Tracking my Heart Rate Variability (HRV)

[Dechi]

@Dechi - have you had the experience of your HRV suddenly rising? I had a 35(!) point jump this morning in my supine HRV, and feel pretty horrible today. Standing HRV was in the same range as usual.

I read on the EliteHRV site: "If your HRV rises abnormally high (above a certain standard deviation) within a day or a few days, the app indicates with a yellow or red that you are likely experiencing abnormal amounts of recovery (Parasympathetic NS activity). This is often in response to accumulated amounts of stress." https://elitehrv.com/faq

Any thoughts on this? They seem to think the body goes into a "deep recovery" mode when there is a sudden jump. Huh?

@BadBadBear Flukes happen and a jump of 35 in your HRV is probably just that. It's way too much. When I am really bad, I get an increase of about 10, or it could also be a decrease of about 10. I can't figure out any logic to it. I've come to the conclusion that the Elite HRV can't be used with a chronic illness. At least not in the same way.

I've adapted it and only pay attention to a few things now.

 

[BadBadBear]

@BadBadBear Flukes happen and a jump of 35 in your HRV is probably just that. It's way too much. When I am really bad, I get an increase of about 10, or it could also be a decrease of about 10. I can't figure out any logic to it. I've come to the conclusion that the Elite HRV can't be used with a chronic illness. At least not in the same way.

I've adapted it and only pay attention to a few things now.

I almost always get a big jump in numbers in the evening, and it was almost like my morning reading matched my evening reading. Like the autonomic system went bananas. It is interesting, but so far needs to be taken with a huge grain of salt. I guess I need to go back to also tracking on Elite HRV as I could not tell from my watch that it had a weird reading. I would have like to repeat it and see if the 2nd reading was as odd.

 

[Dechi]

@BadBadBear If you try a second reading let me know the results !

 

[BadBadBear]

Supine was at 57 this morning, standing felt so terrible that I sat on the edge of the bed and didn't even try to stand. Supine had been running 30-40. So still oddly high. I pretty much glued myself to the recliner today and didn't try to move around much.

Mid day reading in the recliner after a long sleep was 50 resting, 16 standing.

 

[Dechi]

@BadBadBear I suppose you have POTS ?

 

[BadBadBear]

Not at the moment. I had POTS issues 5 years ago during a really bad flare, and this year I had tachycardia issues with my bad flare, but no POTS this time around. I also have been having orthostatic intolerance, low blood pressure (like 80/60), and low pulse pressure down to the low 20's, though. So lots of cardiac type symptoms... I thought tracking HRV might make some sense of things or be easy to monitor.

And who knows, I might pass out on a tilt table at the moment, but I'm not having really bad POTS type of issues so I have not gone to my cardiologist. They keep telling me I'm healthy every time they look at me.

 

[Dechi]

@BadBadBear What type of orthostatic intolerance do you have, besides POTS which is okay at the moment ?

 

[BadBadBear]

Blood pressure drops on standing and I get dizzy or 'brown out' (get close to passing out). I have a history of blacking out and falling, but have not had that happen this year. Same issues will happen if I stand too long, but not having the tachycardia this time that goes with POTS.

Supine HRV was around 44 this morning, back toward normal range.

 

[Dechi]

Blood pressure drops on standing and I get dizzy or 'brown out' (get close to passing out). I have a history of blacking out and falling, but have not had that happen this year. Same issues will happen if I stand too long, but not having the tachycardia this time that goes with POTS.

Supine HRV was around 44 this morning, back toward normal range.

It sounds like what I have : neurally mediated syncope

 

[BadBadBear]

Blood pressure drops on standing and I get dizzy or 'brown out' (get close to passing out). I have a history of blacking out and falling, but have not had that happen this year. Same issues will happen if I stand too long, but not having the tachycardia this time that goes with POTS.

Supine HRV was around 44 this morning, back toward normal range.

It sounds like what I have : neurally mediated syncope

Have you found anything helpful for BP? I've tried florinef, licorice, and now midodrine. I constantly drink salted water and electrolytes. Seems like my body adjusts to it all in short order. Mido gives me a REALLY great mood and energy for the first day, then the effect is gone. Also tried saline IV's and they lose their effect pretty quickly, too.

I tried Yohimbe ala @Sushi and found it too stimulating (and it drives my HRV down quickly) so I stopped it before I crashed too bad.

Hoping to try Mestinon next, but not feeling hopeful about it. Well, I am expecting the worst, hoping for the best. Let's put it that way.

TY for the HRV discussion.

 

[Dechi]

Have you found anything helpful for BP? I've tried florinef, licorice, and now midodrine. I constantly drink salted water and electrolytes. Seems like my body adjusts to it all in short order. Mido gives me a REALLY great mood and energy for the first day, then the effect is gone. Also tried saline IV's and they lose their effect pretty quickly, too.

I tried Yohimbe ala @Sushi and found it too stimulating (and it drives my HRV down quickly) so I stopped it before I crashed too bad.

Hoping to try Mestinon next, but not feeling hopeful about it. Well, I am expecting the worst, hoping for the best. Let's put it that way.

TY for the HRV discussion.

I haven't tried anything. Increasing salt makes me inflate like a balloon, so I don't. I want to try Mestinon too.

@Cheesus Sorry for digressing !

 

[Sushi]

I tried Yohimbe ala @Sushi and found it too stimulating (and it drives my HRV down quickly) so I stopped it before I crashed too bad.

I don't ever recall using Yohimbe but I did use Strattera. Did I post about Yohimbe somewhere?

 

[BadBadBear]

I don't ever recall using Yohimbe but I did use Strattera. Did I post about Yohimbe somewhere?

Sorry @Sushi, I was thinking of Strattera and mixed you up with@Valentijn, who used Yohimbe in place of Strattera IIRC. I read too much and confused myself. Unfortunately, QED.

 

[Dechi]

@BadBadBear You use some abbreviations that I don't understand. What are " TY " and " QED " ?

 

[BadBadBear]

@BadBadBear You use some abbreviations that I don't understand. What are " TY " and " QED " ?

TY = thank you!
and QED = Quite Easily Done meaning I am easily confused, alas

 

[Valentijn]

I tried Yohimbe ala @Sushi and found it too stimulating (and it drives my HRV down quickly) so I stopped it before I crashed too bad.

A normal dose was way too high for me. I had to split them to get about 100-125mg yohimbe (2-2.5mg yohimbine).

 

[BadBadBear]

A normal dose was way too high for me. I had to split them to get about 100-125mg yohimbe (2-2.5mg yohimbine).

Thanks, @Valentijn. i need to split mine up and see how that goes today.