Fitbit charge 2 or similar device

[StayAtHomeMom]

Does anyone use a fitbit charge 2 or similar device to keep on eye on you heart rate fluctuations?  Does it help or make you more anxious when you can see you heart rate at a glance? I am considering getting one. I know it isn't prefectly reliable but could give a ballpark.

[katcanny]

Hello!?

I use a Fitbit HR 2 and I find that it calms me down when I am having palpitations and feel like my heart is going crazy usually my heart rate isn't as bad as what I think but I could see how it could give some people anxiety but for myself personally it has helped and it feels like I have some little bit of control when I look at it! It is interesting to see my heart rate peak throughout the day when I am upright and it explains a lot to me when I have worked 5 hours and been in the fat burn zone with a heart rate up to 100 nearly constantly why I am so tired at the end of the day. I am only on fludrocortisone at the moment so I struggle on a daily basis. 

[katcanny]

Oh and I log my water intake on the app too which is so helpful when drinking nearly 4 litres a day! I tend to forget what bottle I'm up to!! 

[statesof]

I had a fitbit while back, unfortunately it didn't get enough use so I gave it away, but I didn't particularly use it for the heart rate; I was trying to figure out how many steps I take a day so that I could see what a good average of steps per day would help me move forward physically - as well as help me find my limits. The iphone actually has a step counter in it so I just use that now but I do find the step counting aspect helpful to know my typical range for a good day. 

[Katybug]

It doesn't affect me either way as far as calming or making me anxious.  But, it is eye opening to see that FitBit thinks I am in the "fat burning zone" every waking minute of the day. I could only wish that were true (the fat burning part....the HR part is accurate.) 

[yogini]

I got my fitbit on clearance at Bed Bath and Beyond.  I found it to be more of a toy and a pain to use because you have to recharge it and sync with your phone.  I prefer the Polar HR monitor which I used every day for a few years when I first got POTS.  The Polar is scientifically accurate, the Fitbit isn't.

[Amyschi]

Do you have to use these devices paired with an app from another device, or do they work just upon your wrist for HR?  Have seen reports that they are not that accurate and have put off buying one; the problem with the pulse oximeters is that if your finger is freezing cold, they will not register.  A wrist monitor would be good in that regard.   

[Awkwardspondy]

I wear the Garmin Vivosmart HR whenever I leave the house and also at home. I only take it off to sleep or if I'm just laying around all day. I love this particular watch/activity tracker because it is completely waterproof.  I wear it in the shower and you can also swim with it! 

I like that it has an activity mode to continuously track my heart rate during "vigorous" activities like getting ready or leaving for work... haha! 

[yogini]

Yes, fitibit is with an app. 

It might make sense to do some research - I haven't looked into this lately.  I bought my HR watch 10+ years ago and back then the scientifically accurate HR monitors all had a chest strap, and Polar was the brand everyone was buying.  Maybe the technology is better now, but still think most ECG accurate HR monitors have a chest strap.   I know there have been lawsuits against the fitibit for mistakes.

Edited February 15, 2017 by yogini

[TaraMc9]

I got a Fitbit Charge 2 for Christmas. I love it!! ? So far, it's been very accurate with my heart rate when compared to my bp monitor. It usually stays fully charged for about 5 days & when the battery is low, I just plug it into my computer overnight, & it's ready to go the next morning. Also, it syncs using Bluetooth & only takes about 30 seconds, at most. And personally, I've found it reduces my anxiety. There have been times that I thought my heart was racing & while my hr was elevated, it wasn't as high as I thought. It also helps me to gage my limits better. If I get light-headed, I might try to push through it, but if I see my hr going up & up, I know I better sit down before I fall down! Lol Although like Katybug said, it always thinks I'm in fat-burning mode! ?

[Bigskyfam]

I got a Fitbit to measure steps and activity... I do like the hr feature accurate when laying/sleeping. I have a bp cuff and a pulse ox for flares as it is more accurate.

[StayAtHomeMom]

Thanks everyone for replying. I kinda wish the charge 2 was waterproof, but other than that I think I like it over anything else I looked at.

Akwardspondy: when I looked at that Garmin it didn't do as much as the charge 2 such as sleep tracking. Did I miss any features about it?

Amyschi: they work independently for hr, but it has to sync to a phone or pc in order to track long term. I have seen you can get a dongle and just hook it to you pc if it doesn't support your phone. Like my blackberry curve.

[Awkwardspondy]

The Garmin Vivosmart HR watch does track sleep! I just don't use it personally... I don't need an app to tell me how crappy I sleep. Plus, I can't stand having anything on my wrists/hands/feet at night.

When you set up your watch in the Garmin Connect app, it will ask you for your average sleep times... so it uses that info to track your movement levels during that time frame. If I remember correctly, it tracks sleep as either deep sleep or light sleep. And if you are moving a lot it will track it as being awake.

[StayAtHomeMom]

Akwardspondy: i spent some time researching the garmin. I think it is worth the little bit more money to have it waterproof. Plus i seen you can sync it to the pc with the included usb in stead of spending $25 for a dongle. Thanks for the tip on looking at garmin.

[Awkwardspondy]

No problem! I definitely recommend it. I did a lot of research on all the hr activity trackers and went with this one because it was waterproof and still relatively accurate with hr readings. 

[MarieR]

I also have a Fitbit Charge 2, for the most part I like it. But I have had trouble with it accurately tracking my heart rate, especially when I am riding the bike. It's very strange. But overall I have been happy with it. Like others have said it really shows when your heart rate has been high for 2-6 hours in a day why you feel so bad. So that has been really eye opening. Waterproof would be nice...

 

[bunny]

I have the Charge 2 and have found it helpful, but with limitations.   First and foremost, it's designed to be an activity tracker / step counter.  This, it does very well.  Similarly, it's sleep tracking feature is very good.  I have a messed-up sleep schedule  (~7pm-12am, 3am-8am lately) and it has no trouble tracking that. Even when I sleep for 12 hours like I did on Saturday, or take a 3 hour siesta mid-afternoon, it figured it out. 

For heart rate, it's good, provided that you're looking for average heart rate.  The website only shows you pulse in 5-minute intervals.  It's NOT good for a rapidly-changing pulse, like I experience.  The watch itself does update faster than 5-minute intervals, BUT there's still a pretty significant averaging algorithm going on that causes it to miss some of my events, or show only 1-5 bpm increase when I'm measuring 20+ bpm increase.   I think the watch's sensors are probably seeing the difference, but the software is discarding the data as bad data since no normal heart would act like that.  Additionally, the logging feature doesn't let you export the pulse data.   On the positive side, it seems to be happy to read low heart rates -- it showed my resting pulse correctly at 36 bpm, which is impressive.  Most consumer-grade blood pressure cuffs won't show a pulse this low, nor will some of the professional ones. 

As I said, I do find it very helpful and wear it 24/7.  It allows me to see trends and keep track of dysautonomia events and match them up with what I was doing, eating, etc.  My SO has found it to be really useful.  I loaded the app on her phone so she's able to keep an eye on how I'm doing and do so discretely.  If I'm within ~30 feet of her phone, the app will automatically connect to the FitBit and stream live data to the phone.   If I'm out of range, it shows historical data up to the last sync, which I believe we have set for every 30 minutes.  So, if we're out at a restaurant and she wants to know how I'm doing, she just pulls up the app and there's the data, without having to carry a pulse-ox or BP cuff.  For that matter, I don't even know when she's checking up on me, which isn't a bad thing.  I'm still somewhat in denial of my condition, so my "I'm feeling alright" is sometimes challenged with, "that's not what the FitBit says."  

As an aside, when I had a slight sore throat / cold awhile back, it showed on the FitBit with an elevated resting pulse for the 2 days it was happening.  When we looked at the historical data, my pulse started to rise before I even felt the symptoms.  Kinda neat. 

[Pots1990]

Hi am new .i have had fitbit charge now i have fitbit charge now it helps carm my worrys helps me no when to sit or quickly drink water i have pots

[Bec1978]

I have one and I find it useful. I use the app on my phone to log my water intake and I find the HR pretty accurate. It mostly helps me when I'm feeling really symptomatic - I can check it and see what my HR is doing. I also use it to log my exercise and count my steps. I was iffy on how much I'd use it because I don't generally like wearing a watch, but I haven't taken it off except to charge it or shower since I bought it.

[StayAtHomeMom]

I ended up buying the garmin vivosmart hr. I got it for $100 at best buy. Best money i have ever spent. I find it to especially helpful in the shower. I have used it in the shower and even swam with it last week. The waterproof ability is awesome. That being said i am not sure of the accuracy of it when i am wet. I think it may be a little off, but i have not tested it to be sure. For anyone debating between the 2, i recommend the garmin. It is calming to be able to look down and see if i am doing too much with just a glance.

[BuffRockChick]

@bunny, your fitbit HR data isn't discarded.  You can get moment by moment HR data!  Go to the website, an log an activity.  Then look at the details of the activity and you get a HR graph of every second during the activity.  I use this feature the most.  I attached a screen shot of the HR graph.  I thought this one was cool because I had a particularly bad tremor while I was standing up and it affected my HR.

 

[yogini]

As an update, I noticed this article in my local paper about the accuracy of the Fitbit, based on a recent study by the Cleveland clinic:

http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/fitbit-piece-junk-article-1.3048298?utm_content=buffer27789&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer 

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/03/170308145327.html

[Weyland]

I have a fitbit 2 ,and found the hr monitor way off the mark. It couldn't keep up with my pots . I use my finger pulse ox seems to be pretty accurate. If you really want accurate buy one of the Bluetooth chest straps.