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

[keepswimming]

I went and bought a vivosmart 5 but I am unimpressed by the accuracy, battery life or using it. I have to charge it every 2 days and it takes an hour and a half to charge, but I just turned off the oxy sensor thing and that might help. The strap is a cheap piece of junk, looks like what you might see on a kids toy watch. Not comfortable and the stiffness means it does not sit correctly on my wrist unless I tighten it a lot which is uncomfortable

I will send it back and I'm thinking of a corsense maybe with chest strap? I hear you can just take one or two readings a day with it and get good info. Maybe the one with the arm strap, I think that one measures hrv. I like the body battery but really nothing else, the calorie counter is a joke. Maybe get a better watch than the garmin and the arm band variety both?

I could stay with the garmin if battery life gets better and then get another device for hrv which garmin is worthless for. I just wish I could get rid of half the things that come up on the watch and just get hr, body battery and watch battery. I called garmin support and the support guy could not do it

Sorry you don't like it. I have a vivosmart 5 and love mine, I've found the stress rating in particular very accurate and helpful. The battery lasts a good week for me, you're right it could be the oxygen sensor draining it quickly.

You can alter which data you can see on the watch/home screen it you wish, using the app. For the watch go into device settings > appearance > widgets. For the app scroll to the bottom of the home screen and click edit home.

 

[Jyoti]

@Florida Guy --I am sorry the Garmin hasn't worked out well for you. There are, as several people have suggested, a few things you could do to improve the results you are getting, but if it isn't for you, then..... send it back!

I think this highlights something we were discussing in another thread, namely, that we are a maddeningly heterogeneous group and thus, obliged to really track and trust our own experience. What works brilliantly for one so often does not work at all--or even worse--for another.

Over the years since I have been on PR, I have tried at least 300 of my fellow members suggestions--things that made a positive difference for them--and that is likely a conservative estimate. Everything ranging from, yes--the Garmin, to supplements, diet, exercises, particular doctors and their approaches, pillows, neck braces, etc. And I would say that about 20 of those things have been helpful for me.

And honestly--I am more grateful than I can express for those handful of changes I have made based on others' successes. But I have also gotten my hopes way up with many a protocol or path that has not only not helped, but crashed me, sometimes for a long time. So I guess we are all experimenting on ourselves and it is not without its dangers.

At least in this case, you can just send back the watch! And....I don't know if you've seen this one: https://www.makevisible.com/ It is a tracker with an armband which is designed for people with ME/CFS. Maybe that would work better for you?

 

[SnappingTurtle]

And....I don't know if you've seen this one: https://www.makevisible.com/ It is a tracker with an armband which is designed for people with ME/CFS. Maybe that would work better for you?

Ooooh! I hadn't heard of this. I would like to try it. I sent a question about a free trial and/or being able to switch at anytime to the yearly subscription and still avail of the discount for yearly.

 

[SnappingTurtle]

Ooooh! I hadn't heard of this. I would like to try it. I sent a question about a free trial and/or being able to switch at anytime to the yearly subscription and still avail of the discount for yearly.

I also found this in-depth review of the Polar Verity Sense, which is the armband that Visible uses: see Heart Rate Accuracy section https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2021/02/polar-verity-sense-optical-hr-sensor-band-in-depth-review.html

 

[Florida Guy]

You can alter which data you can see on the watch/home screen it you wish, using the app. For the watch go into device settings > appearance > widgets. For the app scroll to the bottom of the home screen and click edit home.

Yes I finally found it. To find device settings which is the first thing it took a lot of looking but clicking challenges and the 3 dots at the bottom I got to a screen with device settings and then appearance and widgets. Why so complicated? I tried that and I was able to delete a few things from the watch but now I look at the watch and it still shows the storm cloud that I deleted. I edited at a glance leaving hr and stress but could not bring bb in. It was in a section below when doing editing. There is probably a way to do it but I have not been able so far to find out how. The thing is complicated and instructions few.

I also can't change what the watch shows. It still shows the rain cloud and steps, calories and intensity which I've tried to eliminate by clicking the red symbol on the widget.

The battery seems better since I stopped the oxy sensor. The strap turned out to be a bigger problem than I realized, it can not sit flat for more than a minute or so then twists over. I went up to 100 bb this morning, first time for that. But sleep score 62. I think I can go for a walk today. Its not useless just hard to use and to learn all the things you have to do. To find bb I go to home then activities then scroll down on the phone.

Yes the stress score seems useful and I will check out all the links and suggestions. If it just had a decent watch band that would help a lot but I might keep it and get another device but most likely I will struggle with it for another week then order the new one and send old one back

If someone was thinking about getting a garmin I would say get the vivosmart 4 since you will save a chunk of money and the "extra" stuff they give you on the 5 like calories and weather report don't really work. No instructions except on the app and the manual is not very good. I thought the instructions were in the box but it was just one page of legal bs in 17 languages, no help at all. Even the garmin tec could not answer my questions. But many thanks to PR members for revealing some of the secrets, I will keep working on it and have already learned some things

 

[hapl808]

If someone was thinking about getting a garmin I would say get the vivosmart 4 since you will save a chunk of money and the "extra" stuff they give you on the 5 like calories and weather report don't really work.

Yeah, I have the 4 and when the 5 came out I didn't see a single feature that I needed.

When I double tap, mine shows Stress. When I swipe down once it goes to HR, another time and BB. That's about all I do with it. If I swipe down again I think it says steps, but I use my phone for that, as I don't find its step count accurate.

 

[Judee]

Does anyone know if I turn off the high heart alerts will it still record them? I'm getting a lot right now and the buzzing on my arm is driving me kooky but I still want to see how many happen each day.

 

[Florida Guy]

Does anyone know if I turn off the high heart alerts will it still record them? I'm getting a lot right now and the buzzing on my arm is driving me kooky but I still want to see how many happen each day.

I do not have alerts on mine but it always records it and shows the zig zag line so I think you will be fine

 

[Judee]

It stops tracking them altogether when I turn off that alarm but I had to because it was driving me buggy. (I have the vivosport 4.)

 

[SnappingTurtle]

It stops tracking them altogether when I turn off that alarm but I had to because it was driving me buggy. (I have the vivosport 4.)

Maybe, you can customize the app notifications foe the alerts from the Garmin Connect app. On my Android-based smartphone, you can change whether the notification makes sound, vibrates etc. I press and hold on the icon, tap the i, for information, then tap App Notifications. See screenshot from mine.

 

[SnappingTurtle]

Maybe, you can customize the app notifications foe the alerts from the Garmin Connect app. On my Android-based smartphone, you can change whether the notification makes sound, vibrates etc. I press and hold on the icon, tap the i, for information, then tap App Notifications. See screenshot from mine.

Oh, I guess you are talking about the watch alerts.

 

[LaurelW]

The Oura ring tracks HRV, but it's HR data is fairly loosey-goosey. I use it to track sleep the most, because trying to use their fitness data is a bad idea for ME patients. Its main draw is that it's a ring and you can wear it 24/7 with no problem.

 

[Florida Guy]

I'm becoming a little disillusioned with the watch. The body battery does not often match with the way I feel. A few times at the end of day I had readings close to 10 or below yet I felt fine. I did not feel like going out and doing a bunch of things but then again, I never do. lol. I have woke up feeling like I got a decent nights sleep and the watch says bb of 35 or 43 or something but I feel good. A couple days I woke up with 95 or 100 and felt fine but nothing special.

Its interesting to see what brings the blue lines and what causes the orange spikes. It seems you get blue spikes with slow wave sleep but sometimes with relaxing too. But what good does that do you? I suppose if your numbers are bad you should avoid doing things that might be hard. But, I have seen bad numbers when I had to go to the store because I had nothing to eat and it was no problem.

Low numbers and high stress correspond to a bad nights sleep but I already know I'm feeling bad so it does not really help but has cool charts to look at. If your pulse is high you might want to avoid doing things but the pulse rate goes up and down so fast you can't really say its 110, you can only say it was 110 a minute ago, now it may be 85.

Are most people still using the watch? What is the main thing it does for you, how do the numbers help you in actual practice? Do you get less pem, how exactly? If I get really fed up with it I may give it away. Perhaps do a little contest or do a drawing for those who are interested?

 

[SnappingTurtle]

I am still using Garmin Vivo Active 4s. Started in Dec 2020. I don't think it is as accurate as Polar chest or armbands. Body battery seems to match my energy levels, but I disregard the next day's BB if I have a 4 hr gap because I forgot it was on the charger. I like to look at resting heart rate when I wake up to know if I should take it easy today.

I am trialling Make Visible Plus that uses Polar Verity Sense, which is geared toward patients like us with energy-limiting illness. So far, it keeps telling me I have exceeded my Pace Budget LOL. Makes sense, because I am in a crash. I guess I am not resting enough.

Neither of these have measurements that correspond to my pain levels, but I never expected them to. Why does that sentence seem wrong?

 

[Florida Guy]

Yesterday I woke up after having the best sleep in a week at least. I felt good until I looked at the watch and it said bb only went up to 53 and then it fell rapidly.

I like to look at resting heart rate when I wake up to know if I should take it easy today.

Ok that's a possible benefit if it corresponds to your actual heart rate. It seems to, when I get up to do something it shows a spike. The bb corresponds roughly to my energy level but is often way off.

This thread is about pacing, how do you know if you are active? Lying down is not active but what about sitting up and watching the monitor or phone, is that an activity? Walking around is, going outside the house is, because you will be walking or driving or something. If only being up and doing something is active, then I'm only active maybe an hour a day. If I count sitting and thinking, then maybe 8 hours a day.

I am trialling Make Visible Plus that uses Polar Verity Sense, which is geared toward patients like us with energy-limiting illness. So far, it keeps telling me I have exceeded my Pace Budget LOL. Makes sense, because I am in a crash. I guess I am not resting enough.

That might be better. I wonder if any of them are good enough to tell you just before you do too much and save you from pem? Or are they going to tell you after its too late? I'm wondering if just going by the way you feel might be equally good to relying on the watch? Of course once we spend money on something we want to use it and feel like we made a good purchase. I've wasted money many times, most people have. But to find something good you have to try a lot of things.

Neither of these have measurements that correspond to my pain levels, but I never expected them to. Why does that sentence seem wrong?

That kind of sums up the way I feel about it. I will keep trying it and see if its helping. If not I should give it away but then that is like saying "here, this is no good, you can have it" so I don't know

 

[SnappingTurtle]

@Florida Guy you might like the Pace Points feature in Make Visible. See my screenshot.
You determine your budget. Initial recommendation was 9, but I changed it to 12.