I have the WORST sleep pattern

[SanaS]

Good Morning everyone,

I just bought my FitBit ChargeHR. I tracked my sleep last night and my jaw dropped when I saw my sleep pattern this morning. Out of the 6.5 hours that I slept. My 'time asleep,' was 2 hr 48 min. My 'awake/restless,' time was 3 hr 34 min. This helped me answer a lot of questions like why I am always tired. I have tracked my sleep before using sleepbot and other sleep tracking apps which all had similar results. I was skeptical because they were apps that I used. Now that I have the same result with the FitBit, I am not how to have better sleep. Buy a new mattress? Move to a different apartment? workout harder?

Any ideas?

Thanks!
S

[NoraCharlesToo]

I just got a memory foam pillow and I am sleeping better.  My husband said I no longer wake him up punching and rearranging my pillow, which I did not know I did.  The fitbit showed I was restless almost all night. Hope this helps.

[SanaS]

Hi Nora,

Thank you for the great recommendation. I will look into a memory foam pillow.

[betpchem]

You might think about your mattress too. How old is it? Is it too hard or too soft? Perhaps something as simple as flipping it over might help.

[SanaS]

I have to be honest, my mattress sucks, for a lack of better words. I really need to buy a new one. I think it is a combination of my mattress and pillow.

The odd thing is though my fitbit says that I am in the restless/awake time. I dont recall being awake or restless...? Is that normal?

[Mrthekla]

The awake/restless is picked up by movement. So, if you roll over, or move your arms at all it will register. I may wake up once during the night to go to the restroom. It also tends to pick up some restless periods that I don't remember, but they are short.  

Any chance you are sleep walking?

[SanaS]

I woke up to go to the bathroom at night and the Fitbit registered it as awake so I believe it is accurate. Sleep walking? I have not considered this. From what I know I do not sleep walk... then again I wouldn't know.

I downloaded this app called "Sleep  Cycle," for iOS and it also gave me almost the same results as the Fitbit did. I guess, I should visit my PCP and or maybe go to a sleep clinic to see what is going on?

Needless to say I am shocked. I wonder if I have spent all of my life like this...

[Mrthekla]

I agree, the Fibit is pretty accurate at detecting that you moved. So, I think of Awake/Restless as "movement". 

Do you have a friend who is a bit of a night owl who could spend the night and check on you? Or set up a camera to record yourself sleeping.  Could give you something to discuss with your PCP and figure out the best type of sleep study for you. 

[emili]

are there things you might be doing before bed the stimulate you or your brain enough to allow you to fall asleep but not stay asleep. I have the same problem and I am always looking for patterns before bed. Are you on the computer reading things that stay with you or watching something that creates an emotional reaction. caffeine? Are you hungry. Write down what you do before and see if this give you an aha moment.

[cuallaidh]

That's not all that terrible, compared to some of my numbers that's a win. I'd get checked for sleep apnea and/or deviated septum. Both can cause some pretty severe sleep patterns.

I had sleep apnea and a deviated septum, since getting my septum fixed I've noticed uge improvements in my sleep.

[wizard1969]

Took me decades, sleep disorder medications etc. to learn that I need to wake in the night for 2-4 hours and then go back to sleep. I have also discovered that before the invention of artifical lighting, this was the way people slept. The second sleep is what later became the term "beauty sleep". Check this info from Virginia Tech: http://www.history.vt.edu/Ekirch/sleepcommentary.html   This means I need about an 11 hour block. So If you want me up at 7:00am I need to be in bed at 8:00pm. I may like the idea of staying up late, but hundreds of thousands of years of evolution could care less that the tonight show is on and I want to wreck a natural pattern of rest by trying to sleep in one block of 8 hours. No other animal on earth sleeps in a single block within 24 hours, why do we think humans should?   Blue light will cause your body to think it is in daylight, so I use blue blocking glasses when I do awake in the night and I keep it mellow, just read, no TV, no computer etc.  I have gone from similar sleep numbers to you (about 3 hours a night) to sleeping more like 9. Away wen't the ADHD diagnosis, insomnia diagnosis etc. I also no longer drink caffeine, a drug that apparently 85% of Americans are dependent on. Hope that helps. Your sleep hours are truly horrible and I empathyize, but what I stated worked for me, and the fitbit tracks my 8-9 hours a night of sleep.

[budgenator]

If you've tried all of the usual things like pillow, matteress, not being on the computer/smartphone just before bed and no caffine after lunch, then it's possible that there is something going on. If your teeth  have flat spots worn on them it's a sigh that your grinding them. You might be grinding out of habit, a dental condition or because you stop breathing (sleep apnea). A Dentist that does sleep studies can fix any dental problem and hopefully that will controll any grinding or sleep apnea. The Dentist will coordinate with your Medical Doctor if the Dentist finds signs of sleep apnea. If the Dental approach doesn't work to stop the sleep apnea then a medical approach will be needed.

[EastPerthBob]

I have a pretty bad sleep pattern too.

This is typical

[SanaS]

Hi Betty,

I dont have the nicest mattress so I am getting a new one delivered this weekend, and a new pillow. Lets see how that goes. 

[SanaS]

well I my family has never seen me sleep walk or anything and even now I am my family says we never see you walking around or something at night. Which is good. since I started wearing my FitBit to sleep I have noticed that when I am turning alot I can feel my self tossing and turning. I just dont know why I cant stay asleep. 

[SanaS]

Oh gosh, my sleep pattern is like that too. I have developed a bad habit now, I am thinking hey since I dont sleep anyway I should just stay up and go ot bed later... Its not like I am getting anymore sleep. Last week one night I slept for 1 hr and 15 minutes out of 5 hours =(( 

[SanaS]

I do grind my teeth I am aware of that. I am researching sleep apnea and I think I may have the EDS type, excessive daytime sleepiness. The rest of the symptoms except irritability dont apply to me. I think EDS because I have the hardest time waking up in the mornings and I never really understood why. Especially I don't sleep much I thought it would be easier to wake up... I think we maybe on to something....

[SanaS]

Hi Wizard, thank you for sharing this article with me I am going to do more research on this. The idea of going to sleep at 8 PM sounds great but unfortuantely in our busy lives it almost seems unattainable. I used to have a certain time I went to bed which was 10 PM then it got pushed to a later time because of just life happening. I am going ot buy some blue light blocking glasses. Is the a significant different in the amoutn of blue light emitted from a TV vs. a laptop?

[SanaS]

I am going to look into sleep apnea. My deivated septum is not bad at all. Infact a dotor has told me its not even worth going under surgery for =). Last week I slept for 1.15 hours =( I was exhasuted!!! 

[SunsetRunner]

the problem is a combination of pillow mattress and the quality of fitbits sleep tracking.