Tiny Awake Periods

[cyclinglen]

In my sleep stages I've noticed a bunch (more than 20) of tiny "awake" stages.  They last 30 seconds or so.  Does this mean I rolled over or something?  Is that now considered "awake?"  I guess that'd make sense.  By the way, my sensor is on normal, not sensitive.

[FerdinandFitbit · Accepted solution]

Hi @cyclinglen. Great to see you in the Community Forums!

When it comes to the sleep stages, while you’re asleep each night, your body typically goes through several sleep cycles that last on average 90 minutes but could be more or less. In each cycle you alternate between two types of sleep; Light Sleep and Deep Sleep and Rapid Eye Movement (REM) Sleep.

Now, it’s normal to see awake minutes in your sleep stages; studies have shown a typical adult could wake up briefly between 10-30 times per night (source). You may not remember waking up since you likely fell right back to sleep, especially if you were awake for less than 2-3 minutes at a time. If you wake up in the morning feeling like you had a restless night, you may notice more awake minutes in your sleep stages as compared to other nights and having your tracker in the normal setting or sensitive setting doesn't make much difference in this.

Hope this made sense. Let me know if you have more questions.

[cyclinglen]

Thanks.  Good information as they didn't show up that way prior to the new sleep stages setting.

[KtownRob]

Hi! I also see a lot of tiny awake periods (until last night?) - I'm wondering if it might be related to my sleep apnea?

[FerdinandFitbit]

You're very welcome @cyclinglen! 🙂

Hi there @KtownRob! Great to see you in the Forums!

Your sleep stages data helps you track your patterns and notice variations. If you have any concerns about your sleep health we recommend sharing the information with your doctor. A good source of additional information is the National Sleep Foundation. 

Any other thing you guys may need, I'm here to help!

[Yainey]

Yes- I'm curious to know what "normal/ healthy" sleep looks like on a sleep stage graph. I wake up tired- I can fall asleep anywhere and I have a lot of pink marks but from what I'm reading, maybe everyone does? I had 45 awake times totaling 1 hour & 45 minutes.

[FerdinandFitbit]

Hi there @Yainey. Great to see you in the Forums! 🙂

I'd say that's more than what someone would wake up during the night. If you notice on your sleep logs, you can take a look at the "Benchmark" section and here you will find the averages for other people your age. If you notice that your numbers are way below or over the average ranges, this could indicate something going on and you might want to speak to your doctor about this as your Fitbit is a great tool for gathering this information but is not meant to diagnose any condition since it's not a medical device.

Any other question you may have, let me know!

[Yainey]

Thanks - benchmarks say I'm normal, just doesn't feel right 🙂  I have a sleep doc appt coming up!

[FerdinandFitbit]

Thanks for getting back @Yainey! 🙂

Sleep works different for everyone and that it says you're in the range of what should be normal, is probably not your situation, so it would be matter of extending your sleep schedule I'd say to benefit from it and feel good 🙂

[AussieTone]

Moved to appropriate thread

[AussieTone]

I am actually quite upset by what has happened since 'sleep stages' were introduced in the software.

I get regular red marks saying I am awake 30+ times a night which says I am awake in total an hour or more a night.

This makes me miss my sleep goal and gives the appearance that I am rarely in any other stage of sleep.

I know that I am sleeping the same as I ever have and never feel tired, but it makes me upset that the machine/software are insinuating that I have a sleeping problem.

This never happened before the software was updated.  It used to say I slept 7 to 8 hours a night.

It causes me distress and falsely scares me into thinking I have a problem.

I am in normal sensitivity on Charge 2  by the way.!!

I wish I could change it back to how it was. You've tried to make it too clever but in my case it is erroneous!!!

[Dharma1911]

I am seeing the exact same results on my Fitbit Charge 2. Every graph on the dashboard says I'm awake at least 1 hour and the "pink spikes" total about 20-25 times awake each night. Set on normal.

[Basabbie]

Thank you for your explanation, I now feel more reassured now. My husband has Sleep Apnea, so seeing these 30 second awake periods made me worry they may have meant I was snoring. T

[AlejandraFitbit]

Hey there @Basabbie, welcome to the Community.

I am glad to see here that the explanation provided by our friend resolved your inquiries. If you need anything else, do not hesitate to post it. Also, you can take a look at our What should I know about sleep stages? article for more information about this feature.

Keep the stepping up! 

[Summer757]

Interesting post, did you get an answer to this please?  😕

[Karengrace729]

I would agree. I “tested” mine last night. I laid very still in bed from about 10:15 until about 11am. Fitbit2 tracker said I was in light sleep from 10:30 to 11:02. I have multiple awake phases at night that are a minute or less. I feel like that is bogus information. It made me worry for a bit until I read up on it and I’m not the only one who experiences this. 

[Melli81]

Hi! Have you had a sleep study done yet? I was surprised to find out I had sleep apnea. I went and had weight loss surgery and now I'm cured!! 

[Dharma1911]

Yes and in my case it is plain old anxiety.

[Melli81]

Oh ok! I had sleep apnea before surgery. Now I'm scared it's not really
gone. It shows I sleep in light sleep all night with several wake ups!

[FerdinandFitbit]

Good to see you guys in the Forums! 🙂

@Melli81 @Dharma1911, Your sleep stages data helps you track your patterns and notice variations. If you have any concerns about your sleep health we recommend sharing the information with your doctor. A good source of additional information is the National Sleep Foundation. 

Now, as I have probably explained before, It’s normal to see awake minutes in your sleep stages; studies have shown a typical adult could wake up briefly between 10-30 times per night (source). You may not remember waking up since you likely fell right back to sleep, especially if you were awake for less than 2-3 minutes at a time. If you wake up in the morning feeling like you had a restless night, you may notice more awake minutes in your sleep stages as compared to other nights.

If you have more questions, let me know!