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.

[Gary_B]

"03-23-2015 17:01

Just curious. Do any of you sleep in total black out or is there some ambient light?
I found since usng a sleep mask, my sleep is less restless, so that's why I ask."

 ------------------------------------------------------------------------

 pretty much blackness for me

   and pretty cool as well 

   i.e. 58 degrees

[Gary_B]

Just curious. Do any of you sleep in total black out or is there some ambient light?
I found since usng a sleep mask, my sleep is less restless, so that's why I ask."

[Gary_B]

---

Here is mine from last night. Looks like I'm baking something.

Baking Instructions: Turn every hour until done. This is a short night of sleep before work but not that unusual for me. I do take a large teaspoon of magnesium citrate powder in warm water and 3mg time release melatonin each night. Wish the Sleep Efficiency number was still there!

[Gary_B]

---

@SunsetRunner wrote:
...I don't sleep well due to a dry mouth condition which is caused by a permanently blocked nose.  .... Thanks for any help.

I would recommend xylimelts for the dry mouth. You can use 2 at night if needed to help keep your mouth moist. 

[mauri]

Looks pretty awesome to me. Especially compared to your very first post about sleep in 2015. Do you feel more rested? I have been tracking my sleep and just wanted to know what other peoples tracked sleep looks like.

[pranava]

What an exemplary sleep pattern.  Good for you! 

[patrick_elam]

111mastermind,


I'm sharing the following information in the hope that it may give you some direction or ideas about how to get some meaningful answers about your dysfunctional sleep.


MY CONTEXT:

I've had two overnight polysomnographic sleep studies, and multiple sleep latency studies on the following days.  These were separated by ten years.  The first one showed a mild amount of apneas and hypopneas.  The second one showed very few apneas, very little fragmentation, and very few awakenings.  The first MSLT was improperly conducted.  The more recent MSLT was carried out correctly and it verified my extreme resident hypersomnia, with the average time it taking me to fall asleep for each of the five naps being 1.5 minutes.  Ultimately, I was diagnosed with ideopathic hypersomnia (a.k.a. central hypersomnia or primary hypersomnia).  This wasn't until May of this year, after suffering from debilitating sleepyness for 23 years.  (Several years ago I learned that "sleepyness" is NOT the same thing as "tiredness" and I should have been telling every doctor I saw I was chronically "sleepy" not chronically "tired".  Simply put, "tiredness" comes as a result of excursion, while "sleepiness" is experience despite any kind of excursion.)  (Although it's taken more than two decades to answer the question of what is the underlying cause of my condition, I take some comfort in the fact that the mechanistic cause of ideopathic hypersomnia wasn't actually identified until 2014.  So for most of that time, what I was searching for something that just couldn't be found.)


ABOUT YOU:

If your sleep during your sleep study was anything like the sleep registered by your Fitbit watch, it's surprising that your first test only showed "mild sleep apnea", and the second one showed none,  (I'm assuming when you say "disappeared" that you are being hyperbolic, because even people with no sleep problems will typically have a small number of apnea episodes.)  I'm wondering why other causes for you awakenings weren't identified, i.e. periodic limb movements.  In the U.S. there is not a different kind of overnight sleep study that looks for causes other than sleep apnea, because the standard overnight test looks for all of the known causes, not just apnea.  I'm assuming you live in the U.K.  I don't know what the standards are over there for sleep medicine.  Here, only board certified sleep medicine doctors are allowed to diagnose and treat sleep disorders.  You mentioned wanting to show your GP some additional Fitbit data.  I'm hoping you really were thinking of your sleep specialist. Because here in the U.S. a primary care doctor wouldn't know what to do with the data from an overnight sleep study. 


Regardless of that question, I would be very hesitant to show Fitbit data to anyone who is treating you.  It is almost certain, that they will dismiss the validity of any data (especially sleep metric data) retrieved from such a "pedestrian device" as a wearable activity tracker.  I'm NOT SAYING that this data can not be very valuable --- this kind of data has been extremely important for me and my health, and I'm sure for many others as well.  But "how you use" this data and "who you share it with" is critical for you if you want to achieve your objective and uncover the source of you fragmented sleep.  By presenting any data you personally have gathered, in a process that is not recommended, not recognized, or even acknowledged by the AMA or the BMA, or any sleep medicine organization, in addition to them dismissing the usefulness of what you are showing them, you run the risk of being forever identified in the mind of your physician as someone with poor judgment or someone with a limited capacity for critical thinking.  (Based on your posting alone, both of these assumptions would be incorrect.)  And the last thing you want to do is lose credibility with your doctor. 


In summary, I suspect that the full and complete records and data sets from your two sleep studies contain important and definitive information about the underlying cause of your condition.  That's not to say that some kind of additional test may not be necessary or helpful.  But I believe what you've already had done might hold already the key to your sleep problem.  (If you don't have copies of the complete records from both studies, that's the first thing I would suggest you get into your own hands.) I wish you well in your quest.


And I will leave you with one more thought.  At some time in the distant past, I started sleeping with a long-ish pillow between my legs.  I sleep "religiously" on my sides --- left, right, left, right, etc.  Thankfully, I've never had any kind of skeletal pain or muscle pain.  I just realized one day, that when I was standing up, my feet were about six to eight inches apart.  But when I slept (on my side) my feet were touching, and so were my knees.  If I were to stand up, with my knees and ankles touching, I'm sure my legs and hips and probably my back would soon start to ache.  So I started to sleep with a pillow between my legs to separate my legs a little, more like they were when I was standing.  And now, many years later, I still sleep with a pillow between my legs every night.  If for some reason I don't have a pillow there, at some point during the night my hips and the outsides of my legs will start to ache; at which point I will put a pillow in place and the aching soon abates.  I know that suggesting you might try sleeping with a pillow between your legs seems like a very trite suggestion given your chronic pain, but I'm including it here non-the-less.



( Anyone reading this post who would like to find out more about Ideopathic Hypersomnia, should read the Wikapedia artilcle on the subject  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idiopathic_hypersomnia , and go to the website of the Hypersomnia Foundation. http://www.hypersomniafoundation.org/  )

[InariOkami]

Here I am after my first night with a Fitbit Alta HR:

I'm quite impressed as the times it tracked me falling asleep and waking up seem to be accurate... and yes I was aiming at 8 hours, instead I've been sleeping for less than 4 xD

Unluckily, the graph shows exactly of what's happening to me lately.. I get very poor sleep time at night.

My tracker's sleep setting is on "Normal", but I read that it doesn't matter if you have an Alta HR, a Charge 2 or a Blaze.

[mpharr2]

Suggestions: Take 3 or 5mg Melatonin - 45 minutes prior a bedtime that could allow 8 hrs sleep. If sleep results are better but not what you are looking for, add the taking of 30 mL Unisom or Zzzquil at bedtime. Note 30 mL Unisom vs Zzzquil same amount of active ingredient ,I like the taste of Unisom Sleep-Aid better.

After 7-10 days of the new bedtime, try backing off on the Melatonin since your body has gotten use to the new bedtime. keep up with Unisom.

May want to add back Melatonin 45 minutes prior to Bedtime on the evenings you have taken a nap during the day.

If your annual physical is due soon. May want to Include your sleep concerns and even consider including your FITbit sleep results with your Doctor. You could choose to request from your doctor approve a Sleep Study?

Post results here please.

[InariOkami]

Okay yesterday night I managed to sleep for only less than 4 hours.. the two days before that, when I didn't have a tracker yet, I had troubles sleeping but that wasn't because of me.

Anyway, last night's sleep was quite longer and I almost made it to 8 hours (yay! well I was a zombie when I went to bed). It's not a very quiet period of my life and my Alta HR told me that I woke up 24 times.. I think it's quite accurate, because I remember of having waked up A LOT. I'll post the graph below.. the time I was awake the most I actually went to the toilet.

I checked the benchmarks and all my awake, rem, light sleep and deep sleep times fall in the % range of people of my age.

What I was wondering is if it's normal to have all those "red dots" (waking up a lot of times) during the night.. do you get them too?

I would like not to get any medicine, I know that it's a very stressful period of my life and it will be like this for a while more.

[mpharr2]

Have you had a physical lately?  if not request a physical , mention and even show your Dr. your Fitbit results.

May want to become aware of how tight your Fitbit is on your arm on the days  you have had poor vs days you Fitbit shows good sleep results.

I wish Fitbit - Sleep tool would provide  users "Fields"  (12) that would allow users to enter variables that  could/have effected users Sleep.

[mpharr2]

GP oversees patients health. Can direct testing to others. CPAP was prescribed years ago. I do not like SCUBA diving Did not wear CPAP.

GP prescribed that my DDS provide a sleep device that allows adjustment in my lower jaw to eliminate Snoring. $$$

It works.

I also found Smart Phone app that collects Snoring data by use of Smart Phones microphone!  

Sleep studies are short Apps allow for documenting of variables over more than one night. 

DDS was amazed that the app clearly shows the differences 

with/without variables. i.e. Nights I wear the sleep device vs nights I do not 

[mpharr2]

Links to Amazon reviews of Melatonin and its effects on users Sleep


https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_st_smooth-review-rank?keywords=melatonin&rh=n%3A3760901%2Ck%3Amelato...

[Konababe]

[Otisnrosie]

I thought I had restless nights hope you have a better night tonight......

[jerunamuck]

I found the low resolution setting more useful. I also found the individual night data to be a bit misleading. Looking back over a week's worth of data or more allowed me to see patterns that were helpful. For example, the nights I would not classify as restful were in fact the nights I slept the most and deepest but had little rem. Nights I thought were restful had more rem and light sleeping though not necessarily many hours asleep. I was also able to find behavior patterns associated with restful sleep like reading before bed and food choices for supper. Things like melatonin or breath right were not helpful for me but a nightly benadryl helped clear allergy congestion and breathing.

[SunsetRunner]

Hello I’m new here and couldn’t figure out how to post in this thread to everyone.  

I am dx primary insomnia and sleep paralysis based on a sleep study and a 48 hr EEG. That was 5 years ago. The sleep center did not order a MSLT at the time. I personally suspect narcolepsy without cataplexy. I am also dx ADHD and PTSD. PTSD doesn’t seem to affect me during the day but it is evident in my sleep.

The sleep tracking is VERY off with light sleep. I am usually awake when it thinks I’m in light sleep.

Obviosuly I need another sleep study. Keep you posted on this. I’m getting shuffled around between neurologist, pdoc, pulmonologist etc. 

We have already explored any and all sleep hygiene issues, medications, you name it and my doctors are at a loss but I manage 😎

[PamelaLynn12345]

You need to experience the beauty of CPAP!

      My cousin’s praise of CPAP BENEFITS is what was the turning point to at least TRY IT (best life-changing thing ever did))!

       Suddenly (after trying cpap), I was no longer tired throughout day, wanting to lay down.

     After trying this now (6+ years), have never felt better at age 62!  It’s like sleeping by the ocean with filtered clean heated air every second of laying down.

      Can think more clearly, can feel alive, compared to before!  Lab tests would show normal in past, and couldn’t understand WHY wpuld be so tired!  Eventually found out have severe sleep apnea) wish had known years before!)!

      Get a sleep study test (one night as get tested while sleeping at hospital); best decision ever!

       Btw, got checked out after family member noticed struggle for air while sleeping! 😴 💤 

[mpharr2]

I do not like Scuba Diving as well as the use of CPAP!

[Sleepy99]

Mine is very similar - worries me and I have no idea what to do ... any suggestions appreciated.  

Thought I was asleep ..... 😞 

[Sleepy99]

Thanks for your suggestions - I will try normal mode tonight 

sensitive mode has scary patterns and I am not aware of me waking up at all... 

Just wake up tired 

Sue