Sleeping Heart Rate Concerns

[SpacyJojo]

Hi everyone,

I was gifted a Fitbit Sense about 3 weeks ago and have been wearing it since. I have a heart rhythm problem but it was fixed by ablation 6 times, the 6th and final time seemed to have sorted it for good (the last ablation was a few years back). I still feel the occasional odd during the day but the sense watch doesn’t seem to be able to catch up with what’s going on, the ecg’s often come out as inconclusive despite me being still and steady. But I digress, the issue is sleeping heart rate.

While asleep, my heart rate spikes a lot, and has done on the graphs every night it has been worn. Could I be experiencing these episodes at night time unaware, and need to call my cardiologist again? I’ve tried to set everything to be low sensitivity, I’ve changed the setting to “worn on dominant hand” although this is not true. If I look at the corresponding sleep pattern, I’m usually in light sleep at the time, I hardly get any REM. Deep sleep is sometimes corresponding to the time these heart rate peaks occur, but mostly light sleep. During the day I stay at around 60 bpm, and while resting it hardly changes at all. These peaks in the night are very high, and sometimes I stay at that peak level for 30 to 40 minutes. 

Having had heart rhythm problems (and fixed them or so I thought), could this be some glitch, or is it time to pay the cardiologist a visit again? I do take heart medication in the form of a blood pressure tablet (my blood pressure has always been fine, but a side effect of the tablet is that it reduces sensitivity and excitement of the heart). I love my Sense Fitbit, it was a wonderful gift, but in some ways I feel like I wouldn’t have otherwise noticed these nighttime peaks, and would just carry on with life and likely have no problems. I’m contemplating turning off all the heart stuff because, I’ve had many years of worrying about my heart, and what will be will be. 

Side note, my oxygen saturation levels do not waver very much from their average levels at night. I asked my partner if he noticed me gasp for breath at night or snore a lot, he said no I’m a quiet sleeper with not much body movement. So what’s this nighttime heart rate thing, could it be just a glitch I’m worrying about? Thanks everyone, wishing everyone a happy healthy day. 

[Ali1721]

Would love to see what other people say because my sleeping heart rate sky rockets too.  I am 50, in pretty good shape and have no known heart problems.  This Stat does concern me.  Along with the variable heart rate which seems fairly low for someone my heart.  My resting heart rate is around 60 during the day and 69 at night with spikes like you mentioned.. Strange. 

[SunsetRunner]

my sense HeartBeat (HB) does not agree with my sleepnumber bed readings. My Fitbit resting heart beat has dropped from an average of 68 over 6 years to 48 in the last 12 days. The health metrics have also stopped functioning and the ECG is inconclusive.  Zone minutes have gone from an average of about 500 a week to about 1000 and last week reached 1700. My HB right now registers 107 even while sitting. I contacted my doctor and she stated that after having received a COVID vaccine about 12 days ago, or having some other health problem, I could expect the heart rate to increase.  I do not trust this device and really wish I had my old VERSA back...  one last comment, when I had COVID last year, the resting heart beat dropped very similar to what it did the past two weeks Ahhh the marvels of science and Fitbit record keeping!  So, very rapid heart beats during the day very low Resting HBs at night...COVID?. I will contact my daughter, we visited her after she contracted COVID last year, and were locked down for two months, and she has tested positive again this Feb.  The WUflue is here to stay!

[SpacyJojo]

It is strange isn’t it, similarly to me, your other stats and numbers seem to be fairly usual and expected. It’s just that darn night time heart rate. I read just below the graph something along the lines of “a good night time heart rate graph should be in the shape of a hammock” .... meaning that it dips down and stays lower while asleep, and raises slightly just before waking etc. Well, mine looks like a toddler has scribbled all over my graph with a crayon, ups and downs, ups that are super high and stay there, ups that are just there for a moment, etc etc. Is yours the same looking?

And you are otherwise fit and healthy. I’m hoping that maybe some other posts on here might enlighten us both as to what it’s all about. I’m in 2 minds about my Fitbit, as I said it was gifted to me and it’s something I wouldn’t have purchased myself, as I didn’t even know existed lol. On one hand, I love being able to track my body, set goals, distress, predict stressors and avoid triggers etc etc, that’s all super cool. But on the other hand, I kinda feel like it’s over medicalising something which normally wouldn’t be a concern, if that makes sense. But then of course there’s the counter argument back which is ‘you can catch problems which you wouldn’t have otherwise known about until it’s too late’, and ‘you can notice problems earlier to get them seen to in a timely manor’.

Either way, I’m sure some light will be shed on our sleeping hearts soon. My favourite feature of the watch is the silent alarms and reminders, as a shift worker my partner won’t wake if I need to wake for work, and with an autistic daughter who has meltdowns at certain sounds, one of which being alarm sounds, literally any alarm sounds, this comes in useful to remind me to give her medicines at different times in the day without freaking her out each time.

wishing you all the very best.

[SpacyJojo]

Now that is something I never even thought about, how Covid can affect your readings and your body in general. You have had a Fitbit of some sort for many years you say, so the technology is really finely tuned into you and your normals etc. Did you mention you had Covid before and it made your stats and numbers go all crazy? Certainly something for us all to keep in mind, I really hope you don’t have it again, but it’s not unheard of to get it twice, particularly as it’s creating new strains of itself as a last ditch attempt to keep its own virus spreading further. 

Are you able to access a test? Here in the UK it’s free, however the tests are difficult to access. I’d be keen to know how things go for you, perhaps if you could send us an update if anything happens, only if you can find the time of course. It might be that Covid (or certain strains of) universally lower heart rate and change the stats in the way you have experienced, or it might be that it’s how your body uniquely responds to covid. Either way, I do hope it’s not. But the fact that you have been using a Fitbit for 6 years, and then all the numbers and stats go askew at such short notice is definstly interesting. Another possibility may be some sort of glitch? But really I have no idea, as I said I’ve only been wearing one for 3 weeks, and prior to then I didn’t even know such technology existed.

How are you feeling in yourself? I’m a trauma, anaesthetics and ICU nurse, our surgery recovery bay has been turned into a Covid red zone bay until further notice ... the correct equipment and bed space is already there, and the staff working in our department are familiar with the more intensive style nursing, where things can change at the drop of a hat. Anyhow, I haven’t got/had Covid but I spend all my time with very poorly Covid patients, and I’m very aware of how it can really mess up your core integral parts of your body. Wishing you the very best, and many thanks for your comment I appreciate it.

[SunsetRunner]

As I stated earlier, my resting heart rate started dropping after the first COVID shot. There was a 2 beats a minute rise to 42 BPM just before the second shot and then it dropped to 40. Yesterday, a week and two days after the second shot, it is now back to 48.   I obtained an Apple and it’s reading agreed with the Sense.

[Karenpvfc]

I get this too and I have a family history of heart issues so it worries me. 

So far I’ve not seen Fitbit acknowledge the problem. People seem to get the same generic reply about factors that affect HR. No mention of their device being faulty despite many reports on this. 

[-Angeliclee]

It's quite difficult to get a clear diagnosis for...  but inconsistent heart rate for me is dysautonomia.  Have your doctors looked into this for you?