A worrier with CVD

[Pajebynight]

Hi there,

I’m new to this and hope it’s not going to become another health-related habit of mine, but am keen to feel I’m not alone in living with heart disease - had balloon angioplasty in March following an episode of stable angina. Two other arteries are quite gummed up but not yet at threshold for intervention.

I bought an Oura ring as a wellness tracker and it measures, among other things, my heart rate variability while sleeping. I was very alarmed to have my average readings come out as what internet articles call chronically low (Oura is more diplomatic, saying the readings are highly personal). My night time average is 27ms. It’s also apparently normal to have lower readings during the day, but if I measure mine in the day it can be anything from around 20 to 55 or so - and I don’t know if this is a problem. It’s ironic that something I got to help my well-being is arguably increasing my anxiety! Wonder if anyone else is experiencing anything similar, or can be at all reassuring?

[Hidden]

I would get rid of tracker AS that be adding to symptoms anxiety.

I suffer eptopic arrhythmia MY heart misses 3 beats every 20s how why doctors said is normal BUT is not for me AS feel aurful.

With stress anxiety things quickly snowball.

First thing I did was get rid of my monitor AS it’s bad enough when my doctors try looking for my heart beat.

Clearly I don’t know about stuff your talking about personaly BUT stress and compounding issues I do AND what happens to me.

I found out doctors only treat stuff I talked about if it’s 6 beats every 20s

[Pajebynight in reply to Hidden]

Thanks Jeff. Yes, I think it’s probably sensible to just ditch the anxiety-inducing stuff and try to live in the moment. Wishing you all the best with your struggles.

[Hidden in reply to Pajebynight]

Hi pajebynight that’s all I do now AND feel lot better for it

[MichaelJH Heart Star]

Hello and welcome to the forum! I initially assumed your measurements were the time of a heart beat (e.g. 27mS = 0.027 second). But doing this gives you a lowest rate of 18bpm! The lowest I have seen reported for an elite athlete is 27bpm so my assumption seems wrong.

I personally have a general scepticism of most of these health trackers. Does your manual explain this reading?

[Pajebynight in reply to MichaelJH]

Thanks Michael. I think you’re wise to be sceptical- when I’ve mentioned it to cardiac rehab people they say the same thing! Heart rate variability doesn’t seem to have hit the mainstream yet, though i know it’s used in coaching athletes and is becoming more popular as a type of biofeedback. I daren’t ask my cardiologist for fear I’ll get more anxious by his answer!

The Oura ring online manual doesn’t say anything about having higher hrv readings in the day than during sleep. It does say that readings vary between 100+ and below 20, and comparing between people is not advisable. The scariest thing Ive seen (not on the oura site) linked low hrv with early mortality - but I’ve tried to put this to one side!

[Dolphin14]

I agree get rid of whatever it is. I don't really understand what it's telling you, I'm not familiar with this device.

Constant monitoring is just not good for anxiety. Readings will bounce all over the place and make people nervous.

If you are checking your pulse. Do it the old fashion way by counting it manually. If you are not familiar have your nurse or Dr show you.

[sos007]

I had a triple bypass and 2 angioplasties with 4 stents in 2015. I know what you mean by anxiety - I have had it ever since.

Best thing to do is to control what you CAN control - your diet and lifestyle.

If you haven't already done so, adopt the Mediterranean Diet and daily exercise which is what I did. All of my blood measures normalized as did my weight and I am now in the best shape of my life. I stopped taking all medications in October 2016. You may check out my posts on the Cholesterol Forum.

[Pajebynight in reply to sos007]

Thank you - your story is really inspiring (and your username very apt!).

You’re right - I’ve adopted a Mediterranean diet (with the odd lapse...) and am exercising regularly. I’m feeling healthy, but anxiety can cause physical symptoms that make me fear cardiac problems. I will check out your posts. Thanks again.

[sos007 in reply to Pajebynight]

By the way, the Oura ring is a very high quality biometric device. Any type of biometric measurement, including blood-work, can act as a means of accountability for your dietary and lifestyle behaviour.

One of the most important components of good health is consistently getting 8 hours of sleep each night. I recommend a book called 'Why We Sleep" by Matthew Walker.

Here's a link to the website of Dr. Peter Attia where you can hear his podcast episode with the author. You can listen to it in installments as it is very long but very worthwhile.