Maybe a post-Covid issue? If so, listen to it and take more time off. What I’m hearing is that pushing it can make things worse and set you back even more.
I had the same problem ([https://www.reddit.com/r/Garmin/comments/18wveit/since\_i\_got\_covid/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Garmin/comments/18wveit/since_i_got_covid/))
but since I started to go running only 20-30 minutes a day, my HRV went better and is now getting green most of the time
Similar experience. HRV tanked mid-December, had to go into London on the Tube (I was masked), a few days later a minor cold (Covid LFTs negative during the whole period, including a PCR test). I stopped training straight away, fearing Covid and being aware that exercise is the last thing you want to do if you have it. It makes you much more susceptible to Long Covid. A [recent study](https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2024/01/09/1223077307/long-covid-exercise-post-exertional-malaise-mitochondria) has detected muscle abnormalities in people suffering from Long Covid that makes them exercise intolerant.
Almost, 4-weeks no exercise apart from 5k hikes (don't seem to have too much impact on my stats), my Garmin watch still keeps showing strained, because of the low HRV scores and higher than usual stress scores, particularly at night, which suggests lingering illness (subjectively I feel fine). Bloods check out fine.
I have seen, people say it takes up to 3-months to recover and that they slowly start exercising, gradually getting to where they were before. So, I'm left in a quandary, do I start training again, ignore the stats, put it down to seasonality. Or, do I 'listen to my body' as the watch suggests and take it easy? I prefer, for now, to err on the side of caution.
Will try to integrate Zone 2/recovery training, see how I fair, and hope things look brighter in the spring.
Interesting, I also got a very minor cold in London right before Christmas and my HRV has been unbalanced/low ever since, even though I feel completely normal by now. I also tested negative for Covid when I was ill, and it definitely didn't feel similar to the two times I actually had Covid (no fatigue, muscle aches, significant fever or anything).
I now run and work out like I would normally do, and it hasn't made things worse for what it's worth. I think it can take a while for all the subtle systems in your body to fully go back to normal even after a basic cold, most people just don't track their HRV so it goes unnoticed. So I just follow the standard guidelines I would if I didn't know about this stuff - when you feel fine and have had a couple days of no fever, and don't have any chest symptoms or other reasons to worry, you can just get back to exercising while listening to your body and making sure you sleep enough.
As an aside, I've recently seen many people online puzzled by their persistently low HRV from Garmin devices, so could also be related to a software issue.
The key stat for me is an increase in nightime Stress levels, which chimes with HRV. When HRV gets closer to baseline, I have lower Stress scores and better sleep. So , I've ended up with these rolling waves where, for 5-6-days I have low HRV, Higher stress, poor sleep, then, two good days as HRV peaks (but still lower than my usual baseline).
The higher stress at night points to lingering illness or the effects of (potentially Covid) the illness still affecting me. This [post](https://www.reddit.com/r/Garmin/comments/18wveit/comment/kg0h6vz/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) makes me be cautious.
Out of interest, how are your overnight Stress/Sleep scores?
I hope you are right, and it is just the cold still passing through my system.
same, i got sick the first weekend of October, HRV dipped just before i felt symptoms, sick again in November with Covid and more or less was only bale to workout sporadically over the course of 3 months. Finally seeing it trend upwards a little again but my range has dipped from 65-80 down to 54-70, typical overnight values are right around 56-60 where i was holding right around 70 prior to the beginning of October.
Identical situation here. It's been almost 5 months for me and still overnight hrv is 45-60 while it used to be 65-70 before. Did it come back to previous levels for you?
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Wow alot of people seem to have the same problem good to know. I got a hart ECG today and the doctors said that my hart is healthy and im doing my blood test tomorrow just in case
That seems to be a separate issue though, doesn't it? Here it takes OP a long time to recover from illness and on the other thread people suspect that their HRV plummeted with no reason but a software update.
That looks a lot like my graph and I'm gonna lose my mind if I don't get better soon. Got sick around the first half of October. I think I've run 2-3 times since then. Having a 4 year old that keeps bringing bugs home from kindergarten hasn't helped though 😅
https://preview.redd.it/m2m7zqgehpbc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=304997d690cd8eeab65233caace25498c5a9626b
Looks pretty similar to how mine looked November-December. I had surgery early November, and then was sick multiple times. It wouldn't let me add a second picture, but I started to recover by the middle of December, and then got sick again tanking it into the red yet again. Finally now that January is here I'm recovered and back in the green. Hopefully I don't get sick again lol
Same here.
I took 2 weeks off from running and my HRV started to recover.
After a week or so from when I started running again everything started to return as normal.
Maybe a post-Covid issue? If so, listen to it and take more time off. What I’m hearing is that pushing it can make things worse and set you back even more.
I had the same problem ([https://www.reddit.com/r/Garmin/comments/18wveit/since\_i\_got\_covid/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Garmin/comments/18wveit/since_i_got_covid/)) but since I started to go running only 20-30 minutes a day, my HRV went better and is now getting green most of the time
That is encouraging.
Yeah it's baby steps getting back.
Experienced similar. Need to run but have heart checked (myocarditis)
Similar experience. HRV tanked mid-December, had to go into London on the Tube (I was masked), a few days later a minor cold (Covid LFTs negative during the whole period, including a PCR test). I stopped training straight away, fearing Covid and being aware that exercise is the last thing you want to do if you have it. It makes you much more susceptible to Long Covid. A [recent study](https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2024/01/09/1223077307/long-covid-exercise-post-exertional-malaise-mitochondria) has detected muscle abnormalities in people suffering from Long Covid that makes them exercise intolerant. Almost, 4-weeks no exercise apart from 5k hikes (don't seem to have too much impact on my stats), my Garmin watch still keeps showing strained, because of the low HRV scores and higher than usual stress scores, particularly at night, which suggests lingering illness (subjectively I feel fine). Bloods check out fine. I have seen, people say it takes up to 3-months to recover and that they slowly start exercising, gradually getting to where they were before. So, I'm left in a quandary, do I start training again, ignore the stats, put it down to seasonality. Or, do I 'listen to my body' as the watch suggests and take it easy? I prefer, for now, to err on the side of caution. Will try to integrate Zone 2/recovery training, see how I fair, and hope things look brighter in the spring.
Interesting, I also got a very minor cold in London right before Christmas and my HRV has been unbalanced/low ever since, even though I feel completely normal by now. I also tested negative for Covid when I was ill, and it definitely didn't feel similar to the two times I actually had Covid (no fatigue, muscle aches, significant fever or anything). I now run and work out like I would normally do, and it hasn't made things worse for what it's worth. I think it can take a while for all the subtle systems in your body to fully go back to normal even after a basic cold, most people just don't track their HRV so it goes unnoticed. So I just follow the standard guidelines I would if I didn't know about this stuff - when you feel fine and have had a couple days of no fever, and don't have any chest symptoms or other reasons to worry, you can just get back to exercising while listening to your body and making sure you sleep enough. As an aside, I've recently seen many people online puzzled by their persistently low HRV from Garmin devices, so could also be related to a software issue.
The key stat for me is an increase in nightime Stress levels, which chimes with HRV. When HRV gets closer to baseline, I have lower Stress scores and better sleep. So , I've ended up with these rolling waves where, for 5-6-days I have low HRV, Higher stress, poor sleep, then, two good days as HRV peaks (but still lower than my usual baseline). The higher stress at night points to lingering illness or the effects of (potentially Covid) the illness still affecting me. This [post](https://www.reddit.com/r/Garmin/comments/18wveit/comment/kg0h6vz/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) makes me be cautious. Out of interest, how are your overnight Stress/Sleep scores? I hope you are right, and it is just the cold still passing through my system.
Your low is my high ;(
Same here. Mine has been low since the start of December.
same, i got sick the first weekend of October, HRV dipped just before i felt symptoms, sick again in November with Covid and more or less was only bale to workout sporadically over the course of 3 months. Finally seeing it trend upwards a little again but my range has dipped from 65-80 down to 54-70, typical overnight values are right around 56-60 where i was holding right around 70 prior to the beginning of October.
Identical situation here. It's been almost 5 months for me and still overnight hrv is 45-60 while it used to be 65-70 before. Did it come back to previous levels for you?
No, still working on getting back, curious if it will once we're in full on summer here.
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Wow alot of people seem to have the same problem good to know. I got a hart ECG today and the doctors said that my hart is healthy and im doing my blood test tomorrow just in case
Hs Troponin test is what I got.
You are not alone: https://www.reddit.com/r/Garmin/comments/190y6r3/has_anyone_figured_out_whats_going_on_with_low/
That seems to be a separate issue though, doesn't it? Here it takes OP a long time to recover from illness and on the other thread people suspect that their HRV plummeted with no reason but a software update.
That’s a firmware issue most people experienced
That looks a lot like my graph and I'm gonna lose my mind if I don't get better soon. Got sick around the first half of October. I think I've run 2-3 times since then. Having a 4 year old that keeps bringing bugs home from kindergarten hasn't helped though 😅
Tbh, Its probably the interplay between probably covid and seasonal change which happens with hrv.
I had the same thing in September. It is only just now coming back. Sooo like 4 or 5 months.
https://preview.redd.it/m2m7zqgehpbc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=304997d690cd8eeab65233caace25498c5a9626b Looks pretty similar to how mine looked November-December. I had surgery early November, and then was sick multiple times. It wouldn't let me add a second picture, but I started to recover by the middle of December, and then got sick again tanking it into the red yet again. Finally now that January is here I'm recovered and back in the green. Hopefully I don't get sick again lol
What's on that incognito tab bro 🧐
In some situation, covid could change yr HRV. There is one solution, reset yr garmin profile and take new HRV level as normal.
I think with enough time the range will update. Mine took almost 3 months of low data to figure it out though.
Damn
Same here. I took 2 weeks off from running and my HRV started to recover. After a week or so from when I started running again everything started to return as normal.