Visible: Pacing for illness

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I reviewed this App at the beginning of May when I’d been using the wearable for a couple of weeks. It’s now been six weeks and I can honestly say it is brilliant. I really am pacing effectively now and I’m feeling better than I have in years. Once I’d got my head around the HRV data and realised that Stability is paramount, as opposed to thinking the idea was to raise my HRV, it all started to make sense. If you need more information, my advice is to go to Anna Marsh’s Podcast and listen to Episodes 85 and 86 to learn more and hear her talking with Harry about Visible. Last week saw the addition of Coherent Breathing to the App and that’s proving to be an eye-opener too. I’ve been practicing yoga for over forty years and have always enjoyed Pranayama but the App is taking my breathing practice to a whole new level. Brilliant!

I’ve been using the morning and evening check in for a month now. Initially confusing getting my head around variable heart rate, and quirks in the way data is presented. Also very frustrating in having an app suggesting I pace better (& backing its stance with objective data!!!) But it’s definitely helping me: - I’ve been able to identify a few activities that were more energy draining that I thought. - I realise it’s not just that activities drain me, but its that my body reaction to an activity also exasperates that energy drain. - Better Understand my condition / limitations.

The latest app update caused it to crash. When the help team told me how to get the app working again on my phone I discovered more than 2 months of my daily health data had been erased. I now have no health records of my symptoms to show at my Long Covid Climic appointment. Do not trust this unstable & unreliable app!

Having had long covid for over 2 and a half years, I’ve found this really useful for data in order to help to understand my body. I can generally tell when I’m about to become ill from the HRV value. It’s also useful to know when I’ve done (or am heading towards doing) too much within a day through the pace points (and therefore why I may not feel so great 24-48 hours later). I feel that I’ve gained a better understanding of myself and how my body now reacts, which has helped me to move a little way forwards.

This app has been extremely helpful in pointing out the errors in my pacing. My ME hospital clinic told me that I would be able to do less than I thought. It turns out it is MUCH less. The feature where you can tag activities helps you plan because it makes you realise how much of your budget a simple walk round the garden or shower uses up. I have contacted the Visible team a few times and had incredibly helpful responses extremely quickly. I have recommended this to my fellow ME patients in the clinic I attend.

Even after 38 years of ME I am learning useful things about pacing. Visible highlights things which use more energy and shows how savings can be made. It is fascinating to be able to compare heart rate when cleaning teeth standing compared to sitting down. Astonishing to see how many pace points are used standing for three or four minutes. A most useful tool for pacing. The team respond quickly to any queries and have been unerringly helpful. Worth every penny!

I just wanted to drop by to say thank you to the team working so hard behind the app. This has been a game changer for me. I was diagnosed with Long Covid last year, having managed to catch Covid yet again for the fourth and fifth times within five weeks. My GP was super helpful and referred me to the local Post Covid team who are remarkable. However, I was looking for something to help me understand what I was experiencing, to give me the same sort of insights into my day to day life that my FitBit gave me into my fitness. This is where Visible really helps. The free version is ok, but the paid version is transformational. To afford it, I cancelled three other apps that I rarely or never use and I don’t miss them!! The paid for version links to a Polar armband that you wear whilst awake. Basically, the more data you give the app the better it is. So what have I found most helpful? Being part of something positive You don’t have to do this, but you can sign up so that my data is now part of several research studies looking at Long Covid. It feels empowering to be fighting back after feeling like a victim for too long. I also know I am not alone, I am one of 150,000 people using this app, all doing something to understand and try to manage their illness. If I get stuck or don’t understand something (because brain fog), the support team are frankly unbelievable. I’ve never experienced anything like it on an app. They are highly responsive, kind and patient. I can now “see” the problem objectively For all the reasons that works for me with my Fitbit, Apple Health, Strava etc, it works now. I can see which activities drain me, how long it takes to recover, those activities that heal and literally, how many “spoons” I have left to give today. By tagging activities, I can give them a value. So I can plan ahead to manage my energy better: turns out the emotional and mental stimulation is sometimes more draining than physical! For example, watching sport for me is as tiring as a gentle walk. I can also track my symptoms. Thankfully I am recovering slowly - on my darker days though, it can feel as if I’m going backwards. Visible helps me to answer the question “is that true?” Sometimes if I have pushed too hard, symptoms reoccur and yes, I can see that. Now I have the knowledge, it’s easier to know what to do to fix that. (Incidentally, Visible also gives you access to more material about LC than you will ever need, including the latest research).

I got the app as I had been infected by Covid for only 3 weeks and wasn’t noticing any improvement. I have been struggling with symptoms for 8 weeks now and the app has been helping me to pace myself and also to find the assurance that the last 2 months haven’t just been a bad dream. I hope to use the collected data for my first appointment at the long Covid clinic I have been referred to.

The app is useful (LC) but when I moved to a new phone today Visible lost my account, tells me my email is not recognised and offers no option to recover account. I would hate to have lost several months of data as it’s been useful to have evidence for disbelieving healthcare professionals.