High heart rate with Sense during sleep

[MarieWAmb]

I have a high Heart rate every night. I have tried different models, But still. For example this night I had 83% over resting Heart rate. It is pretty normal for me to have from 50-90% over. Is this normal? 

Moderator edit: subject for clarity 

[SunsetRunner]

Hi @MarieWAmb ,

Given the persistence of those events, I would ask for your doctor's advice. Maybe it will be nothing to worry about, it could be just bad dreams. But, as they say, better safe than sorry 😊

There has been many complaints about wrong Sense heart rate readings, including fake heart rate spikes, but, as far as I know, those refer only to day time readings, usually during exercises or activities involving arm movements for several minutes, at least. Never heard of that happening during sleep. So if your Sense and previous Fitbit devices keep showing high heart rates during your sleep, I would take that seriously and go see the doctor.

[Tgisele]

My heart rate has been all over the place since switching to the Sense. I can be sitting still and it will shoot up to 90, and as I said on another thread, went down to 59 during intense exercise. I don't think the heart rate monitor words well at all with Sense. 

[SunsetRunner]

@Tgisele , reading your post seems like we have very different watches. It is not the first time I feel that when reading other users experiences with Sense.

It makes me wonder: are Sense different production batches that different from each other?

[Tgisele]

@SunsetRunner my son bought a Sense shortly after they came out and he has had no problems with his at all, so they must all be very different. 

[SunsetRunner]

@Tgisele , what you say makes a lot of sense, no pun intended, and puts everything into a different perspective.

I read a post somewhere where a user said he always bought a new device just after it was released, because they usually had better quality. You are confirming he is right and that explains a lot about what we read in this forum. That's sad and leads us to very bad conclusions about how Fitbit treats its customers.

[flyingsod]

Also, considering that the sensor uses light, it should be that differing skin tone, thicknesses, hair density and color, and a myriad of other factors would affect performance. Perhaps some people have skin that makes the sensor reliable and others have skin that makes it hard for the sensor to read. Seems like that would have to be the case.

[SunsetRunner]

@flyingsod, I agree with what you say, which is also mentioned somewhere in Fitbit Help pages, I think. But how does that help answering @MarieWAmb  question? Those skin factors are present 24/7, I don't see how they could explain what MarieWAmb describes.

[Tgisele]

@flyingsod I agree any of those factors could affect the HR, but I wore an Ionic for 3+ years and never had an issue. I have light skin and very little hair. 

[MarieWAmb]

Thank you for your answers @Tgisele @SunsetRunner @flyingsod . But my sleeping Heart rate has been high with Alta and versa too. I feel exhausted when I wake up. I think I will see my doctor as you say @SunsetRunner!! This night for example i had 89% over resting rate!?

[SunsetRunner]

@MarieWAmb , I'm no doctor, but the fact that you wake up feeling exhausted on top of what you said before seems consistent with the possibility of you having sleep apnea. I have that sometimes and the symptoms are similar. If this is the case, it should be treated by a doctor, as high blood pressure may be also present during sleep apnea events.

Anyway, sleep apnea or not, I strongly advise you see a doctor about this. He/she may prescribe you an appropriate medical device for you to use for one or several nights, in order to see what is really happening on your sleep.

[SunsetRunner]

@MarieWAmb , in case it is sleep apnea and your Sense SpO2 monitoring is working fine, your SpO2 values (measured by Sense while you sleep) could be lower than normal. If they are near 90% or less, this would reinforce the possibility of being sleep apnea and it should be treated, as it could have other health implications on the long term.