I thought I'd ask here first rather than in a watch specific Forum. I've been a Garmin user for a decade and currently have an original F3. Before Xmas I was thinking of getting a Vivoactive 3 music, to have a smaller daily watch with better smart features, the hr tracking and maybe better sleep stats. Anyway, I decided against spending the money, but last Friday I had two small strokes! (Currently showing no real after effects) I'm under 50, non smoker, non drinker, BMI about 25, ex triathlete who can't run anymore but I walk 25 to 40k/wk, ride once or twice and sometimes swim. This wasn't something I was expecting. I'm not in the Apple world so don't want an Apple watch. I was wondering if anyone knows if there really are any practical benefits for such a watch for me? I do have some mental health conditions under ongoing treatment. Are things like stress scores etc of any real benefit to me? Any advice welcome! Thanks all.
I think the first point to clearly understand is that these are not medical devices. They should not be used to investigate, diagnose or track suspected medical problems. Given that some of the data can get a bit 'wonky' it's possible to increase stress levels by getting stressed about the results.
That said, if you can accept that there are likely to be false alarms, then collecting the data does offer some benefit. It will allow you to identify trends over time. It is those trends that are more important than individual daily results. However, if you are alarmed by a specific result then of course you should seek medical advice immediately.
Nothing Garmin currently offers can predict or detect any kind of cardiac condition or emergency (heart attack, stroke, arrhythmia, anything else). You're best off thinking of HR monitoring and stress scores as tools for "lifestyle modification". For that, they can be somewhat useful.
For example, last week I was stuck in traffic and running late for a meeting when all of a sudden my watch set off an alarm for "abnormal heart rate". Basically, a it detected a heart rate over 100 BPM, when I wasn't currently engaged in any kind of physical activity (I was just sitting in my car). So I took a few deep breaths and tried to recover my zen. I think that's a useful feature, but it's definitely not a medical-grade device.
