Meds Stress & Sportwatches

#1

Hi guys,

Last September I started taking Rilatine and my sportswatch immediately showed an elevation of my stress levels. Coincidence is of course that I also changed watches (from a Garmin vivoactive 3 to a Garmin Forerunner 245). My partner says that I therefore can’t make a correct comparison. But last week, my stress levels were really high and I felt it as well. I took the sportwatch off because I felt spiraling down (always checking stress levels - oh, they’re high, oh no - remunerating about it all the time). My partner is wearing it now and BOY he does not have one single stressy moment in his day!

Can higher stress levels be caused by the Rilatine? Is it healthy (I guess not) to have high stress levels? How relevant are the measures of Garmin? Is it a good way to measure stress by measuring variation in heart rate? Is it relevant for ADHD’ers to measure stress levels to begin with?

During working periods, my stress levels are on average between 35-40 (on 100) a week, which is a bit too high I think.
During a relaxed but active vacation, they were between 25-30, which is already a lot better, but still :).

Did someone already look into this?

Thank you!

2 Likes
#2

I’m not sure how the watch is measuring “stress” so I’m not sure really how to answer.

In general, there’s a chance that Ritalin can have an effect on your blood pressure, though most research I’ve seen indicates that is rare and the effect is minimal in most cases. I’m not sure what other measures the device may be pulling from.

The question is, do you feel more stressed without looking at the watch? Does it seem like you’re more restless, angsty, edgy, irritable, moody, anxious, etc.? If you’re not noticing any changes, then I’d ignore the watch as it’s no substitute for a medical professional. If you are feeling symptoms of concern, though, talk with your doctor and try to describe in detail what’s going on. Does it happen right after you take your medicine? Does it seem to peak and then subside? Does it seem like it’s worse in certain situations?

Bottom line, it sounds like you’ve done a good thing by not wearing it and passing it to someone else. There are other ways to track fitness if that’s what you’re looking for, so maybe something that doesn’t cause you so much additional stress would be more useful.

3 Likes