heart rate spikes

I have the exact same problem here with my apple watch series 3 during sleep. I would say that around 3 nights a week I get alerts regarding elevated heart rate. Sometimes for a few minutes, sometimes for almost an hour.

I went to the doctor and got the 24 hours ECG monitoring strapped on my chest. During that night, apple watch said I had several minutes of elevated heart rate (above 120). I came back to the doctor the next day, and to my surprise the ECG monitoring did not detect anything. It was all fine. So the problem here is the heart rate sensor on the apple watch. I have tried tightening and loosing it on my wrist, but it didn't help.

OK, reading these comments improved my confidence a bit. I actually have A fib issues and recently changed meds. I have felt great up until I bought an Apple watch and started tracking. Once per day, I noticed a spike (highest was 191). The issue was I didn't feel a spike. Let me tell you from experience, you can't feel your heart beat, but you can feel it when it stops (or goes into A fib). I suspected it was a ghost in the machine. I think it would be great if Apple addressed the issue so that folks would not stress out.

I got really steamed at My Apple Watch 3 and almost heaved her across the room . I looked down while rubbing lotion on my hands and gasp my HR was 228 but I felt calm as a cucumber. It went back to 68. I was irritated so started rubbing lotion on my hand vigorously and sure enough it spiked to 168. But luckily I am wearing an MCOT patch monitor this week to check for SVT and when I called th Doc , no spikes at all . This is a common issue for me when the watch gets bumped or moved while ie doing dishes or sweating outside it slides. I got it for its ability to monitor my heart as well as release me from th Big phone but lately it’s just arm candy .

I had notified Apple Care and the Cardiogram app, in the midst of a heart study. Went to the Genius Bar and had my series two watch replaced. Alas, the spikes do continue, just much less frequently than before. I did get a suggestion to change to a sport loop band which would fit more snugly. I currently wear the watch higher up the forearm until I get the other band.

Hi, I have the same issue. Was running on the threadmill when my heart rate shot up to 177 from 128. The first time, I thought I was going to have a heart attack. The second time, I decided to check it on the monitor built into the threadmill and it showed the correct rate. As soon as I did that, the watch corrected itself. It happened again today and I checked the watch reading immediately after taking my hands off the metal part of the threadmill monitor and the rate went from 178 to 144 (which is normal for me when running). Just thought I'd share.

Same here. I have a Series 3 42mm cell model. Running the latest OS (4.0.1) and during an outdoor cycling workout, the watch will quite often read HR spikes that are off the charts for me. For instance, yesterday (10/16) the watch read a max of 197bpm, while my Garmin chest strap read a max of 156. The watch also had a bunch of drop outs where it read nothing at all for large periods of time. For the 2 hour workout the watch then had an avg of 145bpm, while the Garmin showed a much more realistic 132bpm. (Screenshot follows at end.)

Now this experience is completely the opposite of my 42mm S0 watch. It was steady as a rock on every workout in all kinds of weather. It never had drop outs that I can recall, and it rarely had HR spikes. I used to use my S0 to tell when it was time to replace the Garmin HR strap (the strap sensors wear out from the salt in sweat). Now with the S3 I feel I can't rely on it all. The S0 was running the latest OS 3.x release not OS 4.

I have the series 2 iwatch every since I downloaded OS4 I have been getting those alerts of spikes while resting .

and so I started watching my daily heart rate which spike several times during the day above 120 . The highest was 194 which means I should have felt my heart beating very fast but no not a thing . I reported the spikes in heart rate by my iwatch to my primary care physican and now I am wearing this stupid heart rate monitor from a cardiologist for next 30 days .
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Same thing on me. Around 3 times pero week y get some unusual spikes while sleeping. I was afraid and came to the cardiologist and I will get 24 hrs checked. I was so worried but last coment help me I’m a bit relaxer now. Doctor told me to forget about it and not use clock at night he didn’t give any importance but still I will get that checked

I am getting some wacky readings too. It has caused me some anxiety also here’s a photo of the drop I was working moving boxes around in a van when this happened my wife got tired of me freaking out so she said give me the watch and she wore it for a few hours and it happened to her too haha I feel better now. Two photos here ones mine the other is hers. No exercise just busy movements.

I have a 38mm S2 updated several weeks ago 1/29/2018) to the latest watchOS 4. Though spikes seemed to have been reducedthey still occur without relation to my activity level. I see spikes while I was in deep sleep. Some are unnatural levels that would trigger obvious physical reactions. I have a rower with a chest band, and it never reports jumps like the watch records; such as today a pulse of 208. I do note that many of the spikes are suspiciously close to a double of the rates the watch reports in the data points before or after the spike. Though my resting pulse is naturally slow, regularly in the 45-50 range, I also see occasional drops to 32-35, which seem like they would cause some reaction.

My magnetic watch band is usually snug enough the pressure lines are visible in my skin when the watch is taken off my wrist. I have used the watch both on top and under my wrist, and donor observe different spike behavior.

Battery life has been god, allowing charging on alternate days, and a charge in the time I’m changing and showering is enough to stretch another day if need be. So I have a lot of history at night. I do see some strings of elevated readings I assume relate to dreams, but those are usually in my normal activity range.

I am sure Apple is doing a lot of filtering and averaging of the light based measurements, but I agree with the preceding writers that the algorithm needs to reject solitary readings of these spikes. There are not related to loose watch movements or sudden impact movements of my arm when I’m lying in bed. I do wonder if Apple has properly studied differences in results for people with slight mourners or different average rates or ekg patterns.

Do anyone know if this forum is monitored by the watch engineers? Is there a way to determine if Apple recognizes the issue is more than users not snugging their watch band tightly?

Ditto here, except my spikes (170-203 bpm) last at least for first 10min -- at best -- and to the end of workout at worst. I've heard every 'try this' and tried them all. There is no fix for the HEART RATE SPIKE issue with any Apple Watch (series 1-3) ... and what Apple recommends is, to be polite, almost comic. I had an Apple tech today suggest I replace my iPhone. To his credit, he was trying to be helpful, but what's the next idea ... buy a new car?

quick bio: I'm a retired Distance Runner and Coach turned Apple Developer with 9 years of iOS and 3 watchOS under belt ... and owner of all 3 editions of the Apple Watch. This heart rate spiking during workouts issue has been plaguing me forever, but only recently did it become critical to resolve. I figured Apple would fix the issue, eventually, but as of yet we're still spiking.

Moreover, I've been coding my own solution for the distance running world for 2+ years now ... today went on no less than 4 separate real-world test runs trying to solve this riddle - using my 4th BRAND NEW Apple Watch 3 (replaced by Apple) with cell enabled on my wrist. Still having problems.

After an inaugural successful run with accurate data yesterday, with truly accurate results that tickled me silly =) ... today the **** heart rate spikes returned. Given my tests, usage, knowledge and development efforts –- I'm betting this is a software API issue and Apple needs to solve this.

ASAP would be nice.

I’ve had my Apple Watch for over two years. I’ve seen the same results with my watch as well. There are times at night where it will spike and then go right back to normal. Periodically if I am running or riding a cycle it will periodically spike up for a few seconds and then when I stop for a second it goes right back to normal. Not sure what is going on, but I am quite positive it is the watch. I haven’t seen the same sort of thing with my Apple Watch 3 but I have definitely seen it with the Apple Watch 1. I am a big fan of both watches but they definitely are not perfect. Apple needs to do a more work with their software before you can consider the information as accurate. One thing I do is check my pulse rate immediately against the watch. Every time I have done this there is has been a difference between the readout on the watch and my actual pulse rate. I just put my thumb against the carotid artery in my neck to take my pulse.

Take that watch to the Genius Bar and have the dates of those high spikes ready to show from your Apple health app. The tech will report the random spiking to research and development. If more people had their watches evaluated/swapped out, then the next generation of watches will be improved.

I am having this issue too. I just started wearing the Apple 3 watch. I swim laps and my heart rate spikes to 210! I don’t notice though. Happened on the stationary bike too and I was just getting started and my hands were on my lap. I was not tured, out of breath etc. happens when I get up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom- 159! Ever get any answers? Its freaking me out.

I bought a Series 4 Apple Watch back in November of 2018. At first, no issues. The HR seemed overall accurate in comparison to my old Fitbit readings. However, it's March now and I have noticed random spikes. One time my HR showed on the display as 185, which was impossible because all I did was walk. My walking HR also shows as 146 or up sometimes, which I know cannot be correct. The sudden dips in HR really scared me at first- it would go from 60s to 130 in half a second, when all I did was stand up or just walk around. I have owned both Firbit HR 1 and 2 series and I have never had such a high walking HR, only during exercise. Seeing that this has been a recurring issue with different Apple Watch series, makes me think there has to be a software error. Also, it would be nice if Apple Watch offered continuous HR monitoring like Fitbit.