How to track Atrial Fibrillation

[mloubou]

I bought the Sense because I wanted to be able to track incidents of A Fib, or other heart rate irregularity.  How do I do this?  Do I need to set up ECG? How do I do this, please?

[Guy_]

Yes, install the ECG app and run it when you need to check.

To install it, click on Discover at the bottom in the phone app and look for assessments & reports

[CBV2]

Guy_ has given you the essentials, but for more, if you look across to the right from your post in the list of topics you will see a list of "Top Labels", the second of which is "ECG App".  If you click on that you will find a lot of discussion about this.  The second of third thread is labelled How do I install the ECG app on Sense?  You might find that useful

[mloubou]

I did not understand that the ECG was not available in Canada.  I interpreted "not yet approved by Health Canada" to mean that they did not endorse the results of the ECG, not that it was just not available.  I am disappointed because the reason that I bought the Sense was to help monitor my A Fib.  Does anyone know the status of the ECG app with Health Canada right now? (i.e. is it even being assessed?  Is approval imminent?)  When it is approved, will it be a free app, a one time purchase app, or a subscription app?  Or should I just return it and get an Apple Watch?

[mloubou]

If Health Canada approval of ECG is not available for FitBit Sense, does that mean it is not available on the Apple Watch as well?

[mloubou]

I have just read in this forum that Health Canada has recently approved the fitbit ECG.  Does the company have it ready to roll out?  Any word on a timeline?

[LZeeW]

@mloubou   I read your posts and have an idea or two for you to think about.  When you say help monitor your A Fib, does that mean you are always in A Fib?  If you are always in A Fib, then a Sense or an Apple Watch isn't going to give you any more information than you already know and you are going to spend a bunch of money.  My husband has something called Paroxysmal A Fib.  That means he goes in an out of A Fib.  His cardiologist likes the information that my husband can give him.  It can make a difference in his care.

If you are always in A Fib, you might want to check with your cardiologist and see if this technology will help you.  Why spend the money if it won't change anything?

A comment on part of your first post.  The ECG app will only tell you if you are in A Fib or a normal rhythm or it is inconclusive.  It cannot detect any other heart rhythm abnormality.  It also does not report your heart rate.

[mloubou]

Thanks for your response. I am not always in A Fib. There have been times
when I was solidly in it for a week or two, but then it settled down. Right
now it is intermittent. My blood pressure machine tells me if my heart is
irregular when I take my blood pressure, but I only do that twice a day.
Mostly I am pretty sure it is okay, but sometimes I feel kind of weird and
would like to get a better picture of what is happening to discuss with my
doctor.

[mloubou]

Thanks for your response.  I am not always in A Fib.  There have been times when I was solidly in it for a week or two, but then it settled down.  Right now it is intermittent.  My blood pressure machine tells me if my heart is irregular when I take my blood pressure, but I only do that twice a day.  Mostly I am pretty sure it is okay, but sometimes I feel kind of weird and would like to get a better picture of what is happening to discuss with my doctor.

[CBV2]

mloubou, like yourself I have had episodes of AFib, but am currently non AFib.  My Heart Rate is usually stable, with a little help from a beta blocker, but I have noticed that when I go into AFib my Heart Rate, as measured by my Sense, becomes much higher.  In fact that was what alerted me to AFib.  The Heart Rate measurement by the Sense is not something to rely on for an absolute measurement, as you will see from the hundreds of posts on the issue on the Forum, but it does give an indication, so that might be something that you might want to keep an eye on.  As an indicator. I live in Australia, and like Canadians we do not have the ECG app available because of the health bureaucrats in the Federal Government, so until it becomes available🙄 I am keeping an eye on the Heart Rate.

[mloubou]

Thank you for sharing your experience.  I am on beta blockers as well, and they keep my heart rate in the 55-65 rate most of the time, with it only rising occasionally.  As you have noted, these times often coincide with the A Fib - but then, when my heart rate goes up that I check for A Fib.  I am looking forward to having more information.  I have seen on the web site that the ECG has just recently been approved in Canada.  I am hoping that FitBit will roll out the app soon.