Heart Rate Plummets for short intervals during sleep

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Level 1

9 points

Heart Rate Plummets for short intervals during sleep

I have an appleWatch series 3. I use SleepMatic to track my sleep. Every so often, maybe once every 2 weeks on average, there is a sudden drop, usually from around 60-65 BPM to 40-45 BPM that lasts 5-15 minutes, and then things go back to normal. This shows up in the sleep matic app, and also shows up in the Heart Rate data in the health app.

Is there a way I can check if this is a sensor problem with the watch becoming ill-aligned or something like that, or a serious health situation? I would have thought that if it lost contact with the skin, it would go to zero... but it never does. It drops into the 40-45 range, and goes up and down in that range, but never lower.

I have tried to research this on line, but have not found any reference to this condition, which again, makes me suspect the watch, not my heart... but hey, I am getting old. Would like to be sure.

Thanks for the ideas...

Apple Watch Series 3, watchOS 6

Posted on Oct 30, 2019 5:52 PM

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Answer 1

i_rina

Community Specialist

Nov 5, 2019 7:57 AM in response to EJwAW

Hello EJwAW,

Thank you for posting in the Apple Support Communities. From my understanding, your heart rate drops unexpectedly during sleep, and I’d like to share some information with you.

First, do you ever receive an irregular rhythm notification? If you don’t have heart rate notifications enabled yet, you can do so by taking the steps in the section, “High and low heart rate notifications” here:

Heart rate notifications on your Apple Watch

Additionally, I recommend ensuring that your Apple Watch fits appropriately so that you get the most accurate reading. Check out the “For best results” section in this support article:

Your heart rate. What it means, and where on Apple Watch you’ll find it.

On the other hand, if you believe that you are experiencing a medical emergency, please dial your local emergency services. For additional questions about using the ECG app, please reach out to Apple Support here:

Get Support

I hope this information is useful. Kind regards.

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Answer 2

rose_10

Community Specialist

Nov 8, 2019 6:48 AM in response to EJwAW

EJwAW,

Thanks for getting back to us with those additional details and for looking over those articles.

Since it sounds like your Apple Watch fits as expected, I suggest reaching out to Apple Support directly for further assistance.

Have a great rest of your day.

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Answer 3

EJwAW Author

Level 1

9 points

Nov 6, 2019 2:22 PM in response to i_rina

Per your first question... it's a Series 3, so I get heart rate, not rhythm, so I can't really tell.

Per your second suggestion... Yes, it seems to be fitting correctly, but part of the question is "how can I tell", and the supposition in the original text is that if it was loose enough to break contact, it would go to 0, not consistently to 40-45.

Per your third suggestion... Yeah, if i had physical symptoms, I would call someone... in fact, I have a check up coming up... that's part of the motivation... to figure out if this is something that raises to the level I should mention to my physician, or just a tech glitch?

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Heart Rate Plummets for short intervals during sleep

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