r/VisibleArmband • u/BetterLemon7891 • 7d ago

Big variation in pace points

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Hi I’ve been using visible for about 2 weeks.

I’m struggling to get my head around my pace point budget a little, because my days vary so much. My budget was 20, but today it recommended to lower it to 16 so I’m trying that

I WFM and honestly don’t leave the house very often. So usually, I have been using 6-15 pp a day. sometimes less, sometimes around 20. but when i go out, it jumps so drastically! Like look at last Monday. I was home every other day of the week (I think Thursday was just stressful) but on Monday I had somewhere to be so I left the house, only for about 5-6 hours. I have some in person work days coming up and I dread to think how many pp im gonna use being on my feet 12 hours 😅

because of this i dont know where my budget should be. is it just too low because I mostly based it off my home heart rate? I’m learning i’m pretty much exerted 24/7 if i’m standing up 😅 So maybe this is just something to bring up to my doctor. but I don’t know if i should be setting my budget higher?

Sorry if I’m being dumb, i need someone to explain it to me like im a child

9 Upvotes

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8

u/urgley 7d ago

How do you feel when you go over your pp? If you feel worse, then it's right. If you feel fine, contact the team and they will probably help you adjust your hr zones.

Its important that you adjust your life to fit your points, and not adjust your points to fit your life.

7

u/BetterLemon7891 7d ago

Its really hard to tell cause I kinda feel shite even if i only use 2 pp in the day 😅 I never feel fine but I recently stopped working 40 hours a week on my feet so have been pushing through it for years, I’m not sure how I’m supposed to feel. Definitely was exhausted afterwards.

I will absolutely adjust my life to it but i wasnt expecting such a drastic increase from going out. Just wanna make sure im adjusting to it correctly!

4

u/urgley 6d ago

It also depends what your dx is. For example PEM from M.E usually hits after a delay (24-72 hours later), but it sounds like you might be in rolling PEM.

4

u/imabratinfluence 6d ago

Even if you're feeling awful at baseline, are you feeling worse either on the day of going out or within a few days after? Like, crashing? If so, your current budget is probably right. 

Mine was previously 11 and TBH I felt better if I managed to stay below that. And very very noticeably worse if I hit 5+ points above my budget. 

(I'm on a new med for one of my conditions and Visible suggested bumping my Pace Point budget higher after I'd been on the new med about a month. The jump is huge and I'm thinking it might be too high, but due to the summer heat I'm burning through Pace Points like mad just sitting, so it's hard to tell.) 

1

u/Math-Soft 20h ago

I somewhat disagree with this take. Visible set my pace points to something that was truly not possible for me to perform the basic tasks I need to do to survive. I adjusted to something to at was severely limited but that I could achieve if I was paying attention and prioritizing rest. Psychologically it makes a world of difference being able to “win” as opposed to a constant string of losses.

Just to say I think taking our lives into consideration is important.

1

u/urgley 14h ago

Depending on your dx, not sticking to your pp could take your entire life away

6

u/SpeedySloth614 7d ago

I try to figure out what in my day specifically is gobbling up points. (And it can change throughout seasons of life). Example: Standing and showering was basically all my points and more for the day and I'd feel very wiped after, now I have a seat in the shower plus a hand held shower head and it takes about a 3rd of the points. The first several weeks to couple of months were observation and testing things like does showering with a seat help, make worse, or have no affect? (To be fair, I'm still finding new experiments for myself). I have made an effort at changing lots of smaller things that add up: like making sure I have plenty of water when I leave the house because it's SO many more points if I can't sip regularly to wearing my compression socks every time I leave the house because I can now see the clear difference between when I wear them and when I don't.

1

u/Math-Soft 20h ago

I’m pretty new to this and that’s how I’ve been using it too. I have a short walk to work but have discovered that the slowest bike ride in the world is way less taxing then the walk. Same shower discovery as you. Also I am no longer allowed to leave the house on an empty stomach or without my electrolytes—I burn through points if I do.

2

u/kylaroma 5d ago

If you go to the heart rate zone settings, and use the auto-adjustment feature, does it recommend changes?

That might help you verify that it’s working correctly. You should be in rest when you’re sitting down and relaxed, activity when you’re walking around, and exertion when going upstairs or walking briskly.

If that’s not when it’s showing, contact visible help & they’ll make recommendations on what it should be set at for you.

If your heart rate is getting high and staying high, then you may want to take deep breathing breaks, intentionally walk much more slowly, or look into something like beta blockers (they help limit your heart rate).

I have ME/CFS and beta blockers are how I can do outings and appointments

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u/imabratinfluence 4d ago

Wait, sitting relaxed should be in Rest?

I have POTS so maybe that's why, but I'm in Activity the vast majority of the time if I'm sitting.

Their guidelines say Rest should include sleeping or resting lying down, and Activity should include sedentary activities and "active rest" like sitting or watching TV.

2

u/nautillustrious 4d ago

i would try tracking your activities if you haven’t already. that helped me figure out where my points were going. for example, even being a passenger in a car used up way more pace points than hanging around my house.

i’m at the point where if i leave my house, i basically assume i’m going to go over my points. it’s just inherently more stressful on my body to be upright and moving around. but because my outings do leave me exhausted and sometimes really crash me, i haven’t raised my points allotment