Rheumatoid Arthritis and Fitbit Flex

slimkay1

I have been wearing my Fitbit Flex for about a month. Around a week ago I notice some intense pain, deep penentrating pain in my left elbow. I tried everything to relieve it nothing worked. I begin the think that the pain had something to do with my Fitbit, so I put it on my right wrist and within a day I starting feeling same deep pain in my right elbow. I took the Fitbit off and within a day or so my right elbow is pain free but I do have the pain in my left wrist, though not as intense. I am concern about he electromagentic energy of the Fitbit and my bodys' magnetic energy negatively effecting RA. I never had pain in my elbows before wearing the Fitbit. Am I the only one with RA using the Fitbit Flex? Did any of you with RA experience any pain while wearing your Fitbit Flex?

Jcmojock

Hi Slimkay! I have RA as a result of Crohns Disease and just aging in general. I was having a similar type of problem although it was in my wrist and the pain was creeping up my forearm on my left side. Like you, I switched to the right arm and immediately the same thing started happening. I am in agreement with you, that the Fitbit is restructuring our electromagnetic energy. It is a wonderful new way to track health-related information but wondering if its worth the risk of enduring the pain in order to monitor health information. I think I'm going to take a break from it for a while and then try it again in a few weeks/months. Hate that I spent the money on it and now possibly can't use it.

editorgrrl

Wearing a wristwatch can irritate the radial nerve, and so can wearing your Fitbit too tightly. The Flex is meant to be worn loosely enough to allow air circulation.

Fitbit's safety instructions & limited warranty:

If you have tendonitis, carpal tunnel syndrome, or other musculoskeletal disorders, consult your doctor prior to use. If you feel soreness, tingling, numbness, burning or stiffness in your hands or wrists while or after wearing the product, please discontinue use.

kathiemt2

I've read this with interest as I've been searching for answers. I don't believe I suffer RA but I have the exact same symptoms. I've been taking it off at night so I can sleep without the pain in my elbow. But clearly it has to have something to do with the fitbit. I certainly don't wear the band tight and I've tried three different bands now. I used to have a Samsung Gearfit but lost it and then got given the fitbit flex. I had the same problem with the gearfit. Must be something to do with the electromagnetic thing.

terimcc96

I've been wearing the Alta loosely since April. Now I have 3 fingers in the last 2 weeks (started with 1 and progressed) with what seems like arthritis. I've never had this before. The slightest bump sends pain. Today I decided to stop wearing it and see if I see an improvement. I've also noticed that there are times when I'm not wearing it and I feel the vibration on my wrist at the exact place where the plug is. I look to see if I have a message - but I don't have the device on. Something's up with this.

merobin69

Very crazy my job gave everybody Fitbit"s and had a company wide challenge. Had previously lost weight and in better shape than I had been in a long time. Had been walking and excersing prior to Fitbit. I started using the Fitbit and walked at least 10,000 steps daily from about Sept 2015 to Dec. 2015 and then all of a suddenly I could barely walk and I was diagnosed with RA by Rhuemy March of 2016. Always wore Fitbit on my ankle with band. I had previous problems with hand and wrist but nothing like pain I had in them afterwards and never had that kind of pain in ankles. Never had RA diagnosis before. Stopped wearing it because I could barely walk and didn't want to see how much my activity decreased. No change after taking it off but some help with meds. Now I'm lucky to walk a mile a week. Not sure if this caused it or not but I had no family history or symptoms this severe prior.

canadianlbs

r.a. can come on pretty fast. that, and/or you've actually had it 'active' for a while, but you sort of blurred the symptoms. that was more my own experience, where i spent at least a year wondering waht the hell was the matter with me before one day i woke up with an actual concrete symptom of swollen joints.

even then - even though i pmuch knew what direction the swelling was pointing me in, it was still an eye opener when i showed up for the diagnostic process itself. the doctor went over me and my recent history like a monkey hunting for fleas, and it was just staggering how many 'unrelated' micro-symptoms got suddenly caught in that net. exhaustion. dry mouth. eyes burning if even water got into them. hair loss. weight loss. stupidly - stupidly - sensitive teeth. weird stiff feet. fever. depression. mental feebleness.

tl;dr: don't make yourself too crazy trying to look for an individual cause. you might have a trigger somewhere in some part of your life, but ra simply turns itself on at a certain time for a lot of people. i mean, i get it. it's part of needing to make sense of the change, and it is your life so not examining it at all would be like abandoning your own history too. but still.

Momepro

terimcc96 wrote: »

I've been wearing the Alta loosely since April. Now I have 3 fingers in the last 2 weeks (started with 1 and progressed) with what seems like arthritis. I've never had this before. The slightest bump sends pain. Today I decided to stop wearing it and see if I see an improvement. I've also noticed that there are times when I'm not wearing it and I feel the vibration on my wrist at the exact place where the plug is. I look to see if I have a message - but I don't have the device on. Something's up with this.

That's actually a super common reaction that has nothingnto do with the actual device. Your brain just gets used to having input there and gets confused, so very slight things, like hesringyour phone buzz or a breeze on your srn will cause that. It's the same thing as phantom limb, or hearing the phone ring when you turn on the blowdryer.

canadjineh

You might try going old skool and just use the activity info 'pedometer' from your phone if you keep it in a pocket during the day. It's probably the auto sync feature of those bands that screw with bodies that are especially sensitive. I just use my phone, since I have fibromyalgia and sometimes rings, watches, bracelets, etc hurt like he11 when I'm having a flare-up.