Time Change - Sleep Must Be A Top Priority

Daylight Savings Time should always stay in effect. We should never end it because it really negatively affects our circadian rhythm! What do I use to deal with the time change and get enough sleep?

First, I want to take you on a journey back to 2018, when I wrote a post about my blue light blocking glasses. You can review it here:

https://kindlingheatlh.blogspot.com/2018/12/product-review-computer-glasses-gamma.html

Quick highlights:
- Helps me sleep even after using screens
- Reduces symptoms that cause pain and keep me awake
- Prevents the bad mood I get from too much screen time

These glasses are still very useful for me, but this week I've noticed how much more I need them after Daylight Savings Time ended. It's dark by 5:30 pm now, and any screen time when it's dark outside strains my eyes even more than in the daylight. These glasses reduce my squinting, tears, headaches, strains, and poor mood caused by screens. I'm not exaggerating. These make that much of a difference for me. 

I'd like to highly recommend the Gunnar Brand, although I want to explain why I'm recommending the specific pairs I'll show you. In order for them to work most effectively, the lenses should not be small. They should wrap around your sides, and they should cover a large surface area around your eyes. The point is to block blue light from your eyes, and that won't happen as well if you're using small lenses for the sake of their aesthetics. I have also found that I dislike a thick frame, because I'm always looking at it when I wear them. I notice the glasses the least when the frame is small. 

I know many people claim (especially biohacker Dave Asprey) they need the TrueDark glasses, which have a deep red tint to the lenses. While this is probably the healthiest and best choice because it reduces harmful light the most, I'm not a fan of making my vision red. Why look at a screen at all if I'm just going to see red? If I want to read e-books in bed I think they'd be ideal. For anything else, I feel like Gunnar gets it right: the amber tint is enough to relieve symptoms, without affecting the color we see on the screen much. 

Style I prefer:



Good sale price:

Same pair I have:

My next tip: sleeping on a new schedule. Sleep couldn't be more important, and I prioritize it above all else in my life. Without quality sleep I simply cannot do anything with my days.

Training your body to change a sleep schedule is extremely difficult, and I'd like to say it's an inhumane practice to make us do this 2x per year. Did you know that the time change in the fall has been linked to higher risks of heart attacks, traffic accidents, and other cardiovascular events? 

Personally, I sleep so poorly that I don't have a good solid sleep time. I tend to fall asleep around midnight and wake up around 8. Now I'm falling asleep around 11 and waking up around 7. I get tired at different times in the evening, and it's almost impossible for me to fall asleep when I'm not so tired that my eyes are crossing. Even if I do fall asleep, I'm likely to wake up again. 

If I break any of these habits, odds are I won't sleep that night: 
- Caffeine after 2 pm
- Exercise too late in the evening, and not enough in the day time
- Doing something stimulating after 9 pm, such as a video game or listening to music 
- Eating dinner after 7:30/8 pm
- Not taking my supplements 20 minutes before I want to be sleeping


So let me talk about supplements I use in the evening. I am not able to link you to some that I rely on, because some are from my Naturopathic Doctor and others are from my Acupuncturist. I have, however, found good alternatives when I can't buy from them. I'll link you to those, because they do help me:

Organic India Holy Basil. This is a cortisol suppressant that is effective at lowering my body's reaction to stress. It tends to make me lose interest in whatever is stimulating me, helping me to switch gears into a relaxed state:



Now 3-in-1 Sleep Regimen. I need melatonin, but you may not. This could be wrong for you. I am someone who really cannot fall asleep without taking melatonin (and before you say it's because my body is reliant on it, you should know I had these problems years before I started to use it. It makes it possible for me to sleep.) I need to take 3-4 of these a night, which is 9-12 mg of melatonin. If I take less it has zero effect on me. I always start with 3, and if it's not working then I take a 4th. This also has 5-HTP (promotes melatonin production and reduces anxiety) and L-Theanine (promotes muscle relaxation and reduces body's reaction to anxiety.)



Now Magnesium Citrate Softgels. This certainly does help me sleep better once I fall asleep, but it doesn't put me to sleep. This is a blend with magnesium citrate, malate, and glycinate. They all absorb differently because each type binds to different receptors and is used differently in the body. Citrate is best for calming the nerves and softening the bowel. Malate creates ATP energy in the muscles, which can reduce stiffness and soreness in the muscles. Glycinate builds up levels in your body well, unlike citrate, but it has a similar effect at citrate in that it calms the nervous system.



BUT... if you're someone who doesn't get enough minerals and electrolytes during the day time, you will probably find this formula more helpful than the magnesium softgels above. Your body needs all the minerals! 




I've used a lot of herbs too, such as valerian with hops and passionflower. The trouble is, I use the one from my Naturopathic Doctor. I also don't need them as much as I need these. I take the herbs too when nothing else is helping and I can't fall asleep. Even if I don't fully sleep, I can at least keep my body so relaxed that I'm getting some level of rest. 

This product is different from what I take, but I have used it with good results. Skullcap can work magic for my nerves. I trust Oregon Wild Harvest, and I don't trust many supplement brands with herbs. If the herbs are not organic or wild harvested then I assume they're going to contain concentrated levels of pesticides. 




There are a few other things that help me to relax and prepare my body for sleep:


Magnesium Chloride bath. Not Epsom salts (magnesium sulfate.) The reason is because espom salts don't absorb well enough for me to notice that I feel more relaxed. They do help my muscles if they're sore, but they don't relax me as well as magnesium chloride. Our bodies have an easier time absorbing the chloride form. Yes, it's more expensive, but it's worth paying for what actually works. Why pay less for something that doesn't work well enough?



Acupressure Mat. Read my 2015 blog post about my mat here. I gave that one to my husband, and then bought a new one for myself. But I have to be honest and say I don't love the new one I bought for myself. The spikes are not as long or as sharp, and it doesn't help as much. It has magnets built into the spikes, which is not entirely a gimmick, but isn't worth it if the spikes don't work well. I'd like to buy a better one someday. Unfortunately the brand I bought first is no longer in business, so I cannot link to it. I'll link you to the one I'll probably buy next. It's affordable, has a foam core (the coconut fiber core ones don't have the right kind of support), it's cotton (no polyester), and the reviews show me that it's probably effective. 

(Don't get the full length version. You actually don't want to have the mat under your upper back at the same time as your mid to lower back. One of my acupuncturists explained to me that you don't want to draw the qi to your kidneys when you're working on other points. It can mess you up. All I do is put the mat under my upper back and use the neck the pillow. It's very effective for me.)



And finally... a good silk sleep mask by Alaska Bear. Any light at all disrupts my sleep, and it's surprising how much of a difference this mask makes for me. I choose silk because it doesn't cause my skin to break out, it's super breathable, and it's gentle on my skin. I've tried other styles, but I prefer this one because the two straps help keep the mask flat against my face so less light gets in.




Tell me: What habits help you survive the time change? 

Sleep Study

Last night I went to the hospital and stayed the night for sleep study. It's been years coming, and I finally went through with it. I recorded a video for this blog. I was too tired to type about it. I look horrible - because I haven't been sleeping! This isn't a beauty contest. I'll look beautiful in other photos. Ha!



Some highlights:

- I didn't sleep much.

That pretty much sums it up!

Okay, but in all seriousness:

Sleeping pills didn't help. Being totally exhausted from several nights in a row of losing sleep over hives didn't help. I didn't sleep for the first 3 hours. I couldn't get comfortable. My rash on my ankle woke me up when I was finally sleepy. There was too much light and too much noise. I felt alert the whole night, like I was waiting for the next instruction. I feel like that at home regularly though. I don't ever want to have to do this again, as that was not at all fun trying to sleep and failing at it for hours.



This rash drove me nuts! I was worried I might get told I have to reschedule because of my hives. I was given the option. But the itching has gone down so much that I decided to just go for it. Except for this rash. I think it got worse during the study. I am sure I would have slept maybe 30 minutes more if this didn't bother me so much at 4:30 am.



I won't get my results for 1 to 2 weeks, so I can't tell you. What I can tell you is that my Oura Ring gave me a low sleep score, showing my heart rate never lowered below 80 during the study. (The Oura Ring is not good at determining if I'm actually sleeping or not. It thinks laying in bed with my eyes closed means I'm sleeping. It cannot detect if I'm awake when I'm laying still, so these results are not the reality of how long I slept. It also only shows me as awake when I physically move, not open my eyes. I opened my eyes and remained still a lot during the study.)


















I was worried about being reactive, and I was. I have rashes where the wire pads and glue were. They're not awful - not as bad as my hives have been. But my skin is not a fan of this stuff.



Getting that glue out of my hair was not nearly as challenging as I was told it would be. The lab tech advised me to use conditioner in my hair first, then use hot water to shampoo it all out. That might work, but I didn't try it. I soaked in a bath that was as hot as I could tolerate. I filled it with baking soda and epsom salts. It took about 15 seconds of soaking my hair in this bath water for the glue to come out. No problem! But after I scrubbed all the glue residue off I had to drain the bathwater so I wasn't soaking in it.


I'm pretty sure my hair is thinning out. Sigh.


I don't really know what the sleep study is going to show. I'll find out in a week or two!

3 Days of Rashes

Rashes! For 3 days! I'm puffy, swollen, have hives, have rashes, and I'm positively miserable. I'm very fatigued and feel almost no emotional capacity.

No, I don't know what is causing this, but there are possibilities. I'm going emotionally numb after all the heartache I've been through. (Someone tried to commit suicide again last night, and I'm just... I have nothing left to process it with.) I also started my period 4 days early, in contrast to being over a week late the last few months. It was much more painful than it has been and came with other bathroom issues. My diet hasn't been bad, but I've been eating less protein than I should in favor of more easy nuts and seeds to snack on. It's possible I can't tolerate that much. The weather is also making drastic sudden changes a lot, and I tend to flare during sudden changes like this. I'm also still on my doctor's mold protocol and maybe it just took a month to push out this much through my skin. I took a sauna when I was little too weak to handle it. My sleep has been... really bad. And then last night I was able to sleep solid like a rock because my period started. There's a lot of possibilities.

Anyway, I'm miserable. I feel like my hormones all dumped out of my body and I don't have any left to be human with. I'm in pain and itchy. I feel way too weak when standing up, occasionally out of breath and sweating just from standing. POTS is in full swing right now, and I'm vibrating even just sitting or laying down. I'm so over this.

Forgive me for not writing more informative posts like I used to. I'm just dealing with this. It's all I can do.

PMS is Torture

Extra long PMS

OMG



This was captured 2 days before my period started, so I had a 43 day cycle. I'm used to PMS being awful. I'm not used to PMS lasting 2.5 weeks, give or take a day or two because I think my symptoms began with what was actually ovulation. Ovulation just came late, so it was difficult for me to tell at the time.

It started with the mood change, cravings, and skin issues (acne, large pores, looking pale and malnourished.) The cramping set in after a week of that, then the bloating and heaviness in my gut. My mood issues came with feeling very withdrawn, not wanting to engage with people. After 1.5 weeks of this, thinking my period was due, I started to get the rest of my PMS symptoms. The breast tenderness, bowel pain, ovaries feeling like they're twisting and sending shooting stabbing pains down my legs to my knees, worsened insomnia with angry dreams, joint pain, fibromyalgia aches in all my muscles, disturbed vision, much weaker and more dizzy, very increased resting heart rate... it was like a 2nd PMS. That lasted for an additional week of torture.

The reason I'm reporting all of this is because it's so important to say how PMS can be just as bad as the period itself, if not worse. I actually dread PMS more than my period now. My mood was dark - so dark that I started to have suicidal thoughts (I wasn't planning anything, just thinking about how death would be an exit... this isn't abnormal, unfortunately.) I was too weak to accomplish anything, and too mentally blank and emotionless to enjoy anything. I spent about a week doing nothing - I couldn't do anything. I hated people, hated myself, didn't have a way to pass the time that made me happy, could hardly force myself to get anything like chores done... I was in this limbo, and I was ready to snap.

I do believe I have PMDD. Doctors have suggested it, but it's not officially diagnosed, I don't think. I'd have to read my charts to see if they put it down as an issue. PMDD is PMS on steroids, but it's classified as a psychological issue. PMDD is about the mood disorder that comes with PMS, mainly how the person so negatively relates to other people during PMS. It's not that I can't be nice or sincere, it's not that I'll be mean to you or blow up at you. It's that I seriously don't have the spirit to talk to anyone, listen to anyone, or even tolerate myself. I need interactions to be very short, very to the point, and almost mechanical - just do your business and be done with me.

You can't say I didn't try hard to manage this. I took my methylated vitamins, loaded up on vitamin D, my hormone balancing herbs, my bio identical progesterone cream, went to acupuncture and chiropractor each week, ate mostly blood building foods, exercised as I was capable, took lots of hot ginger baths, took my calming and cortisol suppressing herbs as needed, had a lot of alone time away from people... no one can say I didn't try hard.

My period *FINALLY* came last Saturday ALLELUIA! I had to call in sick to work... again. I have no control over this, which is why I chose to be very upfront and honest about this issue during my interview for this job.

My period was very painful, as expected. Remember how I had a laparoscopic surgery to diagnose and remove endometriosis? I'm not sure what it actually accomplished, aside from an official diagnosis. In fact, PMS has been worse than I'm used to since the surgery. I had 2 periods that were not very painful or heavy after the surgery, but then they went back to heavy and painful. The PMS, though? OMG.

But guess what? Yesterday, Sunday, the day after my period started, I felt SO MUCH RELIEF. I found myself wanting to talk to my husband. I messaged friends and laughed. I got some housework done. I shoveled the driveway! I didn't feel strong. I fought my POTS symptoms pretty hard a few times. But I mentally felt good. I wanted to be a part of my family again. I wanted to engage with people. I felt human! My period has become the remedy to PMS, when it used to be that my period was the scariest most dreaded part of my month.

From my Oura Ring.

(Note: The Oura is actually pretty bad at detecting when I wake up. I tend to lay in bed for an hour or longer after waking to find my strength and get up. It tends to show I get an hour or more of light or REM sleep than I do because of this. I need to learn to take it off once I'm awake to get better readings.)

This night was a week before my period started, but it's the best example I had from that week of what PMS was doing to my sleep. Most other nights had very choppy data, as if the ring couldn't read me for 30 min to an hour at a time during the night. Which tells me there's an issue... not sure if it's with the ring being unable to keep up with me, or if the ring wasn't tight enough because I was too cold.


And then my period started. Brachycardia! Whoa. The only time I see a heart rate below 60 is the night after my period starts. This has been consistent in all my recordings this year. Even my ZioPatch from my Neurologist showed the same thing. My Fitbit Alta 2 actually said I got down to 57, but I'm not expecting perfect accuracy from either device. I just get to see a general idea of my body's changes.



So to any of you women who tell me I focus way too much on my period and I need to learn to just push through it... well part of me really wants to get rude and nasty and tell you to **** off. But I'd rather just be understood, build empathy and compassion, and have your support.

And no, I refuse birth control. There is no way I'm going to take non-bio identical synthetic "hormones" that shuts down my production of real natural hormones and makes my body think it is pregnant long term. I don't want the very long list of side effects, especially the ones that will exacerbate my other conditions. It does not manage endometriosis very well - just ask the support groups I'm in with 20k women. The fact of the matter is that PMS has never been as bad as it has been since that surgery. Will synthetic hormones really fix that problem?

Anyway, now that I got this post off my chest, I want to go back to enjoying being myself! Hopefully for 3 weeks this time!

Day by day by day by day...

Oh to be me.

What is a like to be a 31 year old woman with chronic illness? Here are some snippets from my life lately:

Today I went to my local food co-op because the fridge was getting to be too empty. I felt tired, worn down, but thought I could handle a 40 minute round trip out of the house. I get the store, start shopping, the next thing I know I can't stand up in one spot without starting to see the blackness forming on the peripherals of my vision. My legs started to shake and tingle. I decided there was no sense in sitting down on the floor of the store, so I decided to just keep walking. That worked. I learned I could make it as long as I kept moving, so I couldn't stop to look at products, just had to grab as I walked by. I made about 3 laps around the store to shop this way. And guess what? They were completely out of the few things I needed most! A normal person might shrug it off and go to a different store before heading home. Me? My energy was spent. Had to go home without what I needed.

...That's a big reason why I shop online as much as I do. Except that I never received one of 3 boxes from my Vitacost order. I need to sort that out, but do I really have to put the energy into it? Seriously? Why can't it just sort itself out like magic and let me just sit here zoning out?

The cashier asked me how I was doing. I bluntly, with no tact or thought, said, "Not good, I didn't sleep last night." She asked if I was stressed and I said, "No, I just have a chronic illness and it decided to flare last night." She didn't have much else to say to me after that. lol. Poor cashier.

Why didn't I sleep last night? Oh, because PMS decided to start, and I was in full bitch mode. At 2 am. I wasn't upset about anything, nothing to be angry at. No person was irritating me. My mood just decided to be as aggressive and irritable as possible, which kept me up, tossing and turning. Then when I was sleeping here and there my dreams were very aggressive. I dreamed about my friend who attempted to commit suicide several months ago, which woke me up because I felt stressed out about it. I never really recovered from her telling me she failed her attempt.

I woke up to throbbing shoulder muscles, shooting and pins and needles pains in my legs, and adrenaline pounding through me.

And I realized how this is pretty much how every day goes for me, but it's so much worse during the winter. I'm never really sure if I'll sleep. I'm never really sure if I'll feel decently. I'm never really sure if I'll have the energy to be able to hold a conversation. I'm never really sure if my depression will let me actually care about what someone is telling me. I just have to figure out what I need to do with myself, moment by moment.

So what's the problem? Well I found a ton of mold growing on my new windows, for starters. Winter condensation that freezes when it's below zero outside causes it.  The outside temperature went from -6 degrees to 47 degrees within a day, and we all know how the barometric pressure messes me up. We did just shampoo the downstairs carpets with Biokleen shampoo, which I didn't react to while doing it, but later got a mild version the hives around my eyes that citrus essential oils tends to give me. Plus we disturbed all that dirt in the house. I also went to church. Perfume! And then my monthly cycle just hit the worst phase... and I've been spotting, so who knows, maybe I'm anemic or something. I seem to be very prone to Blood Deficiency.

You see, I just can't win, especially not in the winter. When I feel decently it's purely by chance.



So...

If I spent my entire day playing video games on my phone, so what? At least I'm engaging with people there. At least I feel like I'm accomplishing something, even if progress in that game doesn't affect my real life in any way. At least I'm mentally stimulated rather than just rotting away watching TV. I can't just watch TV, I need to be engaged with something, and video games work perfectly when I'm too tired to do anything else. I'm often pretty bad at the game because I don't have the mental energy to think through what I'm doing, but it is what it is.

I will work at my job, do chores, and contribute to society when I'm capable. I have days when I'm just not capable. A lot of days. I'm not lazy. It's not an addiction to video games. I just can't function normally. Believe me, I'd much rather be raising children, own my own business, going out with friends, working towards buying our own house. I have to deal with these desires every day. If I were lazy, I wouldn't want to be living my life fully. I'd be happy to just settle in to a fun addiction rather than working on progressing in life.

So let me leave you with this article about environmental toxicants causing depression, pain, and chronic fatigue.

Product Review: Computer Glasses, Gamma Ray vs Gunnar

You may have heard about, or already using, blue light blocking computer glasses. They're glasses with an amber tint to the lens that filters the blue light from screens.

Why wear these? Blue light is what disrupts our melatonin production (making it hard to fall asleep at night), gives off the wrong circadian rhythm cycle messages in our eyes, and creates a lot of the eye strain from staring at screens. There are all sorts of studies on this, but Harvard has a good simple, fast article about it.

I can't use my phone or computer for long without wearing these glasses. It doesn't take more than a few minutes for me to start squinting, getting red eyes, tears start producing... and before I know it the dreaded screen headache. It was never that bad for me until recent years, after developing these illnesses. I used to stare at a computer for hours and hours during my teens and early 20's without much complaint. I'm a gamer, what can I say? But now I have to use screens in small doses or wear my computer glasses.

For a few years I've been wearing a pair made by Gamma-Ray, which I bought on Amazon. This particular pair isn't sold anymore, but the brand is pretty much the same, you just choose the frames you like.

They help a lot, and I've relied on them. They've served me well. But I was never entirely happy with how easily they smudge, and how hard it is to clean the lenses. I often just put up with feeling like I have a film on the lens. I've also been unhappy with how they're flat, letting light in from the sides. If I'm near LED lights (which also affect my vision like screens do, so be cautious about putting them into your home if you're light sensitive), the light from them hits my eyes from the sides. Most of the time this isn't a problem.

But I started to question if other brands really were making computer glasses better. There are a couple name brand companies that claim to do it best. Gunnar and TrueDark (Bulletproof's Dave Asprey supports the TrueDark brand) both are the elite brands, and both offer glasses with curved lenses to protect the sides of your eyes too.

I found a pair of Gunnar glasses on discount, so I decided to buy it and try it out. I bought the Blizzard Heroes of the Storm (video game) themed glasses, lol. Gunnar makes glasses for specific video games. Anyway, they have larger lenses than my other pair, and they are curved. Also, the frame is very thin, and my hope was that I wouldn't be looking at the frame in my peripheral vision like I do with my Gamma Ray glasses.



They're ugly as sin on me! 😀 lol

But that doesn't matter so much. For a pair of glasses that was originally around $80, I'm actually not impressed.

First of all, the frames feel cheap, like a toy. I worry that they'll be easy to break.

Secondly, yes, they are curved lenses, but not as much as I expected. They do offer a slight advantage in width over the Gamma Ray glasses, and I do get more eye protection. But not as much as I was hoping for. The problem is that the curvature makes me really dizzy! If I'm looking straight ahead at the screen there is no problem, but I cannot walk around with them on. They give me vertigo like nothing else does!

Thirdly, the lenses truly are better. There is a noticeable difference between the Gamma Ray lenses vs these Gunnar lenses. Gunnar is known for having the best lenses, and I understand why now. It's like I'm not looking through a lens at all. They're very clear, and I don't see the frames in my peripherals. They definitely block out the blue light. It doesn't look like there is an amber hue while I'm wearing them, but the screen looks very purple to me when I take them off. They simply do work better for me, even though the Gamma Ray glasses are more comfortable and don't make me dizzy.

Gunnar:


Gamma Ray:



Can you see the difference?

I was happy with the Gamma Ray for years. They do work, they significantly cut down on eye strain and redness. But the Gunnar filter better. I don't see the amber color when I'm wearing them, my screen still looks white. It just doesn't look as glaring, bright, and shiny.

Ideally I'd rather have a pair of Gunnar glasses that have all the features I like without the way the lenses are curved to make me so dizzy. I'd also love a pair that isn't black and has a more feminine shape. I'm asking for too much, aren't I? Sigh.  

Product Review: Fitbit Alta HR 2

 I have been extra unwell this month, but I have several things I want to write about before I forget to. After all, this blog is to help me chart my progress as much as it is to help you, my readers, find your own path based on my experiences.  

I decided to buy a few things for Black Friday, one of them being the Fitbit Alta HR 2. This review will look at it not for fitness or athletic reasons, but almost strictly for how well it helps keep track of heart rate issues.

The reason I, as a person diagnosed with POTS and Inappropriate Sinus Tachycardia, have been so hesitant to even bother investing in a tracking device is because they simply haven't been good enough. They're still not good enough. The new Apple watch might be good enough from what other people have told me, but I really don't want to buy any Apple phone or PCs or tablets to pair it to. What I mean by "good enough" is that they are not accurate enough measuring HR on the wrist (a chest strap is still the most accurate), but also that they don't record HR often enough and miss when the HR spikes. I also am getting really burned out on this whole chronic illness problem I have, so the constant reminder that I have problems isn't the best for my mental health. The problem is, I was constantly reminded I have health problems even without wearing a tracker, so is there really a difference if I wear one? Maybe it's more fun for me to see and track details about my problems as they come up?

I decided to go with the Alta HR 2 for one main reason (other than the major sale price): it will take continuous heart rate measurements. Most trackers only track while you're working out, if you put it in work out mode, and capture your heart rate every 5 minutes or so. This one will show me my current HR every time I look at the Fitbit itself. I did have to program it to be in "continuous" mode, it doesn't automatically do that, but it works fairly well.

I've used this for a couple of weeks now. It already revealed something that I've learned from my Oura Ring, except that the Oura only measures HR at night. This is measures through the day.



I was in PMS when I first started to wear the Fitbit. It showed that my average resting heart rate was around 80 during PMS. I started my period on Sunday, December 9th. See the difference after that day? My average resting HR went down to the lower to mid 70's. My Oura Ring is still much better for using HR to track my period because it's measuring HR only at night, when I'm still. Going to work having an active day doesn't factor in to affect my lowest heart rate. My Oura also gives other good tracking info for my period, like body temp and respiration rate changes. If you're looking for the better tool to track your period with, I'd recommend the Oura Ring over Fitbit.

The green in the HR chart is when my heart rate is normal. When my HR is above 94 bpm it turns yellow, which is the "fat burn zone." I have to laugh really hard at the fact that I'm often in "fat burn" for 5 or more hours every day... and I have fat to burn on my body! I'll show more details about this in the next photos. With this weekly chart view alone I can see that I have tachycardia problems. If I wanted to, I could change the fat burn zone to start at 100 bpm, and then all the yellow would only show when I'm in tachycardia. The medical definition is that a normal resting heart rate is 60-99 bpm. But if you're just sitting on the couch listening to relaxing music and your heart rate is 94-99, don't you think that's too high? That's why I'm leaving it set at the default 94 bpm. I definitely feel like my heart is working out at 94 bpm.

So, is this Fitbit helpful for POTS? (POTS being an increase of 30 bpm or more when going from sitting to standing.) I'll show you in photos why it's only mildly helpful, and why I wouldn't insist any POTS patient go out and buy one.

Here is a day when I was very symptomatic.



The problem is that each point on this chart is about 5 minutes apart. I watched as my screen on the Fitbit showed 150's and 160's, but those numbers don't show up here in the app. It's because when I peak, I only stay at that high HR for maybe a minute or two at the most. Not long enough for the Fitbit app to record it. It happened to catch that I was near 130 in the evening, but what if that peak was actually in the 150's? So yes, the app shows that something wacky is going on, but there are not nearly enough details to actually use the information. If I were to want to use this information medically, I could not. It might be enough to convince a doctor to prescribe a heart rate monitor, like the Zio Patch I already wore for 2 weeks.

But let me show you the day when I felt the most normal/ healthy since wearing my Fitbit.


I did not work on this day, and I was very restful all day. It's a big contrast to the last day I showed you where I was very symptomatic. The data can give a decent overview of which days are better than others, as long as you're not trying to rely on the finer, often more important, details.

What I'm finding is that the most helpful feature, by far, is being able to simply look at the screen and see my HR. I've compared its readings to my pulse oxygen meter's readings, and they're almost always the same.


Most of the time. When I'm symptomatic or my HR is changing too quickly it just shows me a few dash lines instead of a number. There have been plenty of times when I wanted to know where my HR was, but it couldn't read it. My pulse oxygen meter has the same problem - I can't trust that it will actually pick up a reading either.

As far as using the Fitbit for steps, food tracking, water logging, period tracking... that's not really what I'm using it for. I greatly prefer Clue for period tracking, and the feature on Fitbit is very irritating for someone who is not regular. I check my steps, but it really doesn't mean much to me. I learned what I wanted to from my steps with my Flex 2. At this point, the only thing step tracking is good for in my case is with the Achievemint app. If I were trying to get more physically fit I would use the feature, but I don't have the energy.  Food tracking and water logging? Hahaha, you really think I'm going to take the energy? I don't believe in counting calories. I believe in eating the right foods at the right times, and I'm already doing that.

As for sleep tracking? I'll analyze that against my Oura Ring later. I'm curious, but honestly I've been struggling way to much to have the energy to compare the two devices. This Fitbit does show all the same sleep stages that the Oura Ring does, but the technology is different, and I would be surprised if the Fitbit were accurate. The Oura Ring is only about 65% accurate (according to the Oura Ring user's group I joined on Facebook), and it specializes in sleep tracking.

One big problem I had right away, that I was able to change, was the band. The original silicone band that came with the Fitbit gave me eczema. This surprises me, because I used to wear a Fitbit Flex 2 for about 2 years. That silicone band did not cause a reaction with my skin. I went on Amazon and bought a pink genuine leather replacement band for $6. With my MCS issues you'd think that a dyed leather band would be more problematic for me, but nope, I've had no issues with it so far this week.

And if you're not concerned about the EMF radiation, the fact that I can read text messages on my Fitbit is pretty handy! I also like actually having a clock on my wrist too. It's a massive upgrade from the Flex 2 I was wearing. That said, I would prefer to keep my EMF exposure as limited as possible, while still actually using technology. I keep my Oura Ring in airplane mode for that reason. I could do the same for the Fitbit, but right now I'm using the "all day sync" feature.

In conclusion:

If you have the money to spend, yes, it's useful and might even be helpful, if you're not relying on accuracy. If you're tight on cash, don't worry. I don't think a monitoring device like this is essential for mild to moderate POTS patients.

What A Night of Sleep Looks Like During MCS Reaction

I'm not keeping up with this blog, so long story short, I've been using an Oura Ring since August. I want to give some detailed attention to this at some point, but I can't right now. Way too exhausted. In short, it is a highly advanced sleep tracker that has generally received good ratings as far as accuracy goes, but I'll dig into that topic later. It's not like a Fit Bit or other trackers - it uses different technology and can read a lot more. 

I want to show you what a night after a chemical exposure looks like for me. I came home from work feeling angry, fidgety, uncomfortable, and wanting to beat something up and smash it to pieces. I'm not totally sure what I was reacting to - normally I know right away if something is causing me reactivity, then will get a the worst reaction later on (delayed.) The fact that I was off my pills for 1.5 weeks and had only taken bare minimum to get by at work in the past 4 days has meant more reactions and reacting to lower exposures. Regardless, I was definitely reacting and was very uncomfortable. I went to bed with a resting heart rate jumping constantly between 95-120 while just laying still in bed.


https://drive.google.com/file/d/1olRRgWgc-rXaF2KlDJ6Zi238W9sXiQ-zeA/view?usp=sharing

You will need to click the link below the photo to see it full size to be able to read it. Blogger has some serious formatting limitations and will not allow me to turn the image into a link unless I feel like coding it in HTML, but their HTML is one wall of text, not formatted so that I can easily find where to edit. I'm feeling way too lazy to deal with that.

First problem: 4 hours of REM sleep!? I've read that high REM can mean high stress levels on the body. More than 2 hours tends to be high, from what I've read. I'll link to the articles when I have the energy.

Second problem: Heart rate. Okay, my resting heart rate tends to be high anyway (and I'm getting officially tested for POTS soon, but a few medical practitioners have told me they've seen it when reading my pulse), but this is a bit absurd. During the first two weeks of my menstrual cycle my lowest heart rate of the night tends to be in the upper 60's to low 70's, with average in the 70's, sometimes low 80's. My lowest last night was 86 BPM. Average was 95 BPM. Highest was just below 110 (I wish it would give an exact number.) My body managed to lower my resting heart rate during sleep, but it still stayed too high. And I took pills that should calm my heart rate down - I did need herbs to fall asleep last night.

Third problem: My heart rate variability is super LOW. The higher the number, the better off you are. In my Oura Ring user group many people are reporting that they are generally in the 70's - 90's for average HRV. I have never been above 30 for as long as I've been recording, but 11!? My body was clearly very stressed.

The ring also showed me that my average respiration rate was 18.0, which is high, but I'm usually that high. And it told me that my body temp dropped half a degree Celsius last night, but my body temp is different every night. My temp is up and down and all over the place.


To compare, here's a couple more average nights when I wasn't feeling abnormally terrible:


https://drive.google.com/file/d/1H1-ljVIHp1_0d0Ay58z0qUjQkC8yI5LIcA/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KChhS7TcjuJ5GWrrGPXEU8rTp4xMiCgX4w/view?usp=sharing

Something to keep in mind with REM: it's not restful. It's called Rapid Eye Movement because the body is working to repair and reset during that time. The more you need, the more your body is trying to repair. That's how it was explained to me. So when I have these nights with high REM, even though I got 9 hours of sleep, it was not restful sleep. If I can at least get and hour of deep sleep I do okay, regardless of REM. So I'm exhausted. I couldn't bring myself out of bed until 11 am. I just wanted to lay there. But eventually I started to shiver and I realized I needed food really badly, so I forced myself up.

Beef Bacon is amazing, by the way. I'm sick of turkey bacon (had it too often), and I can't have pork. I actually hate pork, so I don't mind not being able to have it. But a local grass-fed (mostly) beef company makes beef bacon with just beef and sea salt. It's amazing. So incredibly delicious.