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Pulse while sleeping

S

Seanyboy

macrumors member
Original poster
Jul 7, 2008
84
27
Hi,
I've had my ⌚️ for months now.
When I look at the Health app on my iPhone it shows that my pulse rate regularly goes up up into 130-140 bpm - while I'm asleep!
My resting heart rate during the day is normally 60-70 bpm. It goes over 100 during a brisk walk.
Anyone else getting this or am I just having nightmares or something?
 
Seanyboy said:
Hi,
I've had my ⌚️ for months now.
When I look at the Health app on my iPhone it shows that my pulse rate regularly goes up up into 130-140 bpm - while I'm asleep!
My resting heart rate during the day is normally 60-70 bpm. It goes over 100 during a brisk walk.
Anyone else getting this or am I just having nightmares or something?
Click to expand...
I use a sleep tracking app at night which compiles what you are looking at in the health app. In the several months that I have used the app, I see a few spikes to 100 or so from the normal 50-60 range but nothing dramatic. I don't think I've ever had 130-140 bpm at night unless we are talking a nightmare spike and then back to normal.
 
BlueMoon63 said:
I use a sleep tracking app at night which compiles what you are looking at in the health app. In the several months that I have used the app, I see a few spikes to 100 or so from the normal 50-60 range but nothing dramatic. I don't think I've ever had 130-140 bpm at night unless we are talking a nightmare spike and then back to normal.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the reply.
I've been looking back through the data on the health app and my heart rate can hit 130+ for 20 minutes or so. Sometimes it drops back down to about 60bpm and then spikes again 10 minutes later.
It's just weird. It doesn't wake me up and if I wasn't wearing the watch I wouldn't know.
Would love to hear what other people's readings are.
 
Seanyboy said:
Hi,
I've had my ⌚️ for months now.
When I look at the Health app on my iPhone it shows that my pulse rate regularly goes up up into 130-140 bpm - while I'm asleep!
My resting heart rate during the day is normally 60-70 bpm. It goes over 100 during a brisk walk.
Anyone else getting this or am I just having nightmares or something?
Click to expand...
I'd caution any Apple Watch owner to take the readings lightly, and know that AW may be giving you erroneous readings. Several of us at work checked ours and found vast degrees of errors. It's why a few of us that are hard core, competing amateur athletes decided to return the watch.

In my case the replacement was just as bad as the original so I returned it and I'm back to using my highly accurate, reliable, iPhone compatible SUUNTO AMBIT 3.
 
I'm having a sleep study done in a few weeks to check for sleep apnea. My wife tells me that sometimes I snore badly, and that I occasionally stop breathing to the point where she nudges me to breathe again.

Funny, I don't remember having these problems while I was single and living alone. ;)

It might be worth your time to get checked out. For now, you can also try an app to record the sounds you make overnight. I've sometimes used Sleep Cycle, which has been updated to monitor sound along with movement. It doesn't have an AW app, so you'd use the phone.
 
I find the HR monitor to be pretty inaccurate. When it often takes my 'non moving' readings, they're often in the hundreds. I know I'm a fit healthy male and if they were that high, I'd know it.

For example, do this, open the HR complication, my first reading about 50% of the time is double the main rate, so it'll start out saying my HR is 110, then when it takes the second reading automatically (just keep the complication open) its around 55/60 whatever, which is normal for me. I assume that when the AW takes its HR readings, it just takes the 'first' reading it can get, during those measured intervals. You're probably okay? But if you're worried, don't take my word for it, see a doctor.

Additionally, when I work out I use a Bluetooth HR monitor, the AW is crazily inaccurate, and half the time it can't even get my pulse. It spends a good couple of minutes getting a HR, which when you're working out is valuable time of missed data.
 
seble said:
I find the HR monitor to be pretty inaccurate. When it often takes my 'non moving' readings, they're often in the hundreds. I know I'm a fit healthy male and if they were that high, I'd know it.

For example, do this, open the HR complication, my first reading about 50% of the time is double the main rate, so it'll start out saying my HR is 110, then when it takes the second reading automatically (just keep the complication open) its around 55/60 whatever, which is normal for me. I assume that when the AW takes its HR readings, it just takes the 'first' reading it can get, during those measured intervals. You're probably okay? But if you're worried, don't take my word for it, see a doctor.

Additionally, when I work out I use a Bluetooth HR monitor, the AW is crazily inaccurate, and half the time it can't even get my pulse. It spends a good couple of minutes getting a HR, which when you're working out is valuable time of missed data.
Click to expand...
you are not the only one who has stated this concern but I definitely don't have this problem. If I am sitting down, the reading is in the 60's and the previous reading is usually the same range unless I haven't been sitting for long. My workouts are usually perfect for readings and my sleep is always reading my heart rate. Couple of pictures attached show the same and the sleep was a restless night but always normal.

My concern for bad readings always comes back to the pictures people show in the "Show off Apple Watch" thread. Many, and I mean many, show the person wearing the watch over their "wrist bone" as the normal way to wear the watch. I'm not sure how you can get a consistent reading when contact with your skin could be hit or miss constantly. I see Apple videos showing the watch worn about and inch up the wrist. On me, the Digital Crown is even with the "wrist bone". Not sure what you call the wrist bump. I rarely, if ever, have a bad reading for my heart rate at rest or workouts. I do not wear the watch overly tight either, but it doesn't move.
 

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BlueMoon63 said:
you are not the only one who has stated this concern but I definitely don't have this problem. If I am sitting down, the reading is in the 60's and the previous reading is usually the same range unless I haven't been sitting for long. My workouts are usually perfect for readings and my sleep is always reading my heart rate. Couple of pictures attached show the same and the sleep was a restless night but always normal.

My concern for bad readings always comes back to the pictures people show in the "Show off Apple Watch" thread. Many, and I mean many, show the person wearing the watch over their "wrist bone" as the normal way to wear the watch. I'm not sure how you can get a consistent reading when contact with your skin could be hit or miss constantly. I see Apple videos showing the watch worn about and inch up the wrist. On me, the Digital Crown is even with the "wrist bone". Not sure what you call the wrist bump. I rarely, if ever, have a bad reading for my heart rate at rest or workouts. I do not wear the watch overly tight either, but it doesn't move.
Click to expand...

Which workout apps do you use by the way, especially the sleep one, looks great!

Yes, I get that it's fine for many when working out, but what sort of workouts do you do? If I'm cycling, rowing, or running, generally it's fairly accurate. If I'm doing strength training it's all over the place, completely unreliable. Also I don't wear my wrist on the bone just before my hand, I wear a watch in the normal watch place, this makes little to no difference unfortunately
 
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The problem I have is that I could definitely guess my HR with a much higher accuracy than the Apple Watch so it is a nonsense feature of the device.

Bad data is worse than no data.
 
BlueMoon63 said:
you are not the only one who has stated this concern but I definitely don't have this problem. If I am sitting down, the reading is in the 60's and the previous reading is usually the same range unless I haven't been sitting for long. My workouts are usually perfect for readings and my sleep is always reading my heart rate. Couple of pictures attached show the same and the sleep was a restless night but always normal.

My concern for bad readings always comes back to the pictures people show in the "Show off Apple Watch" thread. Many, and I mean many, show the person wearing the watch over their "wrist bone" as the normal way to wear the watch. I'm not sure how you can get a consistent reading when contact with your skin could be hit or miss constantly. I see Apple videos showing the watch worn about and inch up the wrist. On me, the Digital Crown is even with the "wrist bone". Not sure what you call the wrist bump. I rarely, if ever, have a bad reading for my heart rate at rest or workouts. I do not wear the watch overly tight either, but it doesn't move.
Click to expand...
I'm also curious what app that is in the screenshots :)
 
BarracksSi said:
Funny, I don't remember having these problems while I was single and living alone. ;)
Click to expand...
You observed yourself in your sleep?


BlueMoon63 said:
My concern for bad readings always comes back to the pictures people show in the "Show off Apple Watch" thread. Many, and I mean many, show the person wearing the watch over their "wrist bone" as the normal way to wear the watch. I'm not sure how you can get a consistent reading when contact with your skin could be hit or miss constantly. I see Apple videos showing the watch worn about and inch up the wrist. On me, the Digital Crown is even with the "wrist bone". Not sure what you call the wrist bump. I rarely, if ever, have a bad reading for my heart rate at rest or workouts. I do not wear the watch overly tight either, but it doesn't move.
Click to expand...
That's probably partly it. With my FitBit it says to move it further up my arm for more accurate readings ... especially during exercise.

But ... even with the device at its lowest point I don't get heart rate spikes ... so ... I don't know.
 
I've also seen spikes in my pulse when wearing the watch while I sleep. I don't remember when the last time I slept with the watch was so I can't get any exact numbers but it definitely jumps up in my sleep.
 
In my experience you have to wear wrist-based hr watches considerably tighter than most people are used to for them to have a chance at being accurate. I haven't had my AW long enough to decide how it compares to my Garmin, but even with that one I had to learn to wear it rather tight. The amount and color of hair you have under the sensor will play a role as well.
 
I often wear my Apple Watch whilst riding my bike, inside and outside. I can say the heart rate reading pretty much matches my heart rate from a Garmin chest strap pretty much perfectly.

This isn't to say it works well under every condition, but I happen to think it's pretty accurate.
 
Thanks for your thoughts everyone.

I think I will put it down to inaccuracies in the monitoring rather than trouble my doctor.

It seems weird that my heart rate keeps spiking at exactly 138 almost every night. Maybe it's because I often sleep with my hand with the watch on under my pillow with my head on top?

Thanks again.
 
For poops n' grins, you could try a HR strap instead of using the AW's optical sensor. Everything I've read so far suggests that a strap is still more reliable than any optical sensor.

If you're local, I'll let you borrow my Garmin 410 and its strap. It can monitor your HR at least a full 24 hours if the GPS is turned off.
 
Have your doc give you a pulse ox to wear overnight. It'll monitor your heart rate and oxygen saturation. Obstructive Sleep Apnea can cause a persons heart rate to spike as their oxygen levels fall. When the levels get too low the body "wake sup" to re-open the airway. I have a buddy that this cycle was happening 60/hour. This stress on the body causes all kinds of problems! Your Apple watch may have just saved you much heartache.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3649822/
 
Glad I came across this - have checked my stats since Christmas day (thanks Santa!) and indeed, between 5.45 and 6.30 this morning (but on no other days) my HR rose significantly and peaked at 138! And yet, looking at my sleep record in Sleep++, I was sound asleep and did not move during that time, which suggests that my sleep was not disrupted by apnoea in the usual sense. I sometimes have repeated apnoea phases if I stay in bed after 7am and my nose is blocked. I just interpret it as a signal that it's time to get up.

Me too, would like to know what those apps are!
 
Hmmm. The magic 138 again. The same I peaked at at 3am and 6am last night!
 

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Seanyboy said:
Hi,
I've had my ⌚️ for months now.
When I look at the Health app on my iPhone it shows that my pulse rate regularly goes up up into 130-140 bpm - while I'm asleep!
My resting heart rate during the day is normally 60-70 bpm. It goes over 100 during a brisk walk.
Anyone else getting this or am I just having nightmares or something?
Click to expand...

Hi

I also get the above too. I am finding this app helpful as it allows exporting of data that can be e-mailed, texted printed etc

QS Access by Quantified Self Labs
https://appsto.re/gb/ocQ22.i

the 'tabulate' is useful

Cheers
 
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