Alert sensations while "not" wearing Charge 2

[Blitz1]

I'm getting alert buzzing/sensations in/on my wrist when I am "not" wearing my Fitbit Charge 2.  Has my body learned to imitate or predict this and is triggering a learned response?  Is anyone having similar responses/sensations when not wearing your Fitbit?

[Joyce-FB]

I too experienced this buzzing today.  It’s a very odd sensation and I experienced it both while not wearing it and when I put it on.  I don’t know if this is phantom or not.  Any other ideas?

[rmmalachi]

I am experiencing the same problem. I switch to wearing my smart watch on other wrist and now the alert sensation on the wrist? I hope this is not something to worry about. 

[Rich_Laue]

Do You Have 'Phantom Vibration Syndrome'?

People got this with pagers in the 1980's and then with cell phones and now with smart watches   watches. 

[1STOPRFS]

I started experiencing a vibration in my body, back in Nov 2018. At first, I felt it at night on my stomach, felt like a cat purring. Then as time went by, I noticed that i was feeling it during the day as well. Then the vibration was consistent throughout my entire body, all day. It took me a while to figure out what this was. After isolating out everything that I had changed back in Nov 2018, I thought about this fitbit. I started wearing it around Oct 2018. I took it off and that same day the vibration has stopped. Does anyone know if FITBIT is aware of this? It took me a year and half to figure this out. 

[Rich_Laue]

See my previous post, it is called Phantom Vibration and science doesn't know the cause. But many have vibrations in their pocket without having the phone 

[1STOPRFS]

Rich_Laue: I read that link. I don't feel the alert or the message vibrate. Mine is like your body is trembling on a low vibration, from the inside. As if, you should be shaking from the outside, but you don't. I can extend my arm out and no shaking, but i'm shaking inside.  

[Julia_G]

Hi, @1STOPRFS , are you still wearing your Fitbit?  

These “phantom” sensations are not uncommon, but really have no physical component.  They are just your body experiencing what it is expecting to feel.  Fitbit is aware that some people feel this - in fact I have myself... I also sometimes think I hear my doorbell ringing when I am expecting a delivery and it hasn’t yet arrived.  It is natural and normal and will do you no harm.

It sounds like you have these sensations a little bit differently from many people, but I expect they have the same source.  Please do not worry!  There is absolutely no evidence that they can cause you the slightest harm.  It probably just means that your body is particularly in tune with the sensations around you and has come to expect feedback from your Fitbit.

[1STOPRFS]

Julie_G, at the moment i am not wearing it. I ordered the pendant fitbit to see if I can wear that and not vibrate. I was becoming concerned because the vibration was starting to get worse and I was starting to feel ill. I wasn't sure what the long term effects would be. It can't be good, your body vibrating 24/7. I'm just glad i figured it out. I've had quite a few tests done and everything came back normal. My next option was an MRI.. lol.. persistency pays off. 

[Netty062]

So after wearing Fitbit for about 8 months I started getting phantom buzzing.  Initially I thought it was my imagination.  But I quickly realized my brain is making up the sensations.  

And then I remembered years ago if I laid down for a nap (alone) I would feel sensations like someone is tossing on the bed beside me or a cat was walking on the bed beside my legs.  We don't have a cat.  I thought I was going crazy, until I researched it on line and found others' similar stories. I didn't find a medical explanation, but just others' accounts and so I relaxed about it.  My husband is a tosser in bed.  It was my brain telling me he was there tossing and turning.  So for those of you who worry about nerve damage etc, don't.  Our brains are complex organs.  

Maybe some people have more tendencies towards the phenomenon.  I have given Fitbit a break simply because it is annoying. I also sleep in the spare room.  Not because of the phantom movements but because he is on shift work and I suffer from hot flashes and night sweats.  Those phantom movements stopped, for now until we sleep together again.

[eayalles88]

My body vibrates no constantly under the fitbit, more if I am wearing it but still when I am not.  I am very puzzled by it. It is a Versa 2

[rescueheroh]

Absolutely DO feel the buzzing alerts when I am not wearing it.  I sometimes wear it on my ankle when I am biking.  When I am getting ready in the morning, I have the Fitbit on my wrist, but then I will feel the buzzing on my ankle.  The ankle I wear it on.  This is just plain creepy and INVASIVE but I really like to wear my (fitness) tracker.   I wonder what kinds of studies we are unknowingly taking part in.

[eayalles88]

Yes I feel it even when not wearing but agree I like the data I know it
tracks. I am not sure I care about what else they need to know

[Julia_G]

@rescueheroh , if you feel vibrations on your ankle while wearing your Fitbit on your wrist, or while not wearing your Fitbit at all, this is your own body creating these sensations and Fitbit is not collecting any data or undertaking any studies that are related to these sensations in your own body.  

Please be reassured that these feelings you are experiencing are not being communicated to Fitbit in any possible way.

[Rich_Laue]

You probably do feel vibrations on your wrist, many also experience this with there phone. It is believed as many as 9 out 10 people experience some form of Phantom phone vibrations. I would not expect it to be less for those who wear watches/Trackers. 

https://iac.gatech.edu/research/features/what-is-phantom-vibration-syndrome

Really this is nothing to worry about and considered very common. 

[freedancer]

Yes, I too am feeling the phantom buzzing!!

[Lagalla]

Yesterday I began getting vibrations inside my right wrist where I wear my watch. I also thought the watch was faulty, and buzzing me when I had no messages. I just now removed the watch to charge it thinking that might fix the watch vibrations, and to my surprise the vibrations are continuing. They seem to be steady intervals a few seconds apart on the inside of my wrist. I'm going to consult my doctor, but I do wonder if wearing the watch 24/7 has caused this. I'll see if not wearing it for a day will help, and then I'll switch wrists. To hear that others are experiencing similar vibrations is extremely concerning to say the least.

[Netty062]

The brain is an amazing organ. It's making phantom buzzing. I stopped
wearing my fitbit for a year now. Got an alert to my email that someone
else posted and my wrist has been buzzing again after a year of no buzzing,
no wearing of the fitbit.

Ginette

[Lagalla]

I've now had my watch off for 2 hours, and the vibrations have dramatically decreased

[Stephawk]

Yes, I stopped wearing my Charge 4 a few months ago and the sensation you described continues randomly. 

[Rich_Laue]

It is called Phantom Vibrations, and described in this Wiki article.