This is on an Apple Watch 6. Sometimes, my EKG looks normal. Other times, the tracing has 8 extra waves in between the R waves, varying in amplitude, but sometimes just as high as the R wave. Looks like sawtooth pattern. This is usually interpreted as a normal sinus rhythm or a poor recording. What is happening here? And how do I post a picture of this?
Apple Watch Series 4, watchOS 7
You will want to continue this discussion this with your medical provider.
If you’re having symptoms or issues, contact your provider or emergency services.
A rhythm strip showing only lead 1 and that with a whole lot of muscle mass between the two electrodes is not going to be a great strip even on a good day.
Artifact is routinely encountered with ECG recordings. This can include patient movement, muscle activity, moisture, sensor issues, and other causes.
With the various external cardiac monitor-defibrillators I’ve used, rhythm mis-detections were fairly common.
Some of what you are showing is a sinus rhythm at roughly 60 BPM. What else you are showing does not appear to be atrial fibrillation. Whether and what that rhythm might be if not artifact, you will want to discuss with your medical provider.
If you have concerns about your heart function, you should consult your doctor.
If your concern is about the watch, the first troubleshooting step is generally to unpair and re-pair the watch.
To post a picture, the easiest way is probably to take a screen shot of the ECG in the Health app on your phone. You can save it to Files. To add a picture to your post, use the second icon from the left in the toolbar at the bottom of the box when you're editing your post.
Doctors say it’s “artifact,” but this pattern isn’t there all the time. I don’t post a picture because Apple doesn’t permit this, I guess.
As long as your doctor isn't concerned, I'm not sure I would be, either. If it were me, I might consider making notes about what else is going on when I see it, like did you just finish exercising or eating or did you just wake up, are you sick, or did you not get enough sleep. But, I'm not a doctor, just a data geek.
This is what it looked like 3 days ago and intermittently looks like.
Thank you. So far, the cardiologists think nothing of this, and this does not show up on a regular EKG. I’m going to keep on asking. Looks like flutter to me.
How can someone have a normal sinus rhythm with a totally bizarre EKG
