Heart Rate Reading Spikes

[new2la]

Every few days, my Charge 3 will show a massive spike in heart rate, tripling my resting heart rate(!) while I'm sitting down with no activity. 

The band does not respond to touch or button prompts during these periods.

Any guidance on how to prevent this?

[MarreFitbit · Accepted solution]

Welcome on board @new2la, it's nice to see you around the forums! My best recommendation is to check with your physician if you notice any strange behavior with your heart rate. However, in case your tracker is jammed for some reason I suggest giving the restart a try and then test your tracker when exercising or while sitting down with no activity. 

Our heart-rate tracking technology, known as PurePulse, is specially designed to give you a more complete picture of your health and fitness. As with all heart-rate tracking technology, whether a chest strap or a wrist-based sensor, accuracy is affected by personal physiology, location of wear, and type of movement. 

For tips on wrist placement and how to wear your Fitbit device for best heart-rate tracking results, please see our help article: What impacts the accuracy of my heart-rate readings?

You can also try moving your device to your other wrist.

Heart rate tracking may not work with certain accessory bands, especially if they’re loose fitting. For best results, we recommend wearing a Fitbit-branded classic or sport band during exercise. For more information, see: What should I know about my heart rate data?

Looking forward to your response! 

[CLP87]

I have had this happen also.   And, it has been spikes of like 190 before.  I switched back to my Charge 2 for a while, and haven't seen that happen since.   No way just sitting my HR would be that high.  Never saw that before the Charge 3

[new2la]

Hi, there - that problem has subsided, thank you!

Now I have a separate issue where the device shuts off randomly, which I've seen on the forum as an issue others are dealing with, too. Any insights?

[ahefner33]

Yea...Im going back to my charge 2. It messes up goal stats if you like hitting the goals accurately!

[Yoke]

I have had the exact same with my 2nd Charge 3. The only difference is I get really odd spikes during my exercising. There is  no rhyme or reason to the spikes. I have contacted my cardiologist and my EKG's are normal.   I am waiting for my echocardiogram, but honestly I physically don't feel my heart rate spike and have wondered if it is a software problem. 

[Dathill]

I've seen this every now and again. Today I had a spike 198 for no apparent reason. I'm using the Charge 3.

[Sp8714]

I had the same with charge 5

[Karenpvfc]

I get this occasionally. It went up to 158 last night while I was asleep apparently. Surely I would have noticed had that been genuine?! 
I have had no arrhythmia notifications.