I’m thinking of getting a portable EKG unit for home use and I’m wondering what the advantage is of multi line EKG’s are vs single. Apparently I have a history of afib that created some serious blood clots. I’m on blood thinners to correct that but I’d like to be more proactive with my heart.
What would you do with the data?
There are portable home monitors meant for temporary use, to diagnose transient a-fib etc. But you are already treating that.
What does your cardiologist/electrophysiologist suggest? Do they think you need to take action based on whether you’re fibrillating or not in any given moment, vs. just staying on your anticoagulant?
If you really need your rhythm monitored that closely, I’d expect they’d recommend an implantable pacer/defibrillator/monitor combo which transmits your data to them for interpretation.
If YOU want to know if you’re in atrial fibrillation in any given moment (assuming you have paroxysmal Afib that comes and goes), best thing is to just check your pulse, and get used to figuring out whether it’s irregularly irregular or not. If you have PAF and your pulse is suddenly irregularly irregular, it’s pretty certain you’re in Afib.
If you really really are committed to getting a tracing of your heart at any particular moment, I’d suggest your best bet is a single lead; ask your doc which particular lead on your standard EKGs has the most prominent QRS complexes that would be easiest to work with. But it would still be a major PITA to hook yourself up to that on your own.
FYI, I recently saw this.
That is the AliveCor Kardia, which is what I came into this thread to suggest. I have occasional AFIB and when I first saw a cardiologist he asked me to get one of these to help his diagnosis. It connects to a smartphone app and takes a 30-second two-lead EKG. The smartphone app can export it to a PDF file. It’s good enough for this purpose. It is small and sticks right on the back of my phone so I have it with me almost all the time.
It costs $100 and I got one during a sale for $75.
I’d give it to my cardiologist in a month.
I had a valve repaired a year ago as well as a hole repaired between chambers. From that I developed a rather large blood clot in the heart. A piece broke off and went to my leg (it was clogged the entire length). The Cardiologist said the clot was most likely the result of a bunch of a-fib events. 4 days of surgery on the leg and weeks of blood thinners eliminated all clots and I will be on thinners the rest of my life.
What concerns me was that in all that time in the hospital I experience one a-fib that lasted a few seconds and I couldn’t feel it. I had some heart fluttering prior to the valve repair but nothing since.
I’m trying to be as proactive as possible as that is how I saved my leg. The pain was diagnosed as something else by an orthopedic doctor so I bought an oximeter to check the oxygen level in my foot and that immediately led to the right diagnosis.
My thoughts were to run a couple of days/nights on my own EKG to see if I’m getting a-fib events without knowing it. If anything at all shows up then the cardiologist will put me on one of their portable monitors. If nothing shows then I’m out a few bucks.
It’s not unusual for my pulse to rise to 100. I went from heart surgery to problems with my leg without much recovery time. I want to start exercising knowing there aren’t any problems. I’m also having BP issues and I’m working on that with my doctor.
If a single lead will detect a-fib then that helps with the choice of products to look at.
yes, thank you both for mentioning it. That’s what started me thinking about self monitoring. Unfortunately it doesn’t work on a Windows phone.
Sounds like you’d be better off wearing an event monitor for a week or so, and seeing how often you’re having afib or other arrhythmias. Your doc can order that to be set up for you. Then based on that data, your cardiologist can advise you on whether or not you need more monitoring, or just anti-coagulating, or further arrhythmia treatment. Or other options.
Also sounds like your clot was probably related to more than just some afib events; you had major valvular surgery and you were also bedridden for a time after, and both those things make you extremely prone to clot formation, even without the afib. With those other risks eliminated now, and you being anticoagulated, whether or not there’s benefit to monitoring for further afib incidents is something I’d definitely leave to you and your heart specialists.
Your case is further clouded by the description of your clot travelling to your leg rather than from it, which is the typical scenario. So it sounds like you had an arterial clot in your leg, not a venous one, which is a whole different kettle of fish for treatment, monitoring, and long term prognosis, than a venous clot which generally arises in the leg or in the right atrium of the heart, then breaks loose to go to the lungs, causing pulmonary embolism.
Good luck.
Yes it was an arterial clot. There were no signs of venous clots. My family doctor initially ordered an ultrasound of the veins in my leg to check for clots because as you said, that’s where they usually start from. I was convinced I had a circulation problem from the beginning even though one of the tests showed minor calf muscle tearing.
Apparently the clot started in the heart in response to the repair of the hole between chambers. I believe the hole was discovered during the repair of the mitral valve but I could be wrong. I was told by quite a few doctors that I was lucky the clot went to my leg.
With that bit of history added, I’m not convinced that home monitoring via EKG for afib contributes anything to risk reduction for future arterial clots. Definitely check with your docs as to what THEY advise regarding afib monitoring and other monitoring before investing time/effort in this plan. They may well advise you to do something like what you’re planning, but I suspect it’s more likely they tell you it won’t help/won’t be worth it.
And you are damn lucky. If that had gone to your head, we’re talking major stroke.
My cardiologist had me wear one of those for a month. It wasn’t as much of a PITA as one might think. Mostly, you just forget you have it on. The unit fits easily in your pocket, and it’s just two electrodes w/ thin wires going to the transmitter. If you toss and turn a lot at night, like I do, you have to remember to keep the wires loose. But the thing I found most annoying was that it would sometimes make weird noises and people would ask: What’s that? I’d usually say that my phone was acting up lately. 
But I agree that taking a bunch of data and presenting it to your doctor might be a waste of time and money. Check with the doc first, and see if he or she wants that data, and then he or she will tell you the best way to get it.
thanks to all for your input. As allows, Qadgop the Mercotan’s advise is appreciated.