I ordered a pulse reader,good or bad idea?

[Anxious_gal]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B002FBASUE/ref=oss_product

The reasons I bought it are:
I will know what my heart rate is.
I can try and relax and learn how to bring my heart rate down.
when I feel dizzy I will know if I should sit down and rest or keep going.
I would like to know if coffee and smoking have much of an effect on my heart rate.

The reasons I think this could be a bad idea:
It could end up making me worse if i get high readings too often

I do have sinus tachycardia >high pulse.
I would like to keep an eye on my heart rate and be able to inform my doctor, I also cannot take my own pulse, as I can't count the irregular beats.

any thoughts?

[nomorepanic]

£78!!!!!

In my opinion unless the doc has advised you to do this then it is a very bad idea.

[allergyphobia]

BAD idea Mishel. Knowledge is power, but too much information is a different thing altogether. IMO. x

[Horse]

Mishel.

This is something I would not have personally bought.

A couple of questions for you.
1. Why do you want to know what your heart rate is?
2. Why do you need to take your pulse rate?

You will be checking these readings all the time and as soon as they are ellevated, you will start your anxiety off and then the reading will get higher.

I'm no doctor but I'm sure that the Coffee and definately the Smoking will have an effect on your heart rate at the time of indulging.

If you have time to cancel your order then I would do so and spend the money on something nice for yourself.

Horse.

[Nigel]

Hi Mishel,

Hmm... :unsure:

I get your reasoning but...
Suppose it’s a good idea for a person who wants to take a healthy interest in monitoring these things, and perhaps if they have a medical condition that warrants it. I guess the BIG question is, can you use it wisely? :winks:

Is there a risk of possibly using it to scare yourself, because that could end up creating more problems than it’s solves.

Take care :)
Nigel

[gypsywomen]

not good i had a bp monitor i was checking my bp and pulse every half hour ,,no not good as during the day our heart rate changes

[Anxious_gal]

wow lots of replays, I a not going to argue as you all have valid points!
I think I am hoping it would put my mind at ease, as long as my pulse is under 200bpm.

my doctor told me to sit down and rest when my heart goes too fast and I start feeling dizzy but i honestly cant tell the difference between anxiety, being unfit and my heart rate actually being high enough , that i should rest.

right now I do honestly believe that it will me with my relaxation and meditation to be able to see my heart rate going down. as i find that meditating used to help stop my palpations.

But I can also see how it could make me worse too!!
I'm just going to have to wait and see what happens.

I know if i was reading this post I'd be concerned too, but you know "you" think "you" know better!!! :blush:

[Anxious_gal]

BAD idea Mishel. Knowledge is power, but too much information is a different thing altogether. IMO. x


thats so true!!! :) I've banned my self from watching health shows unless it's House :blush:

[Nigel]

It sounds like your mind is made up, so all I can say is use it wisely :winks:
But remember one thing...

If ever you find yourself using it too often, or using it to scare yourself, I want you to get this really BIG picture in your mind. And the picture is of all those wagging fingers here on NMP, of people saying, “Told you so Mishel!”

That should be a good deterrent :winks:

Take care,
Nigel

[allergyphobia]

Haha so true Nigel!! And our wagging fingers will be those massive foam fingers they used to have on Gladiators... Be warned Mishel :winks:

[judipat]

Hi Mishel
I think for health anxiety sufferers it is definately a bad thing.
It brings to mind a few members on here that will tell you exactly what their bp, heartrate, pulse etc etc is - and you know they are sat at home with all kinds of contraptions strapped to them, waiting for a rise or fall which in turn, throws them into a panic. That cannot be healthy can it??
Best wishes
Judi

[cornishmaid]

[QUOTE=judipat;784865]

It brings to mind a few members on here that will tell you exactly what their bp, heartrate, pulse etc etc is - and you know they are sat at home with all kinds of contraptions strapped to them, waiting for a rise or fall which in turn, throws them into a panic.

What Judipat says there is absolutely true ,and a few months ago it described me to a tee,i do not check my pulse and blood pressure as much now ,but i was doing it every half hour or so ,more i dont it ,more anxious i got ,higher the readings were and so on ,

[westofengland]

Take it from me it's a bad idea. Sell it on eBay or send it back.
Unless you have been advised to buy it by a GP, it's just more stuff lying around the house that will feed your obsession with your health, and therefore your health anxiety.
Sitting around testing your pulse all the time is no way to live - life's too short etc. You'd have been better spending the money on good food or joining a gym as both will probably be better for your heart and mental well being over the long run :)

[JavaJoy01]

Bad idea. In the beginning I bought one and found myself checking my pulse constantly. The more I checked the more anxious I got and the higher it went.

[uk23]

I bought one and it made by anxiety much worse so its kept in the cupboard, its there if i want to use it but i try not to - when i stopped my anxiety went down a bit.

[kurani]

Hi Mishel

I really do feel this is a bad idea. If it was necessary, your doctor would have provided you with a an ambulatory pulse reader to take home and use.

The problem with devices like these is that the more you use it, the more you will worry.

I totally understand you wanting to get one, I got myself a pulse oximeter so I could check my blood oxygen levels to make sure I wasn't oxygen starved lol. The machine did not work properly and it often gave me readings of below 50% when the normal reading for an adult is 98-99%. So it just made things worse for me.

Remember that your heart rate will get faster or slower throughout the day depending on what you are doing and what you are thinking and feeling. It's completely normal and it is designed to do that.

Unless you have been diagnosed with heart disease, heart failure, atrial or ventricular fibrillation or some other degenerative or serious issue with your heart, rest assured your heart is fine and you do not need to constantly monitor it. Your heart knows how to do its job without you watching over it. In fact it works best if you leave it alone and go about your business.

Sinus tachycardia by definition means normal heart rhythm (which means all the electrical and muscle and tissue components of your heart are working fine) and sometimes beats faster.

If you want to put fears about your heart to rest, ask to have a stress test done, I did that and I immediately stopped worrying about that. (Of course I moved on to something else, but I am working through the various worries)

Best of luck!

[Geoff2301]

That certainly is a very fast heartbeat..... I'm amazed. Can't even get up to that with a mad sprint on the bicycle!
If it puts your mind at rest.... great....... but it seems that with most people, it's another thing they then worry about!!
Seems very expensive, I've a blood pressure monitor (Omron I think the make is) and it takes my pulse as well... good make and very reliable + only cost me £18 on Ebay and that's with the postage.... cancel the order quick lol.



wow lots of replays, I a not going to argue as you all have valid points!
I think I am hoping it would put my mind at ease, as long as my pulse is under 200bpm.

my doctor told me to sit down and rest when my heart goes too fast and I start feeling dizzy but i honestly cant tell the difference between anxiety, being unfit and my heart rate actually being high enough , that i should rest.

right now I do honestly believe that it will me with my relaxation and meditation to be able to see my heart rate going down. as i find that meditating used to help stop my palpations.

But I can also see how it could make me worse too!!
I'm just going to have to wait and see what happens.

I know if i was reading this post I'd be concerned too, but you know "you" think "you" know better!!! :blush:

[uk23]

btw, I noticed that on average my heartrate was faster when using the meter, I stopped using it and now at resting it averages about 50-75 bpm.

[Anxious_gal]

wow i will get round to replying!

So I got it today!
Checked my pulse it said 99bpm, but i have no one to compare it to , to see if it does really work lol.
I am not going to check my pulse at night while i am on my own.
so far only checked it one time.

it also has an infra red light, 70% accuracy, which said my blood oxygen level was only 60%!
definitely going to ignore that one!!

[Anxious_gal]

I think you all could be right, you know If my pulse rate was HIGH like 200 for a long period of time, i would be really worried! and probably better off not knowing !


but curiosity gets the best of me!
I also feel some how like i am gaining some kind of control by being able to know what my pulse rate is!

KURANI lol just saw you post about the 50% oxygen level, aw glad to know it's not just me then! who got the low readings.

Thanks everyone for your replies :-)

i think my average heart rate according to the heart monitor test i had done, was 90ish beats per minute with 13 pvps? i think funny heart beats.

I do want to use while meditating, because it would be encouraging to see my heart rate slow down.
I do know from before (ages ago lol ) when i used to meditate daily, i could stop the heart palpitations!

[Anxious_gal]

well so far the highest reading I got was 102bmp lol.

as far as measuring your blood oxygen level, well mine does seem to drop just a little bit while smoking! But thats pretty much expected.

no change in heart rate when I smoke but either way smoking is just asking for trouble!

didn't get any sleep and have a long day ahead of me, and no sleep does seem to set off the fast heart rate so I am going to take it with me and check my rate once at lunch just to see what I get!

I sorta assumed my heart rate was always high due to what the doctors said, but it does seem to stay between 60 and 100 bpms when I am doing nothing :-)

[uk23]

Just to warn you it can easily turn into an obsession, if you notice a slight abnormality it can set of panic. I think its best to try not to use it every day. The normal ranges vary so much that its hard, unless you are a doctor, to work out whats right for you.

[Anxious_gal]

well I've not used it much to be honest, the highest I got was 150.
I do like the thing that tells you how much oxygen is in your blood, when I feel like I can''t breath I'll use it and see that I am getting enough air.

both heart rate and blood oxygen levels are lowest in the mornin.

[nikkinik]

I'm not going to say don't do it.. because I have!

I think its actually helped me determine whats what.. Whats me, and whats real if you like.

I even have a blood sugar monitor! (That Ive used 3 times? When I thought I had low sugar.. I didnt, that was me too)

I think Ive used the BP monitor 6 times? Ive had it a year.
I think it was reasurrance in the beginning, combined with curiosity.. But its helped me realise that what I thought was going on, really isn't. Now you can either look at that as getting reasurance (which you're not supposed to get when you have H.A), or just helping me see it is anxiety (like when my therapist explained why Im so tired.. was that reasurance or her just providing me with knowledge!?).. Either way, its helped!
I don't think you're obsessed, will be using it every 5 mins, or every single time you think something is wrong.. at least I hope you wont. Im sure given time when you realise its just your body and not a real concern it will be lost in the cupboard somewhere :)

I wouldnt worry too much x