The two monitors are fairly close when compared to each other. Mostly I find the BP/HR monitor is within 1-5 beats either way of the finger tip monitor. But the finger tip monitor keeps up with HR changes quickly, the bp/hr monitor will error if my HR is going up fast or jumping around too much. I have compared the finger tip monitor to a heart monitor in the hospital and was told mine matched beat for beat with the monitor I was hooked to. The other thing that was a red flag for me was that I didn't see my HR jump all over the place all the time- only while having certain symptoms. It's to the point now where I can tell if it's going to be a "jumpy" reading or not. Like I said I have no idea if this translates to anything other than just "normal" pots symptoms. I'm still waiting for the results of the report from my cardiologist.

Angela, I would say if you have any questions about what you are seeing on your monitor it's worth a call to your doctor. When I called mine I figured he was just going to say "yeah that's a pots thing" but after I described what I was seeing he wanted me on the 30 day monitor. I was kind of surprised... but figure it's better to know rather than wonder so I'm glad I called.