Restless: how bad is it?

[Revvr]

I tried my new Fitbit last night to track my sleep and here are the results:

Desktop:

Mobile:

As you can see, I have 90% sleep efficiency and slept for over 7 hours. These numbers I expected.

However, there are a bunch of periods when I'm "awake" (according to the desktop version) or "restless" (according to the mobile version).

I remember being awake as shown by the mobile version because I actually got out of bed. I don't remember the other, restless, moments.

My questions are:

1. How bad is it to be restless? "Restless" is a pretty bad word if we're talking about sleep.
2. Should I be concerned about having so many restless moments?
3. What exactly are these restless moments?
4. What does normal, healthy, sleep look like in one of these graphs?
5. Why does the desktop version label restlessness as awake? 
6.  Why does the mobile version make the distinction between restless and awake?

Any insight about these items is greatly appreciated!

[Phairlady]

This is an odd post. You wrote to give facts, then your wrote that 85% is normal "according to everyone". You did the same thing you complained about, which was not substantiate your facts! Furthermore, your tone was quite flippant, and it is evident that you are in more need of evaluating your posts than the poster that you apprehended. As far as the sleep efficiency goes, I do not dispute that 85% is normal yes, but there is nothing wrong with wanting to get really good sleep by trying to increase that to numbers above 90%. 5% -10% more sleep can make a big difference for some people Good luck, posting things get easier with practice, and of course, sleep helps us all think clearer:)

[Phairlady]

Green  leafy vegetable too:)

[Phairlady]

Also,  many Doctor's will recommend to be cautious about sleeping soon after working out, for some this may worsen sleep.

[Phairlady]

If you go to sleep with alcohol in your system, you may pass out, but you will often have much worse quality of sleep (not entering restorative sleep often enough) and waking. I feel awful after going to bed with even a few drinks, I get so tired the next day that it hurts my body, I literally ache from exhaustion. If you drink often and quit you will not sleep well (typically) for some days to weeks. Eventually most people find that if they stay sober they begin to get much better sleep and feel more energized during the day. Good Luck 🙂

[Phairlady]

Yes, please consider a sleep study.

[Phairlady]

Having extreme difficulty getting going isn't normal. Thinn of a young child waking up and how they (most) will bounce out of bed rearing to go. I have a very bad sleep disorder (several) and waking up in the morning the way I do was an early sign for me. I felt like the light burned my eyes, had a huge headache, felt groggy, and a most tell-tale sign, I felt like I wanted to go to bed for the night as if I had been up all day and hadn't even slept. It would take me about 1-2 hours to feel awake. Sometimes I would lay in bed falling back asleep for hours, or get up on the couch and drag myself through the morning routine with the kiddos. Morning's were the worst, but now I take a drug called Modafinil which is amazing for me, it allows me to have a life again. Many others can be helped without drugs, like the CPAP masks, for sleep apnea. For me I couldn't even drive without the medication, and I take it while still in bed because it takes an hour to kick in.

[arizona480]

I was trying to find the heart rate log on the dashboard to match that with my sleep, I only see my resting heart rate trend.  Does anyone know where to go for that or is that a premium service?

[Purpleluce]

Hi there your pattern is similar to mine except your restless blocks are bigger! I Am not taking it too seriously as it looks like this when I feel refreshed and well I don't. In fact sometimes the longest box of deep sleep that I get according to Fitbit or when I've been drinking alcohol and clearly don't move at all - not necessarily quality sleep. I could move to normal setting that I would lose the data I am intrigued to see if I am getting enough deep sleep. I saw a release yesterday that is supposed to tell our REM I downloaded it but cannot see anything different in the update today. Has anyone else tried this and got some new information?

[Purpleluce]

Helena what view/app is your display from mine looks different I have charge 2

[Purpleluce]

Try the new update it has completely answered my questions as restless is now light sleep and it show R.E.M. Makes loads more sense

[Rebecca_O]

You are supposed to be paralyzed during REM sleep so that you don't move. People with sleep disorders who do not experience paralysis during REM act out their dreams.

[Quothage]

My sleep pattern is spiked with restlessness all the time. Earlier this year I went through a phase of what I've seen referred to as Epic Dreaming - in essence, you are half asleep but can be dreaming about doing something as though you were awake.. for me it was using a PC, reading a book, kindle or tablet. Its frustrating as it feels very much like you're performing that activity, but never quite able to achieve an end. On top of that I was having long periods of dream sleep and it'd be very active mentally and physically. Waking up feeling as though I'd never been asleep. These two things reached a peak of my getting no good sleep for about a month. Clearly affecting my work, memory, energy.. everything until I saw the Doc.

He gave me amitriptyline which has helped a bit, on a relatively low dose at 25mg so for anyone struggling it might be helpful. On top of that I can certainly say quitting drinking for 6 weeks helped too. But there's something not right, the last week I've been dreaming most of the night again.

I've asked to be referred to a sleep clinic. Awaiting a response to that as they're not hugely common in the UK.

[Deb_B]

10-30 times per night awake/restless is typical according to the help section. As someone else said, it measures by movement and heart rate so it's not 100% accurate.

[Marley92]

This is my normal sleeping pattern! And even though I'm on sleeping medication to get a better nights sleep it's still coming out like this. Can anyone please help? I've been like this for a year now and really struggling with it!

This is my normal sleeping pattern! And even though I'm on sleeping medication to get a better nights sleep it's still coming out like this. Can anyone please help? I've been like this for a year now and really struggling with it!

[Deb_B]

When you are in REM you are essentially paralyzed. The body's way of protecting you.

[Cindymj]

I'm  jealous! 

[Marley92]

That doesn't really give any advice but thanks 

[Marley92]

I'm exhausted and struggle with other conditions so posts like this are uncalled for!! 

[AZToast]

My sleep was miserable when I started getting rid of gamer bod, and way horrific eating habits.  Some I honestly attribute to possibly being allergies to food types.  Since I've started really watching what I eat, I've noticed my sleep cycle improve immensely in the last month. 

Possibly try seeing a food allergist, have them see what you are allergic to and cut from your diet for a few weeks as much as you can.  Hope you find help with it!

[CyArsonix]

Have you tried conversing with your doctor about your exhaustion? It may help and the Fitbit help section will be able to answer general questions about how sensitive the Fitbit is to movement.