I want to see if/how my heart rate changes during seizures. My doc asked me about this but I am unable to check for myself even though I only have SPS. Even if somebody who I was comfortable with were beside me I am doubtful I could articulate it to them to check for me as that is the last thing on my mind at the time. To get around this, I want to get some form of monitor that can record the info for me. I searched amazon and I see mostly sport focused watches. All I need is something which can give maybe 8 hours of history for me to look at at each time I check.
Has anyone gone about getting a HRM for any purpose for themselves, or do any of you have any information I might find useful? Would a sports watch work? I appreciate any help you guys can give. Thanks
Ideally, also, my budget would be around $50 max, ideally as little as possible.
I don’t know a huge amount about this (so hopefully someone else will chime in), but I don’t think what you want exists for the price you want.
There are cheap HR monitor watches, but they tend to have a sensor you have to touch manually and just gives you an instantaneous figure. Some use a waistband, which is inconvenient and still probably not continuous.
What you want is one of the new fitness trackers. Trouble is, they aren’t that cheap. One example is the Fitbit Charge HR, which runs for days at a time and tracks continuously. However, it’s $150. I have a Fitbit Flex and am happy with the overall quality, so I imagine the Charge HR is a good product, but it’s a lot more that you want to pay.
It is quite likely that Doc could have you, through a local hospital’s (or even Doc him/herself if it can be ‘borrowed/rented’ from a hospital supply company), have a Holter monitor put to use.Here’s a google link to peruse for more info for your convenience
It’s basically a smallish unit with leads placed upon you for 24 hours that records all of the duration. I have helped cardio-pulm techs/Docs place them upon patients quite a few times. A mild annoyance with the leads upon your torso and unit hanging off you like a small purse, yes, but worth it for those kind of sporadic reoccuring ‘events’. It is a Rx-basedd item, I think, so check with Doc about reasonableness of your wants/needs, etc.
Just a thought. HTH
ETA After posting, I saw One and Only Wanderes’s post, and I bet the Holter is what she had upon her, but can’t say for certain.
Garmin VivoFit with HRM - (they sell it both with or without HRM strap) is $170 & can be used for 24/7 since the HRM strap battery is user-replaceable. My guess is that you’d get a week to weeks out of a battery at that constant usage level. However, I don’t know if “medical monitoring” is any more stringent than fitness monitoring.
