Please show me your sleep pattern (both good and poor sleepers)

[111mastermind]

I got my Fitbit Surge 6 days ago. I set it to sensitive. The sleep pattern confirmed mine, and my husband's suspicions, that I have very poor sleep. Sleep efficiency 61%, and cycle length (also confirmed with a different mobile app) is only 60 mins not the usual 90 mins. I 'need' about 10-11 hours sleep to feel half-way decent. With 10 hrs sleep I get about 6 hrs. With 8-9 hrs sleep (my usual weekday allowance) I get about 5 hrs. My husband always complains that my restless sleep causes him lost sleep too 😞 (I say to him imagine how I feel!). I am usually fatigued all day and have trouble getting up in the morning and am struggling to maintain work function. I'm glad I got my Fitbit so I have proof of what is happening.

I was tested for sleep apnoea some years ago and had borderline/mild apnoea. I lost 70 lbs (30 kg) and then got retested and the apnoea had disappeared (good because I didn't tolerate the CPAP at all).

I would like to know what a 'normal' sleep pattern looks like and what another poor sleeper looks like so I can show my GP and get referred. Is there a specific kind of sleep study she can request other than for sleep apnoea?

I have added 2 screenshots of my usual sleep pattern, if some of you could add yours with a brief comment on if you sleep well or not, that would help me gather evidence for my GP appointment. TIA.

[Filsgreen]

Here is my sleep pattern, which I think you'll agree, is pretty soon.

[Filsgreen]

Here is my sleep pattern, which I think you'll agree, is pretty soon.

[Decadence]

I average at 3 hours a night. Idk how to start getting better sleep.

[ErickFitbit]

@Decadence Wow, that's a short period of sleep!

What I do is put my phone on silent and flip it upside down (I'm guilty of night texting and social media watching), make sure my room is pitch dark, as I can't sleep with ANY lights (including cable box), and also make sure that I don't eat any food after 7 PM. I've accustomed myself to doing this at around 9 -10 PM to force myself to sleep. 

Before this, I would fall asleep at midnight or later, consistently. Hope this helps!

[jesse31]

The water really is important. You definitly need to try and push yourself to drink more of it. Maybe try some of the flavors you can squirt in it. Thats what I do when I am in a water funk. It really does make you feel a lot better when you drink enough water. And you get your steps in going to the bathroom! lol

[EllaKratt2]

My average is 7 1/2 hours a night! I am only 9! I do have pains in my back but they are from the new medication I am taking for my ADHD. I have no idea what to do and need some tips as well! 😞

[SouthernDad]

When I meet my water intake goals, there is a good side and a bad side.  The bad side is that I wake up several times during the night.  The good side is that I get those extra steps in to the bathroom.  

[ErickFitbit]

@jesse31 @SouthernDad Very true! Those bathroom breaks get my step count up too!

[crysbis]

Hi All,  Not sure what to think of the sleep tracker.  Set on Normal, it dosen't look too bad:

Set on Sensitive and there is a huge problem:

I've had sleep studies in the past, and I know I was diagnosed to 'Undefined Sleep Disorder'.  In other words, not enough data to know what, but enough to know there is an issue.  They gave me a mini respirator (yes, respirator not CPAP) that I could never get used to.  If the Sensitive chart is correct, maybe I should go back (it's been about 6 years or so) and maybe can get a better diagnosis...

Crystal

[FisiaH]

I think a lot of people are using the increased sensitivity setting unnecessarily, you should only use sensitive setting if you've tried logging sleep on the normal sensitivity setting and get a perfect blue bar when you know you were restless/awake all night and it's impossible to have slept through the night because you know you didn't. Then I'd suggest the increased sensitivity option, maybe your movements are too subtle for normal sensitivity to track. Otherwise though I'm fairly certain most people would get most accurate reading from the standard setting, I know I'm usually awake 2-10 times and restless 4-24 times per night, which usually ends up shaving an hour or so off of my total bedtime to reflect how much time I'm actually asleep for. I'm pretty sure if I had mine on sensitive setting it'd show that I don't sleep at all 'cause I know I move around in bed, my ex would complain often enough lol. Also remember to wear your tracker on your non-dominant wrist, at least for the One anyway, but I could imagine the others work on a similar principal, if I've made you doubt which wrist you should be wearing it on, good! lol go check the "manual" for more details to help you track a better nights sleep.

~FisiaH~

[ErickFitbit]

@FisiaH 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. 

• The normal setting counts significant movements as being awake (such as rolling over) 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.

To read more about sleep tracking, check out this detailed help article.

[FisiaH]

@ErickFitbit Thanks for the additional info on the tracking options, like I said in my previous post, I'm sure if I tracked on sensitive setting I'd have a solid pink bar for my sleep log lol. I may switch it for one night just to see what it says though, I'd imagine abnormally insane numbers like what other people have displayed on this thread.

~FisiaH~

[ErickFitbit]

@FisiaH From my own personal experience, I move a LOT when I sleep so putting the setting on sensitive made it look like I got no sleep at all lol. When you do try it out on sensitive, let me check out a screenshot. 

[Rowmoseley]

Not gone through all the posts on here, however I've had my HR for just over a year.  On normal sleep setting I knew it was saying I was asleep when I wasn't.  Put it on sensitive and found that the average "non moving" sleep dropped to 2.5 hours - but - in up to 20 sessions, i.e. average 7 - 8 minutes and no evidence of the 4 ot 5 sleep cycles we are supposed to go through a night.

That helped persuade my GP to refer me to a sleep clinic who, after an overnight stay found I was only getting half the REM sleep we should which in turn could be the cause of my memory problems.  Now on a CPAP mask and often getting sessions of over 30 minutes and some evidence of sleep cycles - definitely more relaxed but no evidence of improved memory after 6 weeks. (have been told it might not improve, and even if it does, it might take over a year).

[Rowmoseley]

Hi Crystal  

My sleep pattern looks like yours when on sensitive - have been diagnosed as only getting half the REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep we need which in turn is beleived to be causing me memory problems.

Am now in week 8 of a CPAP, intially much more relaxed but feel the benefit is wearing off.

Cheers

Richard

[mpharr2]

 New hoseless wireless CPAP underdevelopment .

Look on Craiglist for plenty of used CAPAP units with and without hoses. 

Use Snore Lab App to record  snoring or even other things waking you up- Log changes to your pre-sleep  and look closely at your FitBit HR  times you wake up against the Snore Lab  recording at the same time. If the Fitbit HR wake up and Sleep App records  gasping for air. Go to urgent care -  Sleep Apnea 

Snore Lab App  free first 3 times used. Then free every other day. or lifeltime buy for $7.00

[ErickFitbit]

@Rowmoseley @mpharr2 For those unaware, what does CPAP mean?

[Gothiic]

oooh a great idea. Sharing our sleep patterns. Mine is dreadful. I shall post my next sleep pattern.

For the past few months I have stopped drinking coffee and tea after 7pm. I also make sure I drink 2 litres of water a day. I have found this does help me. As when I have slipped up or been lazy and drank caffeine containing drinks, I have had a lousy nights sleep.

[mpharr2]

Comparing the times the FB HR shows you were awake against the Snore Lab
App results may show you what if anything woke you.

Try 30ml ZZQuil

[DAK8273]

Looks like mine.