How many of you get poor cardiac health warnings on your watches?

[mentaluproar]

I’m kind of worried. As I approach my 40s, my sedentary life style is catching up with me. I’m gaining weight, my back is making me wish I was dead, and now I’m getting warnings about my heart health. My pulse has always been high. My doc doesnt seem concerned, so maybe these things are just too sensitive. Anyone else see this warning?

 

[JBaby]

I do, but that’s because I have tachycardia. My watch caught it. I had to wear a heart monitor 3 days to confirm it. But it had been happening for months before I could get the order for the monitor.

 

[mentaluproar]

Yikes. I wonder if I should take this thing seriously.

 

[JBaby]

I’m disabled. A lot of people with my condition have tachycardia but it’s not a recognized symptom of my disease. I only took my watch seriously because I already knew the anecdotal evidence from people with my condition. Also, I can’t walk and yet my resting heart rate was 120. When I was sleeping it got to 140. Luckily I’ve been stable for months. My average resting heart rate is 75. At 120 I thought I was in distress. At 140 I was sure I was dying. It felt like my heart was on a come out of my chest. I haven’t any alerts since June and prior to that not since March. But thoughout 2022 I was constantly getting alerted.

 

[Howard2k]

I sometimes get low heart rate alerts. It will drop below 40bpm when I'm sleeping on occasion. I wore a monitor from the hospital for a few days and did some tests. Everything is fine, but the watch was accurate, my heart rate does drop that low according to the monitor too.

I would certainly take it seriously, along with my general health.

 

[NastyMatt]

I’m kind of worried. As I approach my 40s, my sedentary life style is catching up with me. I’m gaining weight, my back is making me wish I was dead, and now I’m getting warnings about my heart health. My pulse has always been high. My doc doesnt seem concerned, so maybe these things are just too sensitive. Anyone else see this warning?

Go and get a health check. Even if your doctor is not worried - it sounds like you could be so, a second opinion won't do any harm. Raise your exact concerns and see what is said.

You'd feel a fool if you ignored your watch and it turned out to be something that needed addressing, as opposed to slightly lighter in the wallet (but sleeping well at night) if it was nothing.

 

[Jackbequickly]

Don't ignore what your watch is saying. Talk to another doctor. What heart rates are you seeing? When I had long COVID my watch health statistics went crazy. O2 levels down to 85%, etc. My Long Covid was early in the COVID cycle and most did not even know what it was. My lost of taste clinched it for my diagnosis!

 

[Spaceboi Scaphandre]

Four months ago I got high heartrate warnings but that was mainly because I was on hemp edibles and said edibles were a little speedy. I haven't had that warning in a long time

 

[msackey]

I’m kind of worried. As I approach my 40s, my sedentary life style is catching up with me. I’m gaining weight, my back is making me wish I was dead, and now I’m getting warnings about my heart health. My pulse has always been high. My doc doesnt seem concerned, so maybe these things are just too sensitive. Anyone else see this warning?

Assuming you had good health in your even younger years, the fact that you're approaching your 40s and your back is "making me wish I was dead" isn't a good sign. Approaching your 40s is still, really, really young! Shouldn't be having such symptoms as a result of approaching 40s.

 

[msackey]

I sometimes get low heart rate alerts. It will drop below 40bpm when I'm sleeping on occasion. I wore a monitor from the hospital for a few days and did some tests. Everything is fine, but the watch was accurate, my heart rate does drop that low according to the monitor too.

I would certainly take it seriously, along with my general health.

Dropping to below 40bpm when sleeping can be normal if you are an athletic person.

Decades ago when I was what I would say a competitive runner, there was an elite female athlete who kinda helped guide me a little. When sitting down (not sleeping!), her pulse beat in the mid 40s! I never got that low.

But now that I'm several decades older, and also not as athletic, my sleeping heart rate does go to low 50 and sometimes upper 40s.

It can be normal depending on context and your constitution.

 

[calliex]

I sometimes get low heart rate alerts. It will drop below 40bpm when I'm sleeping on occasion. I wore a monitor from the hospital for a few days and did some tests. Everything is fine, but the watch was accurate, my heart rate does drop that low according to the monitor too.

I would certainly take it seriously, along with my general health.

Me too, I have low heart rate that every couple months drops below 40. My cardiologist did some tests and say that is normal for me but to monitor it with the watch. I found an app that will produce a heart rate report for him. the app is called heart reports. every couple months a email him the report

 

[TAZ911]

I have low level tachycardia, but get no warnings aside from my watch logging exercise minutes throughout the day.

If you’re getting warnings don’t ignore them. Follow up with a doctor just in case.

Your 40’s is YOUNG and you still have lots of life left to enjoy. Take care of your body so that you can enjoy the coming years. If you were hard on your body in your younger years like some of us, the aches and pains will happen, but the earlier you get then handheld the more manageable they are. Same goes for your weight and such. Make the needed corrections as early as possible. With or without a doctors directions.

 

[bcalvanese]

I’m kind of worried. As I approach my 40s, my sedentary life style is catching up with me. I’m gaining weight, my back is making me wish I was dead, and now I’m getting warnings about my heart health. My pulse has always been high. My doc doesnt seem concerned, so maybe these things are just too sensitive. Anyone else see this warning?

I'm 66 now, and about 9 years ago I was diagnosed with diverticulitis. After a couple years of trying to treat it with diet, I wound up having to get surgery to remove a section of my colon.

Before they could do the surgery, they had to test my heart and lungs to see if I could survive it or not. I was 5'7", and about 240lbs at the time. I was also pathetically out of shape. The tests revealed that I had a heart attack at some point, and that I had COPD, and the equivalent of a person with one lung.

I survived the surgery, but they told me... if I didn't lose weight, start exercising, and quit smoking that i would not be around much longer. They recommended walking for exercise.

I started walking 1, 2, 3, sometimes 4 times a day, but could only walk about a mile at a slow pace before having to lay down, and feeling like i was going to die. I then got a fitness tracker, set it to lose 1lb a week, and started logging my food and walks. As the months went on, it got easier, and I could go faster and further. It got to the point where I could power walk about 10 miles at a 4mph+ pace, and not have to lay down after.

In the first year I lost 57lbs, and my resting heart rate went from the high 80's to the low 60's. I got a bicycle, and started riding that in the warmer months, and after a few years I started running too. I worked my way up to being able to run over 13 miles non stop at a slow pace. I don't run much anymore, because it just takes too much training to maintain that distance, but I do add run intervals into my walks to get my HR up.

I have since gotten another stress test, and they told me that my heart is strong and healthy, and that it actually healed itself from the heart attack. They said it was from all that cardio over time. As far as my lungs go... well... I can run 13 miles... so...

Now that I'm 66, I am having pain in my lower back and hips. so I had them x-rayed. My hips are fine, but I have arthritis in my lower spine. They told me I can still do my walks, but it would just be painful... lol

I am also still about 30lbs over weight, so now I am going to start focusing on strength training and losing weight to see if that will help with the pain.


I am hoping my story will help you with your story.

You have an apple watch, so you have the right device to track everything you need to do.

So...

Set your rings to goals that are challenging but achievable. I recommend 30 minutes of exercise per day, 400 active calories, and 12 standing hours.

If those goals get too easy, then increase them to make them more challenging.

Get a calorie tracking app, set it to lose 1lb a week, and start logging your food. This will make you realize what foods are giving you nutrition, and what foods are just wasted calories, and hopefully develop better eating habits.

Be consistent, and make it a habit.

Good luck.

 

[MarkX]

I’m kind of worried. As I approach my 40s, my sedentary life style is catching up with me. I’m gaining weight, my back is making me wish I was dead, and now I’m getting warnings about my heart health. My pulse has always been high. My doc doesnt seem concerned, so maybe these things are just too sensitive. Anyone else see this warning?

If you're seriously worried maybe take some action. Hit the gym, do a little running, cycling, or whatever you fancy and halt the weight gain.

Any sort of consistent activity will benefit not only your heart but every part of your life.

It's never too late to start on the fitness improvement journey.

 

[bobnugget]

Yikes. I wonder if I should take this thing seriously.

Approaching your 40s is a great time to work on your health, honestly. I did it and you can do it. At your age, I was seriously unfit and a little obese. Try a few ways of doing cardio, go with the one/s that you like most/dislike least. Do that exercise a couple of times a week (distance/trail running for me). After a few months it'll hopefully feel great.

I'm 42 now and fitter than I've ever been, the only difference is doing a couple of cardio sessions a week and 10-15 minutes exercises for my back every day. Still got the beer gut though. I used a Garmin, but an Apple Watch with a fitness program is a great tool!

 

[dukebound85]

Yikes. I wonder if I should take this thing seriously.

of course you should

Being sedentary increases risk of heart disease, high BP, diabetes, you name it

Do something before too late.

Wish you well. Don't let your health become unrecoverable

Walk a hr a day and track your food. You will be amazed at the results.

 

[Tdude96]

I would take it seriously and get a 2nd opinion from a different doctor if you're seeing this warning, particularly since you stated that it's "warnings" and not a one-off.

If it was a one-off warning and you didn't see it reoccur for say 6 months or a year, it might not be worth looking into further. A bad reading, a walk where you didn't go fast enough to raise your heart rate, heavy drinking causing heart rate fluctuations, watch was too loose during exercise. Any of those might trigger a warning, but it wouldn't be recurring often.

And you mentioned that you know you're packing on weight, living a sedentary lifestyle, and have a history of high heart rate. Your health is the most important thing - you've only got the one body, may not be perfect but it's all yours and it's good to take care of it. I'd get that doctor's appointment ASAP and start looking into ways to incorporate more activity into your life, and perhaps consider some dietary changes as well. It's not easy, especially getting started and committing to sticking with it. But it'll be worthwhile!

 

[Mikeske]

You are young and if you describe I have my doctors number on speed dial but you have to take that first step and that is get a doctors appointment then follow up on what he is suggesting. I am 65 and have never had issues with heart rate, blood pressure or anything but last year my doctor suggested I get a chest MRI because I am a former smoker. Guess what I had a small amount of plaque build up on a vein next to my heart. I had moderate to slightly elevated cholesterol and I have been put on a statin to bring down the levels.

I have never been overweight as I am now retired but I worked in a physically demanding jobs for my entire adult life and I still do physically demanding hobbies and yard work along with daily walks with my wife and dogs rain or shine. Staying active is mentally stimulating and makes your enjoyment of life complete. I do have a Apple Watch and wear it almost constantly to monitor the vitals as at my age I could easily croak and I just lost a close friend I known for the past 60 years and he was a month younger but he did suffer from Parkinson's for the past ten years.

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[xxFoxtail]

I’m 34, I haven’t gotten any heart related notifications - though I’d be pretty scared if one did eventually come up. The two times I had Covid, I got a lot of those high heart rate notifications and even though I knew it was normal, I still felt very uneasy.

I’m starting to get a lot of the same symptoms you’ve described in your original post. I’ve gained a lot of weight in the last 6 months (roughly 30 pounds). I’m certainly feeling it in my back and heart.

My heart beat is noticeably heavier and the average rate is a lot faster. My blood pressure has also been high. Now that I have tools and knowledge to take care of myself better - more than just what the Apple Watch can provide me, I’ve been slowly changing my lifestyle. Working out more, eating healthier, etc.

In my experience, it might not really affect you at all - If you do plan on making any changes, just start slow. Otherwise you can easily burn yourself out. Reduce salt, replace that bag of potato chips with popcorn, more vegetables, walk for an extra five minutes, etc. It’s going to be a lot easier to change these habits now, than it will in 5-10 years.