My mother says that she will drain a watch battery with-in a month, and I've heard this from other people as well. Anything to this?

Just to add, my mother has an identical twin. And the twin does not have an issue with this (they have bought watches at the same time, and compared).

This illustrates the problem with anecdotal evidence. To find out one way or the other you would need to do a controlled experiment, then send the results to the MB if they are positive. If you don't know what a controlled experiment is, Google it!

>>>
My mother says that she will drain a watch battery with-in a month, and I've heard this from other people as well. Anything to this?
<<<

What kind of watch was that? - a very great deal of buying a "genuine precious Rolex" incredibly cheap from a Chinese somewhere on a flea market?!? I guess that counterfeit tic toc trash thing simply has a lousy clockwork with way too much friction or contains a faulty chip that heats up and thus drains batteries.

If not, also a non-waterproof watch worn in moist environment may empty the battery preliminarily by humidity.

I believe it!

I had a patient who would have the electric blood pressure cuff break everytime I got to him. I used about 6-7 and after they all broke the moment I used it on him I had to resort to a manual cuff. His doctor and I were talking about it and his docto believed it could have something to do with a unusually high amount of iron in his blood. This patient couldn't wear watches because they would constantly stop. (I mean, no water around, no damage,etc.) There are certain people who just seem to have an electric interference factor. I have heard of people saying that before, but I had never witnessed it with this one patient, so quickly! ( I mean, the cuff wasn't near him for more than a minute!)

Also, I don't know if this means anything, but everytime he would be near a TV, it would get static on the channel. Didn't matter what TV it was, or who else was nearby. No one else would cause static on the tv if they were standing next to it. Just this guy. Strange stuff

Hmmm, I am interested in this one. I have a pile of watches that don’t work. Some are cheap and some very expensive. I don’t buy or wear watches anymore. I don’t believe that it is due to something in my body causing the watches to stop but rather something to do with my activities or something in my personal environment that is causing them to fail after a short period of time.

Do also LCD watches "stop"? And what is with antimagnetic watches?

Are there really such phnomenons like a human electric eel?

I guess that repeated watch problems have rather to do with the environment they are used in (e.g. exposure to strong magnetic fields, mechanical vibrations or strong RF waves during work). Eg. MRT operators are claimed to have plenty of trouble with broken watches and deleted credit cards due to the magnetic field - apparently even when they only work in the control room and not the magnet room.

>>
What kind of watch was that? - a very great deal of buying a "genuine precious Rolex" incredibly cheap from a Chinese somewhere on a flea market?!? I guess that counterfeit tic toc trash thing simply has a lousy clockwork with way too much friction or contains a faulty chip that heats up and thus drains batteries.
<<

It is not just one kind of watch, she is 60 years old and has had this problem all her life. 100's of watches. She just doesn't bother buying them anymore.

I thought I had the same problems with watches and even cell phones until I switched jobs. It seems it was environmental not human factors that caused the problem.

I had this phenomenon happen when I was a child. It wasn’t the watches. It didn’t matter with quality or activity. I had many different experts look at it. Many of my teachers would observe. For a while my mother stopped buying me watches but, now it doesn’t seem to matter. My doctor told me that he had seen it before and usually what ever it is many people, when they grow larger, it never happens again.

Resurrecting this one, as reporting it was my main reason for joining the site. I am one of those people, and though I have not tried to wear a watch in many years, I was at my present size the last time I tried.

I actually made this up as a reason (my boy's electrical field drains batteries) when I was a young teen-ager, to avoid long explanations for why I did not wear a watch. I then encountered other people who either had, or knew people who had, the same problem.

A bit of evidence (that may be dismissed out of hand by some), is that I spoke to a Chi-Gong (sp?) practitioner who was practising his ability to feel and manipulate chi fields, and though I held no stock in the process, I allowed him to try and feel mine. He felt nothing but a gentle sucking away of his.

If someone can direct me to a reliable and fine tuned method of measuring battery power, I would be happy to run a controlled test (three identical batteries, one in pocket, one in hand, one in wall safe), or whatever it takes to get the professionals to sort this out once and for all.

Any additional informaiton anyone can provide about watch batteries themselves and whether they are significantly different than any other kind, would be appreciated.

I too drain watch batteries of any type of watch within about 3 weeks. Even brand new batteries. If I put someting very thick on the back of the watch between my wrist and the back of the watch it wont drain. I have recently been purchasing the watches with interchangeable bands where the watch band its self covers the back of the watch. I can wear this type. Also about 12 years ago I went to work for a large outsourcing company that was using older computers. Within a couple of hours any computer I used would magically go into restart mode and someone would have toreinitialize it. This only happened to me nad it happened on several computers. My supervisor thought it was somwthing I was doing so she sat with me as I worked and saw that I did nothing out of the ordinary and the particular computer I was working at would restart. The company later bought brand new computers and this never happened to me again except when I had to use one of the older computers. What causes this

I drain batteries as well. My laptop is on its third battery, I can't keep a watch going, and a year ago I was put on a Holter Monitor to look into some heart problems I'd been having and I drained the batteries twice in two days. I've been trying to find an explanation but no doctor I've talked to really knows or they acted as though I was crazy. If anyone has a clue as to what causes this or could offer some validity to my experiences, it would be much appreciated.

I also drain watches, to the point that i havent consistently worn one since my 20's. (soon to be 39).

I finally met a lady last year who does too-new job. the clock on the wall quit working 3 weeks in a row. i asked her if she believed in strange things & if so- it's me draining it. she said it was her & we laughed. this past january, both of our cell phones- hers brand new- could not hold a charge. both of these occasions i was highly stressed. we both have the same zodiac sign. she is almost 60, and says that her mother took her to a dr. when she was a kid, had some test & found out that she was highly magnetic.

I remember receiving my first watch (Mickey Mouse) and how exciting it felt. I put the watch on my wrist and within an hour it stopped working and the arms fell off. I was very upset. Many watches were bought for me and all of them died, except one, an old one from a second hand shop. My mother-in-law gave me an expensive gold watch and that too died. I don't wear them anymore. Blood pressure devices NEVER work on me and the nurse always has to do it herself with a watch. I also have precognitive dreams, think of tv movies I would like to see and within a week or two, they are on TV - always. I dreampt about my grandparents dying, one month prior to each of their deaths. I wonder if there is any relationship? I am very sensitive to people, crowds, fear of heights, fear of strange places, love people one on one and enjoy knowing what makes them tick. I love art, creative things, books, writing, poetry, woods, pretty things, places. Are these common traits of people who have similar problems with watches I wonder? It would be an interesting study I think.

I've had the same problem over the years. I draw the power off much faster than it should happen. I prefer thick metallic bands as they seem to lengthen the lifespan of the battery. I have had several of the Timex Ironman $75-$125 watches just stop working after only a couple of weeks. One stoped before I got out of the store. It's strange, It doesn't happen every time, but I don't believe it to be the watches, It's either something biochemical in me, or something that I am getting too close to.

I, too, have this experience. I went through 5 watches in 1 month. I went without a watch for a couple of years until I tried wearing a solar-powered watch. It has worked for me without any problems.

I also affect televisions and phones, too, as described above. It would be great if someone would study this more.

I have a problem with batteries too!!! I can't wear watches or carry my cell phone without bringing the cord to charge it. Even my Ipod loses its charge remarkably fast. I also blow out lights regularly. It has gotten to the point that my roommates make me buy the light bulbs for the apartments that I have lived in. Is there something that causes this? Is there a way to stop it from happening? My family jokes about it all the time but it's kinda obnoxious. >.<

One more thing, I do have a seizure disorder and have heard from different people that this could be the cause...has this ever been studied or documented anywhere?

This is Mrs. Sunfisher, my husband brought this discussion to my attention. I am a therapist and have been studying some complimentary therapies, one of which is called BodyTalk. It is an energy based treatment system and works to balance the energy in the body and can even help determine if the imbalance is coming from the watch, other jewelry or the environment itself. We all have our own energy system and just because 5 people have lived together in the same home for years, the imbalance can be affecting only one person due to imbalances in that person's body. The imbalances can be resolved during the treatment session by the therapist helping the body to balance its own energy. There are many people who have been affected by the imbalances for years who have been able to benefit from this type of treatment.For further information you can check out the website of the International BodyTalk Association: www.bodytalksystems.com.