Wait…you woke up…like THIS?!?

I have been asked over and over why I wear my Apple Watch pretty much all the time.

Three weeks ago, the answer to that question came, but absolutely NOT in the way I hoped.

I got up out of bed and wasn’t feeling so great. I got a couple more hours of sleep than I normally do, so I chalked up my “feeling bad” to knowing I woke up late and had a lot to do before logging in to the 9 to 5.

My Apple Watch beeped at me while I was cooking breakfast. It usually doesn’t beep until someone texts me, and it was too early for that. So when I had a minute to stop, I glanced down and was horrified at what I saw.

My heart rate was at 145 beats per minute. At 5:30 in the morning, with no exercise. Just getting out of bed, washing hands, and starting breakfast. 145.

That is a heart attack environment right there. 

First thing I did was run a blood pressure check.  127/81. A little elevated, but not in the "get up 9and take me to the ER" range. So I stopped, sat in a chair, and did some deep breathing work for about 5 minutes.

I sat there another 5 minutes, encouraging myself to calm down and  saying that whatever was happening, things would be okay. Over and over I said this to myself - “whatever is happening, things will be okay”.

I checked my heart rate again, and it had dropped from 145 beats per minute to 103 beats per minute. Still high for so early in the morning, but better than it was. I opened up the Spotify app, put in my earbuds, and listened to the Calming Classical music channel. I finished making breakfast, got my shower, and sat with the music for an hour before I did anything else.

My heart rate came down to 82 beats per minute, which is my normal rate.

Thankfully, my doctor appointment was at the end of that week. I told her what happened and she said, “You should have brought yourself to the ER immediately.  That was a dangerous heart rate for you and you weren’t exercising. I know you are still healing internally from surgery, but let’s incorporate more workout time into your routine. Time to get your  health back.”

Got it. That will never happen again on my watch.

I’m a few weeks past this incident. Thankfully,  this high heart rate has not  happened again. I am more watchful over my stress levels and I break out the Spotify if need be.

https://itsclarissa.me/calmclassicalmusic 

Hope this helps you as much as it does for me.