Smartwatches for health monitoring

[Yann04]

So I recently had a one-week HRV measurement with a FIRSTBEAT bodyguard 3 - a device with two electrodes 24 hours attached to your chest.

My HRV measurements / stress response and stress recovery was very poor. Not surprising, of course.
What was surprising is that my HRV during the night was really low and my recovery was partially during the day.
Meaning, I don’t recover at all at night.

I am 100% bedbound so I’m horizontal whole day

See the example of one typical day:

• red = low HRV and stress on the body
• green = higher HRV and you’re in recovery mode
• Gray line = HRV (just as the the height of the bars)
• Black Line = heart rate

So my HRV is very low at night and apparently my body is working hard
In the afternoon I’m in recover mode - according to my HRV
View attachment 30969

My Garmin seems to think I’m running marathons at night as well ahah. The “recovery” thing tells me that im very stressed at night (when I’m asleep), and less so in the day.

 

[Arfmeister]

The “recovery” thing tells me that im very stressed at night (when I’m asleep), and less so in the day.

Yes, this stressful/non-recovery sleep with low HRV (and high heart rate in my case) might be a crucial part of this disease.

How does your Garmin measure stress?
Do you know the formula?

This ECG Bodyguard device combines low HRV with high heart rate as stress

I’m interested actually in what Garmin model you have?
- my Fitbit was surprisingly accurate at doing the HRV measurement at night vs. the ECG measurement
(but Fitbit only gives one value for the whole night)
- I’m specifically interested in getting LIVE stress scores from Garmin

 

[ScoutB]

What was surprising is that my HRV during the night was really low and my recovery was partially during the day.
Meaning, I don’t recover at all at night.

Has this ever been looked at in a proper study? My nighttime HRV just steadily declined every year I’ve been ill (according to my oura ring anyway), and I’ve heard others report similar stories.

 

[Yann04]

I’m interested actually in what Garmin model you have?
- my Fitbit was surprisingly accurate at doing the HRV measurement at night vs. the ECG measurement
(but Fitbit only gives one value for the whole night)
- I’m specifically interested in getting LIVE stress scores from Garmin

Vivoactive 5

I used to have a fitbit I think it was called charge 5? Not sure. That one seemed to show my sleep to be less chaotic. Though hard to tell if the difference is the new smartwatch or my sleep getting worse.

I’m not sure how useful the live stress scores are but they definitely correlate with how wired I’m feeling. I don’t know if this feature exists but it would be cool if i got a “take a break” notification when the score was high.

I have no idea how the garmin measures stress but I’m pretty sure its HR and HRV mix.