Tom Bridge:
I bought my Apple Watch Series 4 when Apple announced it this summer, an upgrade from my Series 2. I was attracted by the fall detection (I’m an award-winning accident prone fellow) and also by the new ECG feature. I have a family history of atrial fibrillation, and I’m now 40, so some precautions seemed wise.
This afternoon, I was helping a client move offices, mostly just deconstructing a simple network rack and moving access points into new space. I was doing some physical work, but nothing anyone would mistake for exercise. But, then I felt it. My heart was pounding. I got dizzy. Tunnel vision. I had to sit down.
We’ve heard a lot of these stories and we’ll hear a lot more. If nothing else, the Apple Watch is making many more people much more aware of the overall health and well being. I know it’s already helped me lose weight and I’ve only had it for a couple of weeks.
My doctor and I have been trying to catch this issue happening on an ECG for a few months. The episodes have been so infrequent and far between that other monitoring devices are ineffective. This last weekend I had a sudden tachycardia event but this time I had a Series 4 watch. I was able to get the single lead ECG rhythm captured before it subsided which was always before I could make it to urgent care to get a full 12 lead ECG. With that recording from the watch we finally have a clearer picture of what’s going on and something to treat.
It’s always a relief to hear you’re not alone, and I’m hopeful that you can bring good data to your medical folks in the future!