Many "wakeful" periods - bad sleep or is "sensitive setting" wrong for me?

[andreabrie]

I never thought I got bad sleep until I monitored my sleep with fitbit!  I consistently get sleep efficiencies in the 50-60% range and have over two hours and between 10 and 15 wakeful periods a night.  On the other hand, when I use the "normal" setting, fitbit says I slept all night without waking up and I know that's not true either.  Suggestions?  Do I need to talk to my doctor about this?

[Dianne95]

I was wondering the same thing.  Thanks for asking this question.  🙂

[Dominique]

"Awakened xx times" on your Dashboard is kind of misleading: Fitbit has no way to know whether you were awake or asleep, it merely makes assumptions based on your arm's movements. Likewise, if you see a solid blue area on the graph, it doesn't necessarily mean you were sleeping tight all the time: if you spent one hour with your eyes wide open, but your Fitbit-arm perfectly still against your body, Fitbit would deem you were sleeping.

I would say 10-15 "restless" episodes with the sensitive setting is good. If you feel rested in the morning when you wake up and don't fall asleep during the day, you probably had a good sleep, which your normal setting indicates.

[MatthewFitbit]

Per our Sleep Help Article:

What is the difference between the normal and sensitive sleep setting?

Your Fitbit tracker's settings can record your sleep in either "sensitive" mode for extremely detailed sleep reporting or "normal" mode for a more basic idea of your sleep patterns. Adjust your sleep mode in device settings.

• The normal setting counts significant movements such as rolling over as being awake, and is appropriate for most users.
• The sensitive setting will cause your tracker to record nearly all movements as time spent awake. This setting may be helpful for users with sleep disorders, or those who wear their tracker somewhere other than the wrist while asleep

If your Fitbit tracker is worn consistently each night with the same setting, the data that it produces should be useful.

 Unless you are specifically attempting to track sleep disorders or something similar, you should use the "normal" sleep tracking setting.

[andreabrie]

Thank you'

[Zee]

I know that I don't sleep well, and I am up on average 5 tines per night going to the restroom. The Fitbit further helps me to realize that I need help in this area. Ugh

[Dominique]

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@Zee wrote:
I am up on average 5 times per night going to the restroom.

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And I thought this was a problem typically affecting older men like me!

[Zee]

It's always been a problem for me, the more water I drink the worse it gets. I have always consumed an enormous amount of water each day. Actually I am accustomed to it. 😩

[3DS]

Sensitive setting could pick up movements from others in bed ( your partner or pets).

[Zee]

Good point and not something I even considered. Thanks

[Dominique]

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@Zee wrote:
It's always been a problem for me, the more water I drink the worse it gets. I have always consumed an enormous amount of water each day. Actually I am accustomed to it. 😩

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Drinking water is good. Most people don't drink enough of it. Maybe you should reduce the amount you drink in the evening, so as not to have to wake up too many times during the night.

[Zee]

Valid point. Thanks

[Jabrat]

You should drink (in ounces) half of your weight.  We have water challenges in our group all the time.  Very important to rid your body of toxins too!  

[SRosgen]

It's not your sleep, it's definitely the fitbit. I had a Jawbone Up in the past, and it seemed VERY accurate. Other than sleep tracking, the UP didn't do other things nearly as well as the Fitbit Force. I'm thinking of going back to the UP just for sleep tracking because the Fitbit's data is so ridiculous. I can either choose between showing that I slept solidly even when I know I was up in the night; or showing that I hardly slept at all, even though I wake up totally refreshed after spending 8+ hours fin bed. I'm not sure who designed Fit bit's sleep algorithm, but they really need to start from scratch – it's horrible to the point of being worthless. 

[Zee]

I no longer wear it to track sleep, but I do wear it at night for the alarm, I like the little buzz buzz tthat wakes me. 😴

[Dominique]

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@SRosgen wrote:

I'm thinking of going back to the UP just for sleep tracking because the Fitbit's data is so ridiculous. I can either choose between showing that I slept solidly even when I know I was up in the night; or showing that I hardly slept at all, even though I wake up totally refreshed after spending 8+ hours fin bed.

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It would be interesting if you could post two graphs of your sleep side-by-side: one obtained with the Fitbit (which model are you using, btw?) and one with the UP.

[vinlop]

For me, I find it to be very accurate in normal mode.  When I spend the time to analyze it, I can remember from the night before that either I did get up for the restroom, or was restless during a particular period.  I haven't used any other products, so nothing to compare it to, but I feel the sleep tracking on my Force does quite well.

[regrais]

I am wearing my fitbit one tonight along with my friend's jawbone up, so the two of us can compare the data.  I'll try to post the graphs to this forum for comparison!

[CCORREA]

I'm having the same situation. I actually haven't gotten more than 3 1/2 hours of sleep in the past 7 days according to my FitBit Force. Is this possibly true? I have noticed that I haven't been feeling as rested lately but I'm in bed for 7-8 hours every night. It told me the other night that I only got 2 hours/17 minutes of sleep and that I was awakened 30 times. Can that be true? Should I see my Doctor?

[Raquel2014]

I just started using my fitbit flex and can't tell when it's in sleep mode.   When I tap on it two times, there is no vibration.   It responds the same way regardless of the times I tap it.

New to all this.   Appreciate your advice.