Looking thru iPhone history from my Apple Watch since I began wearing it, I just discovered that my resting heart rate was between 48 and 54 BPM throughout the first 14 months.
The watch then records a sudden sustained resting heart rate jump to 69 BPM in April, when PMR smacked me down.
That’s up to 21 more heartbeats a minute for that whole very painful month! 🫀
I’m reporting this in case it’s a symptom, or should be something we watch for, pun intended.
Is it normal for resting heart rates to jump as much as 40% to 45% when PMR strikes?
Once on pred it fell to 61 BPM thru May, 57 BPM thru June & July, and so far 55 BPM in August.
The watch also reports my V02 plummeted from the borderline of high / above average just before PMR hit in April to below average fitness by early July, even though I was increasingly mobile with pred thru May & June. I’ve only been able to reverse the falling trend since July 23rd, and currently just qualify barely above average.
And for those without this tech, there is no ‘average’, just ‘above average’ or ‘below average’. I’m walking a fine line, one banana peel away from oblivion. That’s just one more reason to watch out for monkey pox. If I see anyone scratching their armpits, I’m crossing the road!
I hope this information may be of use, and that other watch watchers may review history and see if there’s a pattern.
And in case you’re on the fence about getting a watch, another great feature of this tech is that it can automatically call someone if you fall, and warn you if it senses an occasion of disturbing or irregular heartbeat.
Best summer wishes from Canada’s South Pacific 🏝
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MikeVanBC
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The effect of PMR inflammation on muscle is much the same as being unfit - and you heart has to work harder to supply the required oxygen. So it beats faster - just as it would if you upped your exercise rate.
Understood. So if someone is reducing their prednisone and gets to the level where PMR inflammation is beginning to flare, is it possible the watch may serve as an early warning system if we see our resting heart rate beginning to rise on a day-over-day basis?
Could we have a head’s up before we feel the pain?
In theory, it seems possible. As in the initial post, my resting heart rate (“RHR”) has been slowing back down, presumably due to inflammation reduction.
If I reduce pred below the threshold necessary to contain it (and Dorset Lady’s bucket is too small), it seems possible RHR may start to rise if indeed it does when the body must fight back.
And if RHR does not rise, is it possible what feels like a flare may be distinguished as adrenal glands trying to reboot?
Well that is the first time I’ve seen that! You are an amazing resource to us all and devote so generously of your time. Thanks very much for all your thoughtful replies. 😘
Yes, and might watching RHR give us some advance notice of a building flare? Would this be distinguishable from adrenals stuttering? Is it possible we may be able to use this tech to better manage PMR?
Thanks for drawing out PMRpro's answer below... my resting heart rate went from 60’s in 2020 to 90’s in June 2022 when I was diagnosed with PMR and started prednisone. It's back down now.
Are you looking at your Heart Rate Variability? I've tracked mine for several years with an app called Welltory. I was about to cancel when I noticed that it was tracking my STRESS (sympathetic /parasympathetic) response with uncanny accuracy. My PMR gets really edgy (less politely... pissy and irritable) when I am emotionally stressed. Physical stress (pain and exhaustion) also plays a part. I'm more conscious of the consequences of overdoing because of the kickback I get from my PMR. I use meditation and breathing to rebalance and am trying to cut back on my doing, doing, doing. It's quite a "lifestyle" change! Hope everyone finds this mildly interesting. Enjoy today... it's another scorcher here in the Eastern US.
Thanks for your comments, your referral to Welltory, and such a detailed summary of your wild ride into PMR. It seems the pred is taking the razor’s edge off, and I’m wondering if there’s a way to use tech to manage tapering. Might any of these tools serve as an early warning system, alerting us before we feel the pain from quietly building inflammation?
Thanks for reading up on me. I wrote the bio in a delirium from the pain... I'll go back and revise when my head is fully attached. Yes, prednisone is a miracle for me.
HRV/Welltory is quite tricky to read... after several years I was still at sea but curious. Only when PMR arrived did I see a correlation. And who knows where they get their algorithm? I've been looking for patterns and I do see those.
NASA and others are investigating HRV. I just pulled this 2013 PubMed article up (I don't know how to link yet...Heart rate variability Iwona Cygankiewicz , Wojciech Zareba) Last sentence: "This chapter aims to review clinical and prognostic application of HRV analysis in diabetes, stroke, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophies, Parkinson's disease and epilepsy."
I am not a trained researcher and do not yet know what to look for in a study to proof validity so it will be slow going to read up on HRV.
Going to invest in a Apple Watch later in the year, have a cheapo Fitbit atm, but it does show interesting trends in resting heart rates although got it after PMR diagnosis. The main reason for the Apple Watch would be the “hard fall” detection as I had carefully zipped my phone into inside pocket which proved an unwelcome challenge when came off the horse last Spring and broke my arm- did manage to retrieve it eventually but would have been nice to have had tech help! All good wishes.
I love my watch!!! and yes, my heart rate was higher at the beginning of PMR. I am now down to 1.5mg. after 5 years and heart rate low again. I didn't have a watch back then, but kept pretty good track. The fall detection is the best!! Although I jumped down from the jungle gym with my grandson and it said DID you FALL??? so one must be sure to push NO! and not have the paramedics arrive. I do have a friend who did fall with hers and they came! Well worth the investment and there are some studies that give you a watch. that is how I got mine. Might be in the US only not sure but check out heartline.com and intuitionstudy.com In the first you must be over 65. it is a heart study. and in the second it is a brain study. Free Watches. (for some in the first and everyone in the second if you participate.)
Yes, the fall detection is potentially a very valuable tool, especially if your watch is able to send an outbound phone alert. However I think mine may be overly sensitive, as I get quite a few ‘Did you fall?’ messages, especially when jumping in the water for a swim 🏊♀️
My children bought me one last Christmas and it has been very useful It recently informed me that I had an A fib Episode we’re my heart rate fluctuated over an hour. I made a Doctors appointment the next day and I was able to show the Doctor the data from my Phone. I am being monitored for it
. I had a fall after tripping on a door jam and while on the ground it started calling emergency services which I managed to stop BUT had I been knocked out, it would have been a lifesaver
I have an older Series 6 which has served me well for about a year and a half. There’s a new Series 8 coming out in a few months, and that will drive prices lower for both the Series 6 and current Series 7.
Some future potential tech add-ons are cut and pasted here;
According to The Wall Street Journal and other sources, Apple is developing several new health features for future Apple Watch models. These include blood-pressure monitoring, a thermometer for fertility and sleep tracking, sleep apnea detection, and diabetes detection.
Some of these features could be introduced in the Apple Watch Series 8, but it is not clear if all of these sensors are ready so Apple could also hold the functionality until a later date.
Women's health features, sleep updates, new fitness options, and medication management are all features that are set to launch prior to blood pressure and glucose monitoring, features not expected until 2025 or later.
Here’s a link to the Series 7 on the Apple UK website:
I think this technology is a welcome addition to health management, because it works in the background continually monitoring and maintaining history on an assortment of things, some of which may prove to be very important, possibly even critical.
Thank you MVB very interesting. Here is a link to the Heart Math Institute which does lots of research on link between HRV and stress and illness. It has simple techniques like slow even breath 5 or 6 seconds in 5 or 6 seconds out, breathing through the heart centre. I find these extremely effective. They alo do tech gizmos to train heart brain connection which I intend to get when less busy. heartmath.org/articles-of-t...
I only have a low tech FitBit but the readings are interesting even so - heart rate definitely raised when unwell, and slightly lower when I’m more active (usually when the grandchildren are around).
Also interested in PMRpro’s post in which she says the effect of PMR on muscles is much like being unfit - that’s exactly how it feels 😟
Some facts regarding varying heart rates: Those with good cardio fitness run lower heart rates- the heart beats slowly but more efficiently; so many medications can either speed or slow heart rates; exercise increases/rest decreases heart rates; infections and fevers increase heart rates; fear and even waking up from a bad dream can raise the heart rate.If a study were done whether an increase in heart rate heralds a PMR flare it would have to account for all those variables.
One the other hand, ,if in your case, every time you have a flare your heart rate goes up- because pain increases heart rate and flares are painful.
Understood. That’s why I looked at the average resting heart rate for each month as a whole, not daily or weekly, on the assumption that may be more indicative of PMR and not a bad dream.
And speaking of the latter, I had a terrible dream I almost choked to death on a giant marshmallow. I woke up feeling bloated. And now I can’t find my pillow. 👌
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