Heart rate spikes during sleep

[momo43]

Using an Inspire 2 tracker.  Consistently, EVERY night, I get a spike in my heart rate that falls mostly in the fat burn range but sometime goes into the next level.  The duration is variable, sometimes only one reading, sometimes spanning as much as 15 min.  It always occurs when the tracker indicates I am in light sleep but a few times during deep sleep (when the duration is longer).  Most curious, it always happens between 1 and 1:45 am,  I cannot correlate this with anything.  Any thoughts?

[YojanaFitbit]

Hey @momo43, hope you're doing great! You have a good insight here, since I've noticed that a common cause of a rising heart rate during sleep is a lack of oxygen, which is often brought on by obstructive sleep apnea. This is a condition where a person's normal breathing frequency is reduced or sometimes flat-out stopped during sleep. Are you taking medication before going to bed? This might be another reason.

[momo43]

That might make sense except for the fact it is only a single incident and always in the same timeframe. That doesn’t sound like sleep apnea as I understand it.

Sent from my iPhone

[YojanaFitbit]

This is not a normal, if you already restarted your Fitbit, please feel free to write to our support team. They might have to check what is happening with your Fitbit.

Hope this helps.

[DavidThornton]

I’m a little late to the party, but am having the same or similar issue, and wondering if you learned anything new on this since the last update. Did restarting your Fitbit resolve it, or have you talked with your doctor about it?

[momo43]

This spike in heart rate is not an artifact of the Fitbit. It appears in about 90% of my sleep patterns of heart rate. Been seeing it for several years. My PCP was perplexed but suggested I wear a heart monitor (Holter type device) for 2 weeks. That will finish in a few days and then I mail the device to be read. Should have more info then. Will let you know.

[Denisebmb]

Have you heard anything more about this. I myself have sleep apnea and use a CPAP machine at night but I still get the spiking into the cardio burning level. It doesn’t happen every night but it happens often enough for me to be curious about it. I will also be wearing an event monitor but not until July. It was found though that I do have an enlarged left atrium durian echocardiogram; but that is all I know right now. My PCP is also referring me to a cardiologist.

[momo43]

Still waiting for the results of the Holter monitoring.

[DavidThornton]

When you see the heart rate spike, in what section of the Fitbit app are you looking? I found that heart rate information can be found in both the Zone Minutes section of the app and the Heart Rate section. I was seeing the spikes in the Zone Minutes section, but everything looks normal in the Heart Rate section. I also found that if I look at the Zone Minutes graph when I first wake up, there is no spike, but later in the day there is. I don’t know if that is the way it’s supposed to work or not, but it is weird. 

[tapakip]

Any results?  I see the same pattern in mine.  

[Denisebmb]

Turns out I have an enlarged left atrium and I am on a waiting list to see a cardiologist.


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[tapakip]

I am sorry to hear that, Denise.  Sounds like it is manageable according to literature found online, at least.  Hopefully all goes well for you.

[MarioDings]

Hello @momo43 ,

We are still waiting to hear from you. I hope they can find an answer for your problem.

Be aware that heart rate diseases are more difficult to find with women. You can check the literature for that. A monitor will not always give you the results. 

[ItsMare]

I also see the same pattern in my Fitbit.  Your post here is very helpful. I had not noticed the 2 different heart rate graphs. Just quickly checking my reading for today and looks just like yours. HR spike in the "Zone minutes" but not in the heart rate section. I will go back and compare past readings. Still not loving the spikes I see every morning in the vicinity of 1:00 am

[momo43]

Yes, and I am frustrated that whoever read my Holter printout made no note of this, and my PCP did not press for a specific review of those spike times. It remains a mystery and a curiosity.

[capulet289]

Hi @momo43,

It sounds like you & I have been on exactly the same journey. I’ll send you a friend request on Fitbit now & then I’ll drop you a DM. I’m considering my next steps, as I’m sure you are too.

Becky. 

[w84meee]

Hmm, same issue here. I only noticed the spike a few days ago, and wondered if there’s a bug in Fitbit’s display of time/timezones…There’s one spike almost every night at the beginning around deep or light sleep, according to Fitbit app, before heart rate mellows out until I wake up. Would be great to know if anyone gets more information from their PCP.

[LNT51797]

Same here: weird late night / early morning spikes when viewing my zone minutes, but normal when viewing heart rate data. 

also: nice job posting the charts to illustrate! 

[modesty226]

I have exactly the same thing happening. And I have been noticing it for a while. I’m a very light sleeper but I never wake up when this happens, even though I’m supposedly close to my max heart rate. 
Could it be a Fitbit bug? 

 

[Ehp1908]

I have the exact same issue. Happens almost every night. I have no history of sleep disturbance, no heart issues, have restarted my Fitbit Inspire 2, the app, my phone. Has anyone gotten a satisfactory answer?