Resting HR spikes (and sleep HR goes up) when sick

[angelafoodcake]

I've had my Fitbit HR since March now and I've been sick many times, and Very Consistenly I notice that my resting HR spikes up to "72" and stays there while I'm at the peak of sickness, and comes down when I'm well. Whatever formula they have seems to be extra magical in predicting the onset of viral illness because it starts to go up 2 days before I get any symptoms. Interestingly, the resting HR doesn't directly relate to overnight HR -- my overnight HR is "normally" 54-59, and when i'm sick and my resting HR is 72, my overnight HR is in the mid-to-high 60s. Most people's reactions to this is that the scale of change is insignificant (I'm a scientist / I get comments from other scientists), and I'd agree except that it's alarming precise and these noticeable spikes *only* happen when I'm sick. Anyone else noticing this magical prediction ability and mirroring of illness state??

[Tan_Man]

I have a fitbit charge 2 and today I was and still am sick. I realilized that my pulse was way faster than usual. Usually, my sleeping pulse is 60 BPM but I woke up to find that it was 83 BPM. When I am walking around, my pulse does not go over 95. But today, just from walking down the stairs... my pulse was 145 BPM. I realilized that I was running a fever and so I just layed around the whole day. My  pulse stayed at 115 BPM when I was sitting, or standing. I think it is kind of wierd how your pulse can spike so easily just from walking 10 Feet. 

[Andowen]

Too funny, I was just wondering the same thing.  I'm usually 55-60, but since I can't seem to kick this stupid cold, it's way up! Today "resting" was in the 70's.  So glad to hear this is just our bodies response to sickness and not that my heart is going nuts!

[Colinm39]

@AndowenWelcome.. It is not just warnings of sickness, I have found it is external temperature, an extra blanket while sleeping, warmer clothes in winter etc.

For example, it has been fairly warm here and the evening temperatures have had us sleeping on top of the blankets. The daily temperature has been gradually rising and it reached 38oC (100oF) here today. No humidity.  At 10-30pm it is still 29oC (84oF).

When I had my hip operation 18 months ago my RHR shot up to 74 and then took 6 weeks to come back to my "normal", 49-52.. typical... The doctors weren't concerned.

Here is my months RHR..

[Sully08]

The only thing that I think skews this logic is ive noticed if my FitBit isn't making good contact with my wrist the HR will go up sometimes to well over 100 I've seen 140 before. Noticed this too if I didn't have HR set to automatic and I take it off for a moment you'll see the heart rate go way out of wack. So it's possible that the spike you see is nothing more then the sensor not making good contact with your skin during the time noted.

[DonM99]

 What we're talking about Sully is a subtle change of a few bpm in resting heart rate over a number of days prior to developing symptoms of getting sick and continuing on while ill. The connection issue is something else but definitely something I've noticed before. In that case, it's far more dramatic of a change.

[Sully08]

Ah ok gotcha

Sent from my iPhone

[DrKriplani]

I have noticed the same

[Rocket2guns]

I've had an awful headache sickness for the past week, noticed the same thing on my Fitbit. Figured I would also add the data to this thread.

My RHR is consistently 55 for the last year (I'm 35 year old fit male). Seeing it spike to 70 has been a bit scary!

[Esya]

@Rocket2guns

It means your body is working hard to heal you. If you are concerned about your headache or your heart rate I advice to see a doctor if you haven't already.

[angelafoodcake]

Mine gradually goes up if I have a generic cold- the only times it has spiked have been when I've gotten confirmed influenza and confirmed step throat. I'd go to the doctor if it suddenly spikes!

[Colinm39]

I have found the Blaze excellent at the low levels of HR. It is definitely ahead of our symptoms with impending colds or sore throats.  For me it also reflects the weather environment you are in .. I'm typically RHR of 51.. getting down to 42 at night.  Autumn here now....

Before the Blaze I was using the Surge and I had the same results and the day after my total hip replacement my RHR went from 58 to 74 and took about 4 weeks to get back to 58. The 58 was probably because I had never had a major operation and some hidden concern. The doctors weren't worried but I had advised them I had a generic slow pulse.

Here is the July 2015 graph of my RHR which are averages and the other image is that same period in finer detail.. The final image is the current year.. As I'm typing this my HR is 52..RHR 52....

I better move...

[TheGermanGirl]

Yes!!!! I have noticed the same!!!

[SarahMSP]

Absolutely. Rises as illness sets in. Haven't had my HR long enough to have reliable stats except that I've noticed that trend, too. Just came back from a demanding business trip and the day I left my RHR was 58 and it went up everyday until I peaked at 63. Today, Day #1 home, 62. Fascinating.

I use it as a sign to rest, eat well, rest and then sleep. 😉

[isaacyho]

@angelafoodcake In case you haven't heard, this was actually confirmed by a Stanford study...

Looks like it started 2 years ago, right around the time of the initial post 🙂

http://scopeblog.stanford.edu/2017/01/12/your-smartwatch/

Pretty cool, OP!!!

[vee]

Hi! I found this thread when I googled "high heart rate when sick". But I'm a longtime Fitbitter and friend of Colin's. My heart rate this week has been scarily high. I switched to my Flex 2 but my Charge 2 was nearby and that HR overrode all Flex data 😞 no steps but active minutes! Should have turned off the HR. Also, at first I thought this was food poisoning from something I ate Sunday night, but since I'm still sick on Thurs I guess not. I had  noticed earlier on Sunday that after I ran my heart rate stayed elevated for a very long time, giving me extra active minutes, so thanks for that info about the HR going up first, which confirms my suspicion that I picked something up at the doctors office last TH when I went for my annual physical! 😢

[DZ_26]

Yes! Same thing here.  Yesterday I started having a runny nose and sore throat. I thought maybe it was just allergies, but today I feel like I may have a mild fever.  I just checked my resting HR and sure enough it has spiked to 57. I am normally from 50 to 53.

 

[CathyB04]

I've wearing my fitbit alta hr for 3 months now. Resting HR was low 50s but increased to high 50s a couple of days before I showed symptoms of a viral infection,  & remained there during the illness.  My husband has a fitbit charge & has noticed the same pattern. 

[DZ_26]

Update: My RHR eventually topped out at 59. I had a fever of 101. Now I feel like I have fully recovered and my RHR is back in my normal range at 53.

[Kazeliz]

Exactly the same as me!

[Rescuedogmom]

I just came across this. YES! I noticed mine jump significantly, and then 2 days later I started feeling awful. This is kinda incredible. Thank you for the explanation. I thought something was really wrong with my heart!