Anyone with POTS use the HR trackers?

[AllieAnn]

I have the inspire HR. I am curious if any others are out there with POTS using a HR Fitbit. Mine shows I’m in fat burning zone for hours at a time but it’s just my tachycardia. Anyone else have a similar experience? 

[LZeeW]

Hello @AllieAnn and a warm welcome.  I did a little search and there used to be an open activity group -- the ones on the web - for those who have POTS.  Fitbit recently discontinued those groups, so I can't tell you how many members there were.

I don't think there is an equivalent group on the app based open activity groups.

I must add that Fitbit trackers are not medical devices and should not be used for diagnosis or management.

[AllieAnn]

Thank you for letting me know that a group existed. It’s too bad it no longer does. 

I don’t use my Fitbit for management and I’ve already been diagnosed. I’m actually just curious to compare my HR tracker to others with POTs. Because of my abnormally high heart rate, the tracker puts me in the “fat burn” zone for hours each day, like 8-14 hours a day. I’m really curious if anyone else has the same experience and if they figured out how to configure the Fitbit to address our unique heart rates correctly.. because I’m sure not burning fat 8-14 hours a day or I’d have lost a lot weight by now lol 🙂 

[ohyayy_kmac]

Hey!! Omg someone else who has POTS!! I’ve used fitbit since they basically started.. ive had the zip, charge, charge hr, and most recently the blaze. All of my hr tracking devices all put me in fat burning heart rate zones majority of the days lol....also, when i would be having bad days where id have the extremely elevated hr’s and arrhythmia being active and i noticed it wasnt able to actually keep up with my quick heart rate changes.... after all the problems i had with my blaze right after it was out of warranty and it was the first time i can say i was pretty disappointed with fitbits customer service (my charge and charge hr i got replacements sent to me numerous times even when they were out of the 1 yr warranty and they make such bad quality bands that seem to all inevitably fall apart that I finally decided i was switching) my cardio rehab specialist mentioned the chest strap heart monitors were most accurate for working out (and cheaper option the one ive got was like $30-$45) but he said the best wrist heart monitor are the apple iwatches (although quite quite expensive!!) i just recently purchased the new iwatch 4 after i had enough of the problems i was having w my fitbit blaze and omg the in-depth abilities it has for reading heart rates especially ones like ours, oh my goodness its night and day difference than any of the fitbit heart trackers i ever owned.

I still use the app tho for water, female health, and calorie tracking bc of how easy it is and then have an app that merges it into the ihealth app that the iwatch transfers info into.

[Angel291]

I just started the POTS exercise protocol (Vanderbilt) and decided to go with the Alta HR. (My instructions indicated that I needed to buy a chest strap monitor system, but the Alta HR was significantly less expensive.) I turn on the app when I'm exercising and use it to guide my exertion level, and it seems fairly accurate.

I've noticed my Fitbit doesn't always catch sudden changes in HR. I don't rely on it for moment-to-moment accuracy, but I can usually tell what my HR is just by counting the palpitations.:) 

It would be nice if we had a POTS-specific plugin for the Fitbit app, one that could tell the difference between tachycardia and exercise, could alert us to tachycardia ("Need more salt?"), and could accommodate our fitness needs and goals. Since HR behaves similarly whether we have neuropathic POTS, hyperadrenergic POTS, or another variant, we might be able to get away with one plugin for most types.

I'm pretty new to the community, but we don't already have a plugin like this available, do we?

[Stephaniepots]

Mine always looked like that 140+ most of day even not exercising until I was put on a higher dose beta blocker (I was already on a low dose for migraine prevention). Long term data on Fitbit helped to become aware of tachycardia and POTS after a hospital syncope incident. Of  course they had to monitor 5 days with medical tracker also with other tests. Weird thing, now I've lost weight since. I have a theory that being in "work out zone " made my body hold onto weight for survival purposes when it thought I was exerting /working out so much. Not sure though... been trying to research that...

[Hannxm]

I have POTS too, but the issue is, I take angina medication to slow my heart, so I feel my readings aren't truly representative of me before my meds. I still reach 100+bpm just walking around the house and I will go into fat burn. Not sure if everyone experiences that though.

My RHR used to be between 85-100 before meds, but now it's usually around 70bpm. I'm sometimes tempted to skip a tablet just to see what my heart would be like normally, 😅 but of course I don't want to toy with my medication and I hate the palpitations! 

But yeah, I often wonder how my readings differ to others. I also wonder if my meds will hinder my heart going high enough into the cardio zone if I do ever properly work out. My heart has gone up to about 195bpm when exercising quite vigorously before meds, but the app is saying my peak now is 167bpm which is better I think and more attainable. 

It would be nice to have some friends who also have POTs so I don't feel so bad not doing as much as others on the app! 

[Unicornpff]

POTS folks unite! I too have POTs; my RHR is usually between 80-88 but it'll go 130 just walking around the house - y'all know how that goes. I'm curious though if any of you have checked out the new HRV (heart-rate variability) feature and what your readings are? I have the Versa 2. I've read that HRV is very tough to accurately read with POTs people and mine says on average 18-20ms per night which is way way low for my age of 39.

[ari-ophelia20]

I'm currently in the POTS dx process. I stepped outside of my house to walk my dog in 89 F weather and my HR jumped to 153 and I didnt make it around the block. My fitbit says my RHR is 79 though hights RHR was 88

[Sassymoon]

Yes! Me! I’m trying to figure out if I am actually burning as many calories as the app says I am, because I’m always in the fat burning zone if I’m just sitting up. Anyone have a verdict on this? Should we all look each other up and be app friends?

[JewelsMc]

I have long Covid & someone in our group suggested this morning to do the POTS test using my Fitbit. This is when I realized that it has been logging me in Fat burning mode for 10+ hrs every day. Lol. Crazy stuff. I have a referral to a cardiologist due to chest pains, shortness of breath & dizziness so thinking that doing my own tracking will only help. They want to set me up with a heart Holter, do a stress test & then try to figure out what's going on. Glad to see there are others on here! 

[hamilton24601]

About the "It would be nice if we had a POTS-specific plugin for the Fitbit app, one that could tell the difference between tachycardia and exercise, could alert us to tachycardia"

Fitbit lets you set your max heart rate, and you can use that to get heart rate notifications! I just play around with the max heart rate number until it shows that the cardio zone is the heart rate I want to be notified about! I have mine set at 156 max and my cardio says it starts at 118, so if I'm that zone too long my Fitbit tells me, and know I need to correct with salt, fluids, lying down, etc. 

I know it's not exactly what you're asking for (it might mess with exercise tracking accuracy, I'm not sure) but I know a few people I've told found it useful.