Resource Your Crash in a Graph? How Heart Rate Variability Testing Could Help You Improve Your Health

[SueS]

Oooh, there's a lot of stuff to glean from what you have both written. It's all so fascinating and complicated and hard to get your head around!

I'm so grateful for this forum.

I found out today from an interview with Rhoda from Sweetbeat that that RSSMD (sp?) bit measures vagal tone. Interesting! And helpful.

It was an interesting listen if you're interested:

https://secure-hwcdn.libsyn.com/p/e...68226482&hwt=5655937378b8b382225ab8f6f5ac5a1b

I went for a 35 min slow walk yesterday. It was a stupid thing to do really. But I did it. My LF and HF levels were something like 10 and 5 at one stage. Depressing.

At the 30 min mark everything flipped and those levels were in the hundreds. That interview suggested that when this type of thing happens it's when your body is flipping from aerobic to anaerobic. Which would be a silver lining if it had taken that long.

 

[Carollynn]

Hi Carollyn, I am currently staying offline - hoping to bank some energy so I can somehow be present for a little of my daughter's wedding next month. Fingers crossed!

You'd find there are literally 1000s of HRV articles on PubMed - particularly in cardiology journals. Likewise there are many articles showing reduced HRV in ME/CFS. I don't know of any studies using HRV to monitor or manage ME/CFS. However there is a link above for a just announced NIH-funded study looking at this aspect. I hope that is of some help.

Hi Karmin--I hope you had a good time at your daughter's wedding. It was wise to bank energy. I'm just now seeing your reply a month later, crashing after visiting my dad in another state.

Pin-pointing a few of those studies among the hundreds will help the patient community--when you are up to it. I know that others will ask the same question. With so many "wearables" coming out right now, the easier it is to follow from science to gadget the better.

 

[Remy]

An update...I had an ear infection last month and I finally started using my sauna regularly i.e. every day for 30-35 min. This has been the most effective thing I've done to improve my HRV by far. I'm approaching 60 every day whereas before it was high 40s. I still want to get into the 60s and 70s but this is HUGE for me.

 

[Carollynn]

An update...I had an ear infection last month and I finally started using my sauna regularly i.e. every day for 30-35 min. This has been the most effective thing I've done to improve my HRV by far. I'm approaching 60 every day whereas before it was high 40s. I still want to get into the 60s and 70s but this is HUGE for me.

It's interesting how different our symptoms can be even though our over-all health is under the same umbrella. A sauna would be so hard on me! Heat really makes me much worse. I'm glad it's helpful for you.

 

[Remy]

It's interesting how different our symptoms can be even though our over-all health is under the same umbrella. A sauna would be so hard on me! Heat really makes me much worse. I'm glad it's helpful for you.

I had to work up to that...I started with just a few minutes a couple of times a week last winter.

If heat makes you worse, you might look into mast cell disease. Heat is a major trigger for mast cells.

 

[Remy]

And add in the verapamil and it is now in the 60s...now let's see if it lasts and more importantly if the increase leads to improvement in fatigue and endurance.

 

[Carollynn]

I had to work up to that...I started with just a few minutes a couple of times a week last winter.

If heat makes you worse, you might look into mast cell disease. Heat is a major trigger for mast cells.

Yep, I went through all of the tests. Until that is better understood, and also understood concomitantly with ME/CFS and other histamine-related conditions like interstitial cystitis, I think the bet we can all do is follow a low histamine diet and take anti-histamines cautiously.

 

[emmajensen]

Dear @Karmin I know this thread is old, I wanted to thank you for your blogs on HRV!

I learned a lot from them and they prompted me to start tracking 2 years ago with Elite HRV and a Polar chest strap. I have found HF particularly interesting to look at. My HF spikes have reduced over the last 2 years even though my HF is lower on average than before. I am hoping this is a good sign. Are you still tracking HRV? Have you learned new things from tracking? I hope you are doing well and thanks again for sharing your findings with us!