Gaps in heart rate at night

[Sianyy]

I've been having a recurring issue with my charge hr since I got it a month ago.
Not every night but around 3 nights a week it shows a gap in my heart rate for 20mins and then a spike to about 120bpm straight after before everything returns to normal.
Does anyone know why this might be happening? Is it likely to be an error with the fitbit reading or more indicative of a heart issue?
I do have tachycardia and ectopic beats but my last 24 hr ecg showed no issues
Thanks

[SandraForeman23]

It sounds like you have Sleep apnea. Mine has it too and I found that it's called Central sleep apnea where your brain doesn't tell your body to breath. Do you have irregular breathing (big breath, little breath. Have to think to breath sometimes. Daytime head aches and chronic fatigue, wake up sweaty sometimes? 

[cece23]

@SandraForeman23 @Silverbeat Sandra, it's possible you are right about the previous poster, although many things can cause sleep disturbances. But my guess is that they changed their settings to sensitive which means that it will pick up every movement giving a more accurate overview of the quality of sleep. I myself have sleep apnea so instead of it saying I was asleep with my average of six hours, it usually gives the average as around four hours because that is what I have in restful sleep. If I take it off the sensitive setting it will go back to recording six hours.

[geeFess]

I get gaps in sleep followed by a high heart rate (spike) which then descends.

I've noticed that after charging my Fitbit Alta HR, when I place it on my wrist and tap to see the reading, initially it is blank, but when it comes on (I keep tapping to see) it is high and falls rapidly to an accurate level.

So it would seem that my Fitbit is loosing contact with my wrist during sleep and showing these (inaccurate) gaps and spikes.

To be honest though, it's pretty inaccurate generally for sleep.  For example, I often get up before my alarm goes off and yet my Fitbit still thinks I'm in bed, because the alarm has yet to go off. Despite the incontournable fact that I'm down stairs making tea, or eating toast, it thinks I'm in Light Sleep or REM ... which could always be true I suppose, but that probably counts for any period during the day if you want to interpret my general, normal state it in this way.

[SandraForeman23]

If your heart is spiking after it stops, than that would be a concern and
shows that it's not the device. If it was the device it wouldn't show a
spike. Have you looked up Central Sleep Apnea? Its where your brain doesn't
tell you body to breath. Do you have noticed you have irregular breathing
when your settling down for sleep? Ever compared yours with the person
you're sleeping beside? Ever wake up soaked in sweat? Day time sleepiness
and chronic fatigue? headaches?
By it spiking, your heart then stops and then restarts and starts pumping
faster to push the oxygen/blood around the body so that the cells don't
die. If it was just the device, the heart rate shouldn't spike, it would
stay the same. Plus does it only happen during deep sleep? If it happens
throughout the day, then yeah, it's the device.
If you have symptoms of sleep apena, it wouldn't hurt to bring it to your
Doctor and go to a sleep clinic. Its not something your fitbit can
diagnose, but it can give you an idea that something is wrong.

[geeFess]

Sorry Sandra, I think you've misunderstood.  If you read back through the thread, you'll see that people are getting readings where their heart has 'stopped' for 5 or 10 minutes.  If that really happened we'd call that death.

My Fitbit shows 'gaps' in my heartbeat, during sleep, of several minutes.  The problem is clearly the Fitbit and not my heart ... which tends not to stop.

[cece23]

Also, Sandra, you should get your facts right before trying to educate others. Sleep apnea is not caused by the brain forgetting to breath; in fact the brain is what ensures that you DON'T die in your sleep! Also, sleep apnea doesn't cause your heart to stop beating, well not directly, though it does put a stress on your heart putting the sufferer at a greater risk of a heart attack.

But its also not handy to tell people that it's unlikely to be the fitbit at fault with the heatrate spiking and that they should get it checked out by a doctor. This is quite simply misinformation.

[SandraForeman23]

I've been diagnosed with central sleep apnea because of what it showed in
my fitbit. Doesn't mean my heart actually stopped, but it did help me to
identify a problem... So get your facts straight before bashing me and
trying to educate me when I've already done the research and have been
diagnosed. So thanks.

[cece23]

I have been diagnosed too so I'm not quite sure what your point is? What you are telling people about sleep apnea is wrong as I said. Stand your ground if you please, but the facts remain the facts as a google search will clarify.

Also I really don't see how your fitbit help alert you about your apnea. I no longer have the heart rate dropping thing on my fitbit, but I sure as hell still have the apnea. The only indication my fitbit gives me that anything might be wrong is that it shows I only have around four hours of restful sleep each night. As the person above me mentioned, people's hearts are not actually stopping for 10 / 20 minutes! And this wouldn't be the case with sleep apnea anyway, not even for the few seconds you stop breathing.

[SandraForeman23]

People ask about a problem. People give a possible reason and they get
treated like **ahem**? Do you guys have nothing better to do than put others
down? If it's wrong, thanks for the input and move on with your lives. And
the heart rate and sleep tracker measure different are things so stop
connecting them. Central means brain. Obstructive sleep apnea is different
and more common. I'm a 4 year medical student and understand what I read on
Google unlike a lot of people. So MOVE ON. Get tested for sleep apnea or
don't. Its up to you.

[geeFess]

Sandra,

as a 4 year medical student, you will probably understand that your heart isn't going to stop for 10 minutes as a result of apnea, well, if it does, then you're dead.  As a matter of fact, I have other sleep issues, which is why I'm interested in the Fitbit as a sleep monitor and why I'm pointing out its shortcomings in this regard, to help others understand how effective (or not) it can be.  I have been through 2 full sleep studies, with 21 sensors of various sorts placed about by head and body and filmed via infra-red.  I don't have sleep apnea.  As I said before, simply the fact that when I am up and about and it is telling me I'm in light sleep or rem, tells me it's not accurate.

[cece23]

@geeFess It is interesting what you say about it not registering that you are up and about. My husband also has a fitbit and he reports the same issue. He doesn't have the hr version as I do and he wears his fitbit on his dominant wrist. Mine registers when I get up in the night to go to the bathroom and even when I am awake and just swiping my ipad. I will say that I have my settings to sensitive though and have done for many months to more accurately record my sleep disturbances. I have found it pretty reliable most of the time.

[SandraForeman23]

I searched up "heart stopping in the night on Fitbit" which led me here. I
was looking it up for ME, to see if anyone else had similar results with
their fitbit because I wasn't sure if it was just my device. I even bought
a brand new one April 23rd and it was still happening. I discovered the
possibility of ME having Central Sleep Apnea 2 days after seeing my Doctor,
and was waiting to get my appointment at the sleep clinic. I know that it can be the device, I KNOW. I know 10 minutes without a heartbeat is
considered dead, I know. Btw, how do you know it's 10 mins just from the
graph? You can hardly identify the hour by it only identfying AM, Noon, and
PM.....when I take it off for a shower, I get -- in the graph. But when I
leave it off to charge for an hour or 2 I get ---.. So no idea where you
guys are getting the 5-10 minutes... impossible, seeing as it's hard enough
to identify 12 hours from AM to Noon..... Closed-minded people are the ones who don't learn much in life.

So why do YOU think that it shows your heart stopping ONLY during SLEEP?
You're the one who has connected it to sleep by saying it only happens at
night and I already read people reseting the the tracker which I did for
mine as well.

Maybe your heart rate goes too low when you stop breathing in oxygen so the device doesn't pick it up? You say you don't get enough sleep, well
insomnia( difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep) is also a sign of
sleep apnea. I don't know anything about you other than what you posted and truthfully I don't care to know anymore. I even said that a Fitbit CAN'T
diagnose you, and that you should go to the Doctor and get tested just
incase. Not satisfied with my input? Well enough now. Move on.

[geeFess]

---

SandraForeman23 wrote:
I searched up "heart stopping in the night on Fitbit" which led me here. I
was looking it up for ME, to see if anyone else had similar results with
their fitbit because I wasn't sure if it was just my device. I even bought
a brand new one April 23rd and it was still happening. I discovered the
possibility of ME having Central Sleep Apnea 2 days after seeing my Doctor,
and was waiting to get my appointment at the sleep clinic. I know that it
can be the device, I KNOW. I know 10 minutes without a heartbeat is
considered dead, I know. Btw, how do you know it's 10 mins just from the
graph? You can hardly identify the hour by it only identfying AM, Noon, and
PM.....when I take it off for a shower, I get -- in the graph. But when I
leave it off to charge for an hour or 2 I get ---.. So no idea where you
guys are getting the 5-10 minutes... impossible, seeing as it's hard enough
to identify 12 hours from AM to Noon..... Closed-minded people are the ones
who don't learn much in life.

So why do YOU think that it shows your heart stopping ONLY during SLEEP?
You're the one who has connected it to sleep by saying it only happens at
night and I already read people reseting the the tracker which I did for
mine as well.

Maybe your heart rate goes too low when you stop breathing in oxygen so the
device doesn't pick it up? You say you don't get enough sleep, well
insomnia( difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep) is also a sign of
sleep apnea. I don't know anything about you other than what you posted and
truthfully I don't care to know anymore. I even said that a Fitbit CAN'T
diagnose you, and that you should go to the Doctor and get tested just
incase. Not satisfied with my input? Well enough now. Move on.

---

Not quite sure how the forum works here.  I received the above message by email, yet it doesn't appear here?  Anyway ...

Sandra, you seem to feel you're being attacked ... I promise I'm not trying to attack you.  Only trying to provide some experience which may be of use to others.

Regarding the gaps in heartbeat recording:  I expect it's the same on other platforms, but on my iPhone, if you select heart rate, then a day, then go full-screen, then turn to landscape mode and place (and retain) your finger on the graph, you will find that as you move your finger left/right along the graph, the time is shown in 5 minute increments.

Just looking at mine for last night, there are 3 gaps in my graph.  2 of 30 minutes and 1 of 25 minutes.

I think it's pretty obvious that for some reason, the Fitbit stops recording.  I would say that's likely to be because it has lost contact, or rather, the correct contact with my wrist (I wear it pushed up as far as I can specifically because wearing it lower was problematic) or, for some other reason, it is switching off/stopping recording.  Either way ... it's not recording, because there is no way that I can go through the night with my heart stopped for an hour and a half and still be alive in the morning to wonder why. 🙂

Regarding sleep apnea.  It is the most frequent cause of sleep problems and is to a large degree (as far as I understand) related to weight problems, down to the simple physical blocking of the airways when fully relaxed asleep and horizontal.  There are however other causes of sleep problems and I unfortunately fall into this area.  It is an aspect of neuroscience that is being very actively studied because there have been massive changes in human sleep patterns in the last 50 years.  For example, in the UK, people are in general, sleeping 2 hours less per night, than they did in the 1960s.  Lifestyle and light are likely causes, but it's not necessarily as clear cut as that either.  My neurological study showed quite clearly how little sleep I get and that I fail to reach deep sleep (Fitbit doesn't agree).  I wake frequently, but it is not due to breathing problems.  Meditation has helped a bit, but not that much.  Somewhat fascinatingly, recent studies at Colorado University have shown that gut bacteria can have a major effect on sleep.  It seems that those that eat pulses are likely to have a good balance and that the effect of taking prebiotics for even a few days, can have a major impact on probiotic balance and sleep.  I watched a BBC program about this a couple of weeks ago, if you have access to the BBC's iPlayer, it is still available, but I found this review, which gives a good explanation of the part regarding prebiotics and probiotics.

[Sleepyjeff]

If you don't know what you're talking about, keep quiet 

[sueb1997]

Sandra said "Maybe your heart rate goes too low when you stop breathing in oxygen so the device doesn't pick it up? " I have bradycardia (low heartrate).  My heartrate hovers around 50bpm during the night, and often goes into the upper or even mid-40s.  My Charge HR records that just fine.  I'm not an elite athlete but those who are often have resting heartrates in the 30s at night -- and I'm sure there would be many complaints if the heartrate sensors couldn't register that low. My fitbit shows an occasional gap during the night -- occasional as in once every few weeks or months, there will be a half hour or so gap in my HR graph.  No spike that I have seen.  I often sleep with my hands and wrists twisted into awkward positions so I assume it's because the Charge gets squished under me or pushed away from my wrist (even though it's pretty snug, I assume even a slight angle change could cause it to lose the HR). I'm having other HR tracking issues with my fitbit so I'll go find the right conversation for that, just saw this thread and wanted to add the comment that they don't seem to have any trouble recording low heartrates.

[meowmamma]

Hi GeeFess,

Are you still wearing it ??  Or found out anything new ??

[Highpeakinstitu]

Look for patterns, most of my gaps show up early in the morning after 6 am when I start to get up to get going, don’t understand why.

 I am also going to suggest there is no way this thing can be 100% accurate..impossible 

[joezen777]

I have this issue and it seems to coincide with either sleep apnea or low sugar or sleep paralysis. It doesn't think I'm sleeping. I find this helpful because it's like I don't really get rest during these periods.

However, I'd like to offer a couple of practical theories. Like another days, if I sweat too much then the HR stops tracking. Also, if I'm doing push ups it also has a harder time of tracking.

So for the first theory, when you get spikes of adrenaline after apnea or low sugar or whichever, you sweat more. This then leads to poor readings. When your skin dries out again, it resumes the former reliable setting. 

Second theory would be that you toss and turn for any reason and the wrist strap gets to a bad area for sleep detection. (Sometimes I hold my arms straight out in front of my like a zombie when I sleep.) 😉 .So these periods of movement could also cause problems. 

I like my first theory more since it's hard to think of me applying the same type of strain or flexing that push ups or bike riding can cause to make bad readings. And I originally found this thread because I was wondering why my heart rate dropped to 61 compared to normal resting if 68 to 72. 

I would like it if it was easier to see the data in finer details. Like how on runkeeper you can slide your finger along the graph to see all individual data points.

[Mamatanya5]

I have wondered same thing about my 15 year old who has a Still’s Murmur and lower than normal heart rate for a sedentary teenage female.  She is a lefty and almost every night has big gaps in heart rate and sometimes during day

[Mamatanya5]

I have noticed same thing but up to 170 after. 20 minute gap in day of my 15 year old sedentary daughter.  She has a Stills Murmur and lower than norm heart rate for age.  Currently wearing an event monitor