Apple Watch

[iris lilies]

Iris, try taking your cuff with you to the doc or Red Cross and compare your cuff against theirs at the same time. I did that with mine because I consistently get lower numbers at home. It turned out that I must just be nervous at the doc or whatever because at the doc’s office mine also showed higher numbers than at home and was within a couple of points of the doc’s.

Now that we’ve established that mine gives decent results I just take it at home from time to time and record the results on the medical practice’s app. Then when I go to the doc and have a higher reading he doesn’t worry about it since he can see that outside his office I’m fine.

yes, and if my readings were consistently, HIGHER at doctors office or Red Cross I would understand it. But they are consistently LOWER.

It’s not a wrist cuff, it is an arm cuff, and I reread the instructions to make sure I am placing it properly and sitting properly

[jp1]

Maybe while I apparently get nervous at the doc you feel calm when there? Lol.

But seriously, who knows. It may well be that your cuff is off calibration and would also report high at the doc’s.

[JaneV2.0]

Yeah, I know... I understand. Sometimes someone will ask me when I get up, "Did you sleep well last night?" and I'll say "Let me check my watch."

One of the main reasons I do it is because I have a very low HRV which my doctors won't recognize so I'm trying hard to raise it on my own without their direction. The reason I'm worried about that is because there are many published studies that say that HRV is associated with poor outcomes like sudden cardiac death and other cardiovascular issues. That's my main area of interest in wearing the watch.

So there are a lot of metrics that correlate with that goal, like reducing heart rate, monitoring sleep apnea, deep breathing, meditation, and staying active.

That's why I do it.

From the little I know about HRV--and I think this applies to a variety of conditions--the stress involved in constant monitoring and worrying is probably more of a threat than the condition itself.

A shallow dive into the literature on HRV suggests it could be diet-related. For example:
https://elitehrv.com/case-study-the-...te-variability

[Tybee]

My husband has sinus bradycardia, a left branch bundle block and premature PJC's. His fingers will get very white and sometimes blue. That's all I know so far. But it isn't all the time. Thus I thought the watch might be good.

[catherine]

From the little I know about HRV--and I think this applies to a variety of conditions--the stress involved in constant monitoring and worrying is probably more of a threat than the condition itself.

A shallow dive into the literature on HRV suggests it could be diet-related. For example:
https://elitehrv.com/case-study-the-...te-variability

Diet is one component, but there are several others including sleep, alcohol/tobacco use, physical activity, stress, caffeine, posture, overall health, genetics, age, gender, medications, noise, and climate.

Related to diet, I read in one article that heavier meals high in saturated or trans fats and high glycemic carbohydrates have been found to reduce heart rate variability, in contrast with a Mediterranean diet and lighter meals high in omega-3 fatty acids, B-vitamins, and probiotics. I have also found that my HRV goes up a little if I remember to drink a lot of water.

My HRV has been chronically low since 2020 at least--that's when I first identified it. I've played around with many modifiable factors in an effort to influence it, yet, it stays steady year over year, and it's actually declining. For my age, it should be about 40-60ms and mine is about 16-17.

[JaneV2.0]

Diet is one component, but there are several others including sleep, alcohol/tobacco use, physical activity, stress, caffeine, posture, overall health, genetics, age, gender, medications, noise, and climate.

Related to diet, I read in one article that heavier meals high in saturated or trans fats and high glycemic carbohydrates have been found to reduce heart rate variability, in contrast with a Mediterranean diet and lighter meals high in omega-3 fatty acids, B-vitamins, and probiotics. I have also found that my HRV goes up a little if I remember to drink a lot of water.

My HRV has been chronically low since 2020 at least--that's when I first identified it. I've played around with many modifiable factors in an effort to influence it, yet, it stays steady year over year, and it's actually declining. For my age, it should be about 40-60ms and mine is about 16-17.

Sounds complicated. I'm happy I have no idea what mine is.

[catherine]

Sounds complicated. I'm happy I have no idea what mine is.

I know! I wish I had never heard of it....

[Teacher Terry]

I took my wrist one to the doctor with me and that’s how I learned it was 7 points higher. For a few years I just subtracted the points and then finally bought an arm one.

[iris lilies]

So, thinking about portability of podcasts, how good is the audio transmission on the Apple Watch? I’m a little hard of hearing. Could I hear it if I’m out and about listening to podcasts on my Apple Watch?

that would be useful for me. But then, having one more thing to keep charged wouldn’t be great. I wonder how many podcasts I could load on there, could I have eight hours of podcasts loaded?

[bae]

The sound quality from the built-in speaker would disappoint you.

As a source to stream to Bluetooth headphones, it works fine. But then again, your phone does too.

It *is* convenient to have the controls on the watch for pause/whatnot. Most earbuds let you poke at them directly to do that, but that's a bother if you have large hands/arthritis/...


I keep a couple Audible books on mine for hiking, but really the phone would work just as well.