Anaerobic heart rate

[Emmarose47]

Can people give me the formula they are using to work out what our heart rate is better to stay at with severe m.e CFS ?

 

[Judee]

This is from this article: https://www.healthrising.org/blog/2...art-rate-monitoring-chronic-fatigue-syndrome/

The method I used is the calculation: (220-your age) x 0.6 = HR at AT.

From what I gather, the 0.6 represents the percentage that your severity impacts your functionality. So, mild ME patients might choose 80%, moderate 70 or 60%, Severe 50%+. It’s quite an individual thing, but err on the side of caution. I used 60% but arguably when I became housebound, I should’ve changed it to 50%. You will be able to tell over time. So, back then I calculated mine to be: (220-39) x 0.6 = 108.6 bpm

However, the Workwell Foundation’s more recent findings suggests that most people with ME/CFS met their anaerobic threshold at about 15 beats per minute above their resting heart rate. (Watches can provide average resting heart rates.) Workwell recommends charting your resting heart rate while remaining flat in bed after wakening.

You might want to read the section on Rolling PEM too on that article. It's very interesting and I think what many of us deal with.

 

[Nord Wolf]

I agree with Judee in the calculation process. That seems to work for me as well. For me and my ME level I use:
220-51x0.50, which gives me 84.50 HR at AT.

The trick is keeping it in the range! And what needs to be done to keep it in range varies widely from day to day, or even a span of a few hours. I always find one of the hardest things to manage with activity of any kind.

 

[BrightCandle]

Be a bit wary of the 220 - age calculation for maximum heart rate. The paper that established this link was not very many people and the line only very roughly fit the observations, its become a bit of a thing that everyone believes is true but the individual variability even in that study was very high from that average, up to IIRC 30 beats per minute off that prediction. Given the group used was of varying age and fitness and not very many people it really didn't establish that level of certainty and none of the individuals actually met that predictive line.

So rather than 50-60% of max heart rate you probably want to try and stay within 30 bpm of your resting heart rate unless you know what your maximum heart rate is/was before you become ill.

 

[Emmarose47]

I agree with Judee in the calculation process. That seems to work for me as well. For me and my ME level I use:
220-51x0.50, which gives me 84.50 HR at AT.

The trick is keeping it in the range! And what needs to be done to keep it in range varies widely from day to day, or even a span of a few hours. I always find one of the hardest things to manage with activity of any kind.

So mine is 81
I really don't think I hit that ...but hey when in bad flare and hiking upstairs back from the kitchen it is poss .

Got my fit bit back on

 

[Judee]

So rather than 50-60% of max heart rate you probably want to try and stay within 30 bpm of your resting heart rate unless you know what your maximum heart rate is/was before you become ill.

Maybe a dumb question but do we still use the 30 bpm rule when on beta blockers that move our "normal" range lower?

 

[Nord Wolf]

Maybe a dumb question but do we still use the 30 bpm rule when on beta blockers that move our "normal" range lower?

Actually, I think that is a good question. I just started taking Metoprolol 4 days ago for PoTS. It dropped my HTR and BP dramatically, as well as seriously suppressed my previously redlining ANS. It is really quite amazing since this is the first med, or anything for that matter, to make a dent in those readings.

Now I’m waiting to see how long it will take for my body to recover core energy. The body battery (Garmin watch) rebounds overnight, but still drops too quickly even with the control of the HTR, BP, and ANS, which tells me the core is in need of playing catch up.

My best guess at this point is to remain within 30 beats of my new average levels. I would think once the body battery readings seem to coincide with the HTR, BP, and ANS readings, I could begin to expand over the 30 BPM and see how my system handles it.

Today the my state department for the blind and visually impaired mobility specialist brought me to town and helped me practice slowly navigating residential areas. With my new Ambutech white cane I was able to navigate sidewalks, driveway and road crossings, and the walkway through the park pretty smoothly. My first time doing so blind in town. I was proud of myself. Even more impressive was that my ANS readings never went over 30%, my HTR never went over 80 bpm, and my BP never elevated past 120/74!! Before starting Metoprolol just standing up to walk to the kitchen would redline everything! I hope this pattern continues.