Re: Heart rate variability

On Wed, 22 May 2024 17:52:16 -0400, Catrike Ryder
<Soloman@old.bikers.org> wrote:

>
Heart rate variability is the variation in the length of time between
heartbeats, measured in milliseconds.1 It is different from heart
rate.
>
Garmin calls it body battery and my latest Garmin watch measures it.
I've been ignoring it until just recently I've noticed that I have a
much better bike ride when I have a high HRV.
>
My Garmin Battery rating was 100% when I rode sixty miles May 16th. I
had a great ride and came home feeling great.
>
I had a miserable night last night, woke up with a headache, a higher
than normal temperature and blood pressure. Garmin said my body
battery was at 60 this morning.  At twenty miles out on my ride today
I knew I should turn around and go back. I came home totally beat.

I probably shouldn't even suggest what you should do, but I'll risk it
anyway.  Go to urgent care (or your local equivalent), have them
assign you a cardiologist and let them run some tests.  They will
surely run an EKG/ECG and inspect the waveforms.  If they see
something suspicious, they'll order additional tests, such as a stress
test (treadmill), to see how well your heart does under load.  In
other words, let the doctors do the tests, offer opinions and
recommend options (not me).

I'm not going to try an make sense from your symptoms.  That's not
because I'm unqualified.  It's because if you spend your time
collecting bad guesses and wishful thinking, by the time the problem
becomes obvious, it might be too late.  Unless it's an emergency, it
takes a long time to simply run tests. 

I have a treadmill echocardiogram test scheduled for August.  The
appointment was scheduled in February (6 months).  That's a long wait.
If you start getting chest pains or pressure (angina), go directly to
the ER.  Don't wait until it gets bad enough that you can't think,
walk or drive.  I had mild chest pains last year. I went to the ER
after midnight.  It turned out to be a false alarm. You might be
equally lucky, but I wouldn't rely on luck alone.

My father had a stroke in 1986.  The ambulance got lost driving him to
the hospital.  He lived, but was partly paralyzed and had major brain
damage.  If the ambulance could have gotten him to the hospital even a
few minutes earlier, it's remotely possible that he might have
survived in better condition.  It took him 9 years to die, which was
pure hell for everyone involved.

Best of luck.

--
Jeff Liebermann                 jeffl@cruzio.com
PO Box 272      http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Ben Lomond CA 95005-0272
Skype: JeffLiebermann      AE6KS    831-336-2558