Heart rate spike during sleep

[KittyB52]

I have noticed an occasional strange spike in my heart rate late at night when I am asleep. It's happened a few times now, most recently on Saturday evening.

It shows on the app as happening around 23:59, and my heart rate jumps up from around 60 to 150, although in one instance it was 170.

I am assuming it's a bug/glitch, as it happens at the same time of night each time but I'd like to know what is causing this issue.

[RPLT]

Thanks for providing the screenshots. I observe pretty much the same phenomenon. It is extremely annoying and while can be ignored, I cannot trust the heart rate data in general if the algorithm is re-calibrating the HR at the end of the day based on the activity level throughout the day.

[BMcO]

I’ve just noticed this! It happens about once a month and our graphs are identical!! Did you ever get to the bottom of it? 

[Toastest]

I have this too. However I notice that the spikes only appear on the zone graphs in IOS. Using the web based dashboard they do not appear. Very odd.

[RPLT]

No, currently living with the bug. 😞

I first noticed it on my zone graphs on iOS as well which made me check my heart rate graph and it was there, too. How do you access heart rate information on the web-based dashboard? I don't have an option to see more data for my heart rate and all I see is a resting heart rate tile on my dashboard.

[Turquoisetaurus]

I've experienced 2-3 HR spikes in my sleep over the last few months. The most concerning was when my HR hit 203 one night. Fitbit showed it was elevated at 140 or higher for over an hour, peaking at over 200. Of course, I didn't notice this until weeks later when I was looking back at my sleep data-- so my memory from that date/night are limited. I know I had a doctor's appt the next morning -- so I wondered if stress/anxiety could somehow cause my HR to get that high during sleep. I vaguely remember waking up at one point uncomfortable and pulling off my watch (which never happens) ... so I only have about 3 hrs of data for the night and it's pretty scary looking. I'm 32 female, 130 lbs, Normal blood pressure, with a resting HR 70-75. I saw a DR and he had me wear a monitor for 2 weeks. I didn't learn anything from that, but I also never had spikes on my fitbit during that time. Not sure if my HR really got to 200+ that evening, or if something else was going on....

[Jjelmer]

If your HR was 200+ I am sure you’d know it more than just uncomfortable. 


Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone

[Lsaurus]

I've just got a Fitbit and getting this same issue, where a spike is displayed just after midnight/1am on the iOS app, but only appears later in the day. I am really surprised to see that this issue has been around for so long. There doesn't seem to be a way to log a potential bug with them.

Based on the fact the data shows correctly in the web browser version, I am sure this is a case of measurements being cloned into another incorrect location on the graph. 

On the dashboard you choose the biggest graph (for me it shows steps) and click the shoe icon to select other metrics - in case you still had that question!

[PJUK]

Mine looks just like this. During the day the spike is due to a busy lunch service. But I don’t wear my tracker at night. So what’s going on? 

[RPLT]

Whatever is going on is likely software related. I'm technically on my third Charge 4 (bought one in 2021, replaced it under warranty for the HR spike-in problem to see if that'd fix the problem, and recently bought a good used condition since the clasp on my Charge 4 broke) and I've noticed the HR spike in the app data for all 3 trackers. Between the tracker itself not showing the spike (but the app does once data is synced) and seeing similar issues with 3 different Charge 4's, I'm assuming it's a software issue. I thought about purchasing a Charge 5 but the consensus on the newest model seems mixed. I'm looking at other fitness tracker options at this point.

[Alarms712]

I just noticed the same thing happening to me but only on the days I work out. It’s like 2am every night a spike of 160 to 170 for a minute or two. But only during workout days. So weird. I hope they do a bug fix for this because that is quite annoying to see on my stats! 

[FrancaFanfo]

Same has happened to me! I got one solo single spike from 50-something Bpm at 6am jumping right up to 126bpm and seeming to quickly sink down back to 60bpm ish again. It’s baffling

 

[DisheartenedPup]

Is there still no resolution to this after 7 years??? Come on, Fitbit, that’s a little ridiculous. 

I got my Luxe just 9 days ago to try and figure out what’s happening at night that keeps me awake no matter what. I noticed a heart rate spike at 1 am every day, and thought it might be indicative of something. But when I started to research the phenomenon, I found this question and all the responses. 

Before I’m asked, yes I’ve restarted my Fitbit recently and this still occurs. It happens every night while I’m laying in bed awake, but I don’t feel my heart racing. Last night it spiked higher than it’s ever even been during exercise. 

How am I supposed to monitor what’s keeping me awake at night if I don’t know whether or not it’s a software issue???

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But if it repeats every night at the exact same time??? That seems even more like a glitch, don’t you think? 

Sleep apnea while awake? I’m awake at 1 am when this happens every night. Laying in bed, but awake. .

Could be the cause, but you can’t say that is the case without a doctor’s examination. It’s not the cause for me since I’m still awake, although laying in bed, when my spikes at 1 am every night. .

[RPLT]

I think it’s a software glitch. And yup, no resolution yet. If you’re worried, maybe try some other tracker to track your heart rate for a few days and see if it corresponds to the Fitbit pattern or not. My guess is it won’t and this is a glitch with Fitbit but a simple experiment could give you peace of mind.

[RPLT]

Also, if you’re awake at 1 AM or whoever you’re noticing the glitch, take note of what the trackers shows to be your HR. If you’re just lying in bed, it’s probably close to your RHR and not the spike you see on the app. My tracker showed HR close to my RHR but when the data synced to the app, the HR during this time showed a spike. So pretty easy for me to determine that this is a glitch and not something real.

[DisheartenedPup]

That is a great idea. Last night was the first time I realized it, but when I looked back over the previous 8 nights, there it was every time. Last night I noticed it just 5 minutes after, and it was already in the app. But I couldn’t understand if my heart rate got that high why my device didn’t buzz as I entered my zones. Yet it gave me 11 zone minutes in the app. Just all very odd. 

[SteveStam]

I decided to do something similar. I took a handful of screenshots throughout the day from the time I woke up to later in the evening.

As time went by, my Max overnight BPM increased by 44 BPM. Always between 1:00am to 2:00am.

 

I think the spikes people are seeing may also be somewhat tied to their max BPM for the day. After a particularly active Monday with many 85 zone minutes (16 Cardio), the iOS app shows that I had a 1:20am spike of 140 BPM.

[trp74]

I just noticed mine went up to around 200 bpm at a little past 4 am. I am definitely concerned and will be discussing with my cardiologist in a few weeks when I see her.. Since  yours is at the exact same time every night, it almost seems like a glitch as spikes would be so consistent like that. I did read that it could be from dreams or nightmares as well apparently but 200 seems way to high for me. Even when I work out its never more than the 150s. We'll see what my cardiologist says

[PJUK]

I'm almost embarrasssed to write this. It was showing huge spikes every single night around midnight. THen I realised I don't even WEAR my fitbit at night! It's a thing with the clock in it. It resets itself or something for the new day at midnight.  I think having googled it someone said that and that's when I realised I don't wear it to sleep. Ha.

[kellydgators00]

The exact same numbers happened to me with heart rate and time. Has to be Fitbit.