Pacing: Very interesting HealthRising article re HR and HRV monitoring and pacing - I may finally spring for an HR/HRV monitor!

[Strawberry]

Oh, I thought the change was to the watch face. I only view stats on the phone, since the watch display is too small for me.

Was the change on the phone app or on the watch apps/widgets?

This is what I see on my phone. Id I press and hold in the graph, I can see the point in time value.
View attachment 52425

This is me 40% of the month

 

[wabi-sabi]

The Visible Plus gadget just arrived today. Excited to try it out!

 

[Strawberry]

Keep us posted!!! I’m excited for you!

 

[wabi-sabi]

It's working really well so far. The app displays heartrate in a little circle similar to how the garmin app displays. However, next t your heartrate it gives you a note about whether you are in rest, exertion, or overexertion. No more trying to figure out heartrate pacing on my own! You can also see a daily graph of heartrate that looks similar to garmin's except that where garmin's is too small to read, you can zoom in and expand the graph so you can really see minute to minute what your heartrate is doing and when.

I think this will be really helpful! If only rolling over in bed for a glass of water didn't push me into exertion...sigh.

 

[wabi-sabi]

I discovered something interesting/disturbing this morning. When I got out of bed first thing (a time when my heartrate tends to be bad) the polar/visible tracked it 111 or thereabouts which is in my overexertion range. I checked it against the garmin, which had my pulse in the high 60s. I've been pacing (and crashing) with the garmin and this may be part of the reason why. For short periods of high heartrate, the garmin just doesn't seem to pick it up.

 

[Hufsamor]

I discovered something interesting/disturbing this morning. When I got out of bed first thing (a time when my heartrate tends to be bad) the polar/visible tracked it 111 or thereabouts which is in my overexertion range. I checked it against the garmin, which had my pulse in the high 60s. I've been pacing (and crashing) with the garmin and this may be part of the reason why. For short periods of high heartrate, the garmin just doesn't seem to pick it up.

Garmin is «cutting» the tops. To get an accurate reading you need to run an activity.
I love my garmin, but I wish it showed correct heartrate all the time…

 

[wabi-sabi]

If any one else is using the VisiblePlus, I'd be really interested to hear how many points you use per day. I am having a very hard time keeping my points low. Today was discouraging because taking a nap (and getting overheated in blankets) cost me a lot.

 

[Judee]

I love my garmin, but I wish it showed correct heartrate all the time…

My heartrates seem accurate. Not sure if I did something inadvertently to make them that way though.

The sleep times are what bother me. If I'm just laying down it says I'm sleeping. Or if will say I went to bed at 8:34pm when I didn't really physically even until after midnight. Or if I end up getting up halfway through the night for a while it will only pick up on the 2nd half of my sleep and I have to do an edit but then I can't remember when I went to bed originally. (Why the 2nd half and not the 1st, I have no idea?)

 

[wabi-sabi]

The sleep times are what bother me. If I'm just laying down it says I'm sleeping. Or if will say I went to bed at 8:34pm when I didn't really physically even until after midnight. Or if I end up getting up halfway through the night for a while it will only pick up on the 2nd half of my sleep and I have to do an edit but then I can't remember when I went to bed originally. (Why the 2nd half and not the 1st, I have no idea?)

This makes me insane too! Just last night when I was lying awake in an agony of insomnia and listening to an audiobook so as not to go insane it counted me as sleeping and gave me an award for good sleep. I can edit the sleep and wake times, but not the wake in the night times. A few days ago I tossed and tuned for 1.5 hours (again listening to an audiobook so I know) and it picked up on only 17 minutes of it. That unfortunately isn't fixable.

It misses most of the overexertion heartrate spikes the visible picks up. What I'm learning from visible is that a heartrate spike into overexertion, even if it lasts only a minute or two will cost me a lot of pacing points. I have heartrate alarms set on the garmin (they don't go low enough), but they don't always go off even when it does register my heart is too fast. The visible alarms nearly every time I get out of bed.

 

[Jyoti]

@wabi-sabi --I know it is really early days yet, but are you seeing any improvements from staying inside the Visible pacing points? Are you able to even do that? If taking a nap uses up points, then I think I might be terrified to try it!

 

[wabi-sabi]

I know it is really early days yet, but are you seeing any improvements from staying inside the Visible pacing points? Are you able to even do that? If taking a nap uses up points, then I think I might be terrified to try it!

It's only day 3, so I will need one more day of data before setting a point budget.

It's illuminating, terrifying and frustrating what uses points, but I guess it's better to know. At least, I will think it's better to know once I get over being disappointed about being reminded how sick I am. I am in a crash right now, so I'm trying to use as few points as possible. I don't know how many points I will have to spend when I'm not in a crash. Yesterday was a very sick day and I strongly suspect I burn through points faster when crashed.

On the napping- what really seems to use the points is getting overheated or the menopausal hots flashes. I overheat in my sleep if I have the covers on, so it's not really the napping per se that burns points. Based on the garmin body battery (which is the most reliable part of the garmin) when i am in a crash I only recharge during a good night's sleep. When I am not in a crash a nap will recharge me, so I m hoping that napping won't burn points when I'm not crashed. Still, I've been sleeping so little at night that I need the napping right now even with overheating. Next time I will just try napping with an ice pack.

It's just very interesting information, some of it confirming my intuition and some new things I need to be aware of. Learning what helps me rest best is just as important as learning what taxes me most.

 

[Jyoti]

Learning what helps me rest best is just as important as learning what taxes me most.

Apt observation!

 

[wabi-sabi]

I've given myself 8 points. Some days I know I will go over, but I think this is a good starting baseline.

 

[Strawberry]

@wabi-sabi How is the visible going? And anyone else that got it?

Is there a thread specific to Visible?

 

[Jyoti]

@wabi-sabi How is the visible going?

I am curious as well. And have been meaning to write and ask--so thanks, @Strawberry for doing that.

My Garmin is starting to act a bit wonky. It is ok most of the time, but more and more I notice strange little glitches--where it is clear that things are not being measured correctly. I am starting to contemplate: a new Garmin or the Visible armband system. So any updates would be super welcome!

 

[wabi-sabi]

How is the visible going?

Thanks for asking! It is going well. I am finding the VisiblePlus to be more helpful than the once daily check in.

The latest developments are that I've had almost a week of going over budget on a daily basis. (I had to leave the house for some blood work.) It's been useful in tracking the crash and (hopefully) the recovery.

Of course, I knew that leaving the house would put me over budget for that day and that I would feel awful for a few days afterward. What VisiblePlus shows is that on my crash days daily activities, rolling over in bed, eating, drinking etc., are much more costly than they are on non-crash days. My frustrating revelation was that on a crash day I can't stay in budget even by being bedridden. I think this points out just how much is going wrong internally. I was feeling really very sad and frustrated over this at first, but then I thought that it's a good measure of my crashes- when they start and when they end. Today, fingers crossed, the crash is getting better, so I'm doing better at staying in budget-feeling better enough that I want to exercise and telling myself it's still too soon. Without the visible I might exercise and then recrash myself. It's proving useful in stopping me from overdoing when I can.

I'm also starting to see a bit of correlation between the garmin and the visible. The garmin is less precise is some ways-I can recharge myself with napping or meditating, but I can't get energy points back after I've spent them. However, noticing whether or not my body battery fully recharges overnight or not is an important clue that the visible sometimes misses, so it's more precise in others. I needed the visibleplus to really show me how to use the garmin, since the garmin cheers you on for using energy and the visible cautions you not to overdo.

All in all, I think it's a helpful investment. I need the constant reminder not to overdo things that the visibleplus gives me. If you can hold back on your own, you might not need it as much. But I find I start feeling better before I am better and then just keep recrashing myself.

 

[Jyoti]

Thanks for the detailed update @wabi-sabi. It is very helpful.

I think this points out just how much is going wrong internally. I was feeling really very sad and frustrated over this at first,

Honestly, this is my concern. Will I find myself able to deal with just how bad things look when I get a more accurate reading? But as you point out, the Visible CAN help one manage the dysfunctions more successfully. Kind of like--getting out of denial? Dealing with reality?

I was also happy to read about the relationship you see between the 'advice' from the Garmin and that which you get from Visible.

But I find I start feeling better before I am better and then just keep recrashing myself.

So familiar..... So maybe I will go with the Visible. Not 100% sure, but if I do, I will surely let everyone know how it works for me.

 

[wabi-sabi]

But as you point out, the Visible CAN help one manage the dysfunctions more successfully. Kind of like--getting out of denial? Dealing with reality?

Yep, that's it. But the other part is that my feelings don't always match how sick I am. The first couple fo days after or coming out of a crash I feel great comparatively, but I'm still not OK. That's where the visibleplus helps me to keep resting longer than I want to.

I think it might be helping with med tracking too. I've recently been diagnosed with mast cell problems and I am noticing that the mast cell meds help the fast heartrate and orthostatic symptoms a bit. That shows up for me better on the visible than it does on the garmin. The garmin notes a lot of things as stress that aren't. If you can mentally translate that every time your garmin shows stress that you are going over budget it can help, but that's too big a mental leap for me.

Honestly, this is my concern. Will I find myself able to deal with just how bad things look when I get a more accurate reading?

Yes, after a period of adjustment.
It's the cruel irony that what helps with emotional coping-forgetting for a time just how sick you are- doesn't help you mange the illness. After being sad for a few days, I have decided it is better to know so I can deal with it. That's why I wanted the visible after all.

 

[LJor]

If any one else is using the VisiblePlus, I'd be really interested to hear how many points you use per day. I am having a very hard time keeping my points low. Today was discouraging because taking a nap (and getting overheated in blankets) cost me a lot.

Mine is set at 15. I thought that was too high until I had a crash I am still recovering from. Watching what is happening as I recover is as interesting as the change that happened as I crashed (and burned). Had a good day per heart rate yesterday but brain fog was profound.

 

[wabi-sabi]

Mine is set at 15.

Could you say what things you are able to do? Are you bedridden, housebound or able to get out and about? How many hours of upright activity do you have per day? I am curious to see if points correlate with severity.