Fitbit sleep efficiency of under 50%

[PaulWMather]

For my entire adult life I have been tired, I wake up every night over and over. I literally live in a fatigured state, it's ridiculous.

My main reason for purchasing a Fitbit, was to see just how "normal" my sleeping was. Of course, I realise it's not an accurate gague. 

In the past week my sleep efficiency is 40-55% with around 4 hours sleep per night, from 8-9 hours in bed. 

I have the Fitbit one and it's set to "sensitive" as I did suspect sleep problems. 

I don't snore and I am not overweight, so my GP wouldn't entertain anything like sleep apnea. I have no idea why I keep waking up. Any suggestions as to where I could start figuring out the reason for my bad sleep?

[Odyssey13]

Everyone is different. I have mine set to sensitive and non-dominant hand. My sleep varies, but I move around at night, adjusting my blanket, checking the clock, turning on the radio, etc and it all adds up to restlessness or being awake, so that is why my percentage can be lower.

Read this article on how sleep is tracked. It might help you understand it a bit more.  click

You shouldn't be so tired, so maybe a trip to see your doctor would be in order. At least the doctor could rule out the usual things which could account for being tired.

[damurray]

Hi Paul,

I am not qualified to give you a solution to your problem I would suggest you see somone that specializes in sleeping disorders like RLS.  Conditions of this type can have symptoms that are extremely mild and might go undetected but sever enough to cause you to wake.  I wish I could be of more help.  Fitbit devices are sensitive to movement so for a score to be that low, would suggest to me that it's time for an expert.

[Do-or-Di]

I'd be really interested to see what your efficiency is when you set the sensitivity to normal. The sensitive setting is for very heavy sleepers which clearly at <50% you are not.

 Do you have a set sleep routine?

The aim for poor sleepers is to 'train' the brain to associate a pattern of activites and ideally a time with sleep - eg  brushed teeth, dimmed lights, reading etc.

Also you should avoid electronics such as TV, tablets, computers for at least 1hour prior to attempting sleep. The bright, artificial light they produce fools the brain into thinking it's day time - ie; time to be awake! 

I know in this day and age that can be the hardest thing; it means missing your favorite shows &  last facebook check-in and returning to hard copy books to read before bed and if you have the luxury of 95% efficiency like myself these things dont matter.

But from living with a poor sleeper and having to seek medical advice I know for a fact that these changes can make a world of difference. 

Oh and remember be patience - you are retraining a lifetime of bad sleeping habits - it takes time 🙂

[RockyRoad]

My Doc said I didn't have sleep apnea but told him I wanted to have a sleep test.  Sure enough I have it and am on a CPAP machine for over a year now and am never tired since I am now getting a good nights sleep and it registers at about 95%.  So I suggest getting into a sleep clinic and get it checked out. 

[Adcam]

There are now Home Sleep Studies available. Talk to your doctor.

[SunsetRunner]

Remember that the longer you take to fall asleep and the longer you stay awake while still in sleep mode, the lower your efficiency percentage will be, meaning that it's not even a halfway accurate gauge for your actual sleep.

I suggest going over your sleep hygiene first and foremost. Can you improve on any points?
If you have any naps during the day, stop it, no matter how tired you are at the time.
Set yourself a time to sleep (about 8-9 hours). At your set bedtime, go to bed, no excuses. If you're awake for over an hour without getting to sleep, get up again and do something calming (have a cup of tea, read a book, take a walk, whatever, but avoid screens of all kinds). Repeat if needed, but when your set bedtime is up, get out of bed and do not go there until bedtime comes around again.
Limit or cut out caffeine, no caffeine in the last 6 hours before bedtime. If you smoke, don't do it in the last hour before bedtime and try not to if you have to get up.

I've had issues with sleep for years and I know how hard it is to live in a fatigued state, but don't give up on it. It's something that needs to be worked on..
Good luck!

[got2bfit]

To add something that might be unique, what causes my restless sleep or wakefulness at night is usually anxiety, having to pee several times (water retention maybe?  weak bladder?).  Also, I have acid reflux and that can cause poor sleep.  And lastly, my husband snores.  Those 4 reasons are the cause for my lack of deep sleep.  I hope you find out the main reason(s) and resolve them. 🙂

[patmac]

I would have your vitamin D level checked.

[Del678]

Do look at your vitamin intake. Supplements can assist in staying asleep.

My husband has significantly deeper sleeps (stops waking up during the night) with ZMA (zinc, magnesium, vitamins).

One regimen I was on for a while had vitamin D in the morning, and ZMA & melatonin in the evening before bed to 'get a deeper level of sleep'.

[SpiceChicken]

Hi Paul, you might want to consider examining stress levels and emotional health.  I realize this is kind of personal, and it might seem kind of woo-woo and out there.  Yet the mind-body connection is strong.  Therapy tends to be the go-to recommendation for emotional trauma, and lots of studies demonstrate that yoga and meditation have positive impacts on stress, sleep, and overall well-being.  Personally, I have found alternative methods like acupuncture and reiki very helpful.  This website has some great free guided meditations of various lengths:

http://marc.ucla.edu/body.cfm?id=22

[badminton]

Set your fitbit on normal instead of sensitve and track that sleep log for a week, then compare.  When I have mine set to sensitive, it says I sleep about 4.5 hours a night, and wake up at least 22 times, sometimes as much as 45 or more! When I put it on "normal" it says I sleep about 7 hours a night.  I do wake up a lot, but usually I can go back to sleep within 5 minutes or less; I know I am a little bit of a restless sleeper. One night a week I sleep really well. The rest of the week not so much. So, see if that helps, and talk to a doctor if you feel that tired.

[8FLOWERS]

The normal sleep setting was a joke for me.  I am a very light sleeper, and am awake for hours on end at night, yet the *standard* setting said I was geting 90% sleep and had me fast asleep when I was actually awake and playing on my phone or nursing my son in the middle of the night, repeatedly.  It even had me sleeping several times when I was actually up and walking around the house.   On sensitive mode it's much more accurate, catching most of the times when I'm awake in the form of *restless*.  

[JonS]

Consult a sleep lab, They will probably can help you. Sometimes if a pt is complaining of the symptoms you stated. You may have what is called Central sleep apnea. This usually occurs in pt, that are not overweight and is in fairly good shape.  Central sleep apnea is a syndrome to where your nerve that functions your diaphragm doesn't work and your breathing just stops, because the diaphragm doesn't inflate your lungs. The sleep lab monitors 4 things. Your nasal breathing, mouth breathing, Chest movements and stomach movements (this is your diaphragm). When all 4 of these don't show up on the recording then this classified as Central Sleep apnea. I have been a Respiratory Therapist for 40 yrs and operated a sleep lab for 10 yrs. Hope this helps. The fitbit should show a rymthical pattern of movements and then no movements. 

[Mcwild]

Paul,

I would highly suggest a sleep study. I also found myself waking up at night and was always tired no matter how much sleep I got. I went to my doctor and she said nothing was wrong. I went back almost two years later and demanded a sleep study and found out I have Narcolepsy. Google it and see if some of symptoms match yours. A lot of doctors are not familiar with Narcolepsy so it's often overlooked. Seeing how you are in shape and always tired I would seriously look into this option and find a doctor who specializes in sleep disorders.

Good luck,

Carolyn (mcwild@earthlink.net)

[Janjan]

Purchase a night able motion camera with audio.  Set-it up on a tripod and film yourself sleeping.  I discovered that I have very restless limbs and was constantly moving them and waking myself without even remembering.  Then I went to a sleep centre and fond out I have severe apnoea - shock!

I, like you, still live in a constant state of fatigue but at least I know why. I also dream a lot (my stress levels are pretty high) so I'm sure that is also part of the problem.

[GratefulDerp]

Have you tried getting a new bed?

I slept fine all through college. Then, when I moved to a new city to start my first big-boy job, I found that I had a lot of trouble sleeping. For the first 1.5 years, I tossed and turned most nights, and just couldn't sleep.

The mattress I was sleeping on was a 10 year old hand-me-down. I finally decided to get a new mattress, and it was like a light switch. All of a sudden, no issues sleeping whatsoever. The odd thing was, that I thought my old mattress was super comfortable, so I might never have guessed that it was the cause of my sleep woes.

If your put off by the cost of a mattress, just think of it as an investment. You spend a third of your life on it, you may as well get something decent. I spent $400 on a queen from a mattress outlet. If I only kept the mattress for a year, that's a little over $1/day....

Anyways, good luck to you!

[Curiousaboutit]

I have worn the Force since January 7th and the sleep it records for me is strange. For the first few weeks I had it set for normal.  I reset it for sensitive to have a more accuarate report yet I still do not see the match of asleep hours with colors. The blue stripe shows at least two to 3 straight asleep hours then several restless stripes and several more blue asleep blocks of time with a few awake minute.  For example my Force reports I had only 38 minutes asleep with 7 minutes awake, and 306 minutes restless, another night 1hour and 40 minutes asleep 219 restless, and once 7 hours and 41 minutes asleep.  I know I am a super poor sleeper yet the tracking is seemingly way off.

The blue bands show more asleep hours than it reports.  What am I doing wrong that I cannot get an accurate sleep count?

[JonS]

Your not doing any thing wrong. Set it to normal. Sensitive setting is to light of a setting for most adults. You have to understand that this device records any movements you have during the night . That's all it does. Most people will toss &turn for several minutes or even half an hour until you settle down and relax. Ask yourself, What is my routine before bed time? Do you drink any caffeine 4-6 hrs before bedtime? Your job? Is it stressful? Anything going on in your life that causes you to think about things before going to bed. There are a lot of factors to consider in getting a good restful sleep. Do you wake up with erections? This is normal in most males. When males get to REM sleep they will have an erections. This is completely normal. If no, then you are not reaching REM sleep, which is the deepest of sleep cycles and they usually occur 2-3 hrs. Before you awake. This is how impotency in diagnosed. If there are little or no stress in your life, then there are several factors to consider. 1. Restless Leg Syndrome. Do you wake up during the night with leg cramps? 2. Consult a sleep lab and consider a sleep study to determine what stages of sleep you are going through.
Hope this helps. Anymore questions? Just email

Sent from my iPad

[Curiousaboutit]

Dear JonS,

Thank you for the suggestion.  I will reset my Force sleep mode to normal.  I am a hopeful that it will record my nature asleep time not some arbitrary number.  By the way...I am a woman.