Going off a beta blocker affecting my body battery

My wife have same experience with some strong pharma from her post cancer treatment. It is stressful for the body when it need to get used to a new level. I have also very clear response from alcohol. After some drinks the stress levels are high and the body battery is not charging when the level of alcohol is sinking. 

But that is just our experience. If you and your GP is interested in your specific pills I recommend you to give First Beat in Finland a call. They are doing the algorithms for Garmin. They have some research papers on their website as well. https://www.firstbeat.com/en/

I am not an expert but I have understood that is too stressful for the body to just quit with strong pharma so that is the reason you need to go down step by step. 

This one can be interesting I think assets.firstbeat.com/.../Stress-and-recovery_white-paper_20145.pdf

Thanks! I am still dealing with this issue. My actual heart rate remains in normal range due to the beta blocker but I suspect that the HRV detected by the vivosmart4 watch is indicative of arrhythmia that is going untreated and making me feel sick (and not just the side effects of the beta blocker as has been suggested.) But I could be wrong. I have decided to get an Apple Watch which is capable of detecting arrhythmia and can do an ekg. I think I’ll know soon. I’ll post what I find out. (Where I live,  covid has essentially crippled the healthcare system. If necessary I’ll travel to see a cardiologist somewhere else if it seems that a year or more of waiting for an appointment is going to be a bad idea. I am so grateful that these tools exist so that I can make decisions for myself in the absence of much medical oversight. 

This looks very interesting. Thank you.

I do not think that devices like Garmin and Apple are build for real medical applications. Just a thought. 

I think it has something to do with how HRV is calculated. I've had paroxysmal AFib the last few years, and my Garmin stress levels were always horribly high while in AFib, all day and all night. Back in sinus rhythm and things would look normal. Now, I just underwent Ablation and as the heart heals (I'm only a couple weeks post procedure) I'm noticing my stress is high again, especially overnight. In fact overnight it often reads higher than while awake! HRV numbers are all time low...while HR still a bit elevated as usual for the procedure..my Garmin sleep score is horrible as well. (Garmin sleep tracking is getting better but I think still behind the leaders by a fair amount)  Something I also noticed was the optical HR sensors are useless when in arrhythmia.. you really need a chest strap or some other better electrical reading. In AFib for instance my Garmin would say 90 bpm when a chest strap or EKG etc would show 150+ bpm.  Something I got to see a lot of while I'm the hospital .. however once back in sinus, it was remarkably accurate, especially at rest.  

Have you had any better luck with your Apple watch? It does have the built in ECG feature, as does Samsung and some Fitbits.  Garmin still hasn't entered that fray..but judging by how many bugs my 955 has, they seem to be trying to catch up on too many fronts. I appreciate how Garmin is trying to catch up on the health tracking features and hope they get there. I think I'd use the ECG feature sometimes, though I have a small Kardia device that's been excellent for that.

In any event...my stress numbers have been horrid since my ablation, day in day out.. I can feel the scorn and sideways look of my Garmin...

I guess the real question is how are you feeling? 
it’s been a long time since I posted this and I’ve since lost and have not replaced the Garmin. I remember back when I first got it noticing how the body battery gauge really did seem to back up how I felt…I liked that function.

With these heart problems- I’ve noticed that looking at my Apple Watch and seeing the high numbers (the Garmin did not pick up as much of my SVT - maybe because the tachycardia episodes though frequent are quite brief in duration?) when I’m feeling ill just makes me feel worse because there is an emotional component to the whole thing. It’s a good tool but ultimately all I want is to feel better. The cardiologist said that thing about a chest strap being more accurate too. (And does not feel I have serious cardiac disease- treatment is just to calm the symptoms-so far it doesn’t-metoprolol makes me feel worse and ablation is possible but not being undertaken as yet.) There’s a part of me that thinks I’d be better off without a watch.

good luck with the ablation! I hope it is a cure- I’ve heard it can be.

Thanks! I have high hopes.. the stats are decent for helping AFib episodes after the first ablation. Stats get really good if you have to undergo a second ablation. I am seriously hoping I can be one and done!  The ablation procedure hit me a bit harder than I expected .. which the more 9nread the more I realize that is a common feeling. I've had far more symptoms recovering than they list in the discharge mentions...but I'm sure each individual and timing is different. 

That sucks the meds have been so rough on you. The meds I was on for the AFib (a rhythm med plus beta blocker) were fine for me overall...not really any especially odd effects..they just eventually stopped working  that said I really wanted off if them as long term effects aren't great either when compared to ablation..plus I'd just prefer to not take meds when at all possible. 

I hear you on the emotional aspect and the tech being a tension rather than a help. When in AFib and I felt like crap..stressing about the stress numbers have me more stress!  I've heard the Apple watch has a bit better health metrics..I splurged on the new 955 because running and golf are two activities it does well .. only to have some major golf functionality break with an update. 

The 955 has some newer health metrics and shows that Garmin is trying harder there.. but honestly a Fitbit for a quarter the cost would prob be better there.

When in my AFib I felt sick and dizzy and listless .. exercise was near impossible. When I'd wake up in the middle of the night and feel that damn flutter I'd get depressed..because I never had any idea when it would go away. What a mystery. I've heard some people can't even tell when in arrhythmia .. wow...the opposite for me!  And sounds like for you as well. I would hope they could find a different drug for you potentially? I hope you can find some relief. Yeah screw the tech if it just makes it worse..really all it ever did for me is confirmed what I already knew..so that's of questionable benefit ha...

If I wasn't so firmly entrenched in Android I might try the Apple watch and phone..maybe some day.  Some of that may depend on how well Garmin figures out these 955 issues. 

I think you need to increase the dose of beta blocker and see your resting heart rate does not go below 55. I had a similar problem and reduced it did not help and then increased, now I am having excellent body bettry

Glad to hear you are feeling better! (Just seeing this now.) 

I was told there was a risk of damaging the phrenic nerve because of where I would need the ablation. Did they mention this to you?

I imagine everyone is different- but it was enough to put me off and try to live with ttt he e symptoms. (Which are not liveable )