What is an acceptable number of restless sleep episodes to be healthy?

[Befirm]

What is a healthy number of restless sleep episodes. Is 100% sleep really attainable? Should I see a sleep specialist if I consistently have over 10 restless episodes per night when sleeping 6- 7 1/2 hours.

[JonS]

No, You are fine. I am a Respiratory Therapist for 40 yrs. The symptoms are loud snoring and daytime sleepiness. Falling asleep during the day. Feeling tired after sleeping.

[JonS]

You are in the healthly range. You really don't obtain a 100% efficiency. If you are higher then 90% Sleep efficiency, Thats well into the normal range. There are 4 stages of sleep. Stage 1, 2 3, 4 and rem sleep. You usally syat in stage 3 to 4 most of the night and with these stages there is some movements. Stage Rem sleep is where your body is totally relaxed and your brain takes over all fuctions. This occurs 3 to 4 hrs. before you wake up. This stage is used to monitor male erection. If a male does not have an erection during REM sleep then there is a neurologial problem. That is why most males wake up with an erection. Usually sleep apnea pt.s don't get pas stage 1 oor 2. In stage 1 thats when a relaxing agent is released from the body. Its like when you eat turkey and sit watching football, you kinda know whats going on but are real relaxed. Stage 2 is when you actually fall asleep and are unaware of your surroundings. This is when sleep apnea occurs, because the upper airwya muscles start to relax and obstruct the airway. SO there ya go. Sleep tight or sleep relaxed is the more  of a better term.

[Dominique]

---

@Befirm wrote:
Is 100% sleep really attainable?

---

Actually, you can get 100% sleep efficiency, as rated by Fitbit. See the following graph I posted in this thread:

As you can see, Fitbit will deem your sleep to be 100% efficient even if you were awakened a couple of times.

Of course, "sleep efficiency" as rated by Fitbit doesn't necessarily mean sleep quality. It merely means no or very few movements were registered.

[JonS]

Well, that may be true but it is only a calculation. A sleep study is the only way to truly see what your real sleep efficiency is like. It will tell you what stages of sleep you are in most. Although, this device will give you a snap shot of your sleep and may prompt some people to seek help, which is a good thing. Sleep disorders have been linked to more serious helath problems. So, I think these devices are really good to monitor your health and I am sure more is to come in the future. By the way I ran a sleep lab back in the day lets say 70's and the advancements have been remarkable over the years.

[Ksummers]

I have somewhat of the same issue.  I have the Fitbit set to "normal" sensitivity.  I don't know how much "restless" times is normal.  I am awake on average 3 times but I am restless for between 16 and 22 times a night.  I take Ambian and still have a hard time falling asleep. FitBit registers me as asleep when I'm sitting in bed playing on my phone but I can take that into account.  What I can't explain is being restless that many times a night.  What is normal?

[Uwe]

Are you saying that a healthy male wakes up with an erection every day? Really? So what's wrong with me if that is an exception rather than the norm???

[SunsetRunner]

I've always been a restless sleeper.  In the morning, my husband is in the exact same position as when he fell asleep, whereas on my side of the bed, blankets and pillows are strewn all over the place.  One of the reasons I got the Flex was to track my sleep because, starting in 2011, I contracted pneumonia and have since suffered serious and chronic lung-related illnesses.

I tested negative for sleep apnea.  After I got the Flex and tracked my sleep, I showed it to my pulmonologist at National Jewish Health (the undisputed top respiratory care and research center in the country) because there had been a question about whether my oxygen saturation levels were getting too low when I slept and the overnight pulse oximeter tests were inconclusive.  The daily sleep graphs on my FitBit app was but one factor in his decision that I didn't need more testing about O2 saturation levels while sleeping, and my lung doctor is absolutely, positively the best doctor I've ever had or, as I like to call him, the Roger Federer of doctors.

I believe it's a useful tool, but even though my graph almost always shows a significant amont of restlessness, when I do sleep through the night, with or without sleep medication (which I sometimes need), I feel rested when I wake up ... well, I've never been a morning person, so I should say after I've had my first cup of coffee!

[SunsetRunner]

---

@Dominique wrote:

---

@Befirm wrote:
Is 100% sleep really attainable?

---

Actually, you can get 100% sleep efficiency, as rated by Fitbit. See the following graph I posted in this thread:

As you can see, Fitbit will deem your sleep to be 100% efficient even if you were awakened a couple of times.

Of course, "sleep efficiency" as rated by Fitbit doesn't necessarily mean sleep quality. It merely means no or very few movements were registered.

---

I'm speculating that the Fitbit technology doesn't take REM sleep into account and, after going through testing for sleep apnea and being hooked up to over 30 different monitors, that the sleep tracker is rudimentary and IMHO should be viewed as a useful tool, not the end all and be all of sleep efficiency.

[EAM75]

I had a sleep study done because of snoring.  I would wake up tired, during the day. as my body got more oxygen I had more energy.  None of the many signs of sleep apnea.  However I was diagnosed as a very severe case.  Now I have a CPAP machine.

[Willbicki]

You had exactly my question. Did you ever get an answer? In a 7.5 hour night, I sometimes have 170 - 190 "restless" minutes. Only 5-7 episodes, no awake periods show, but way more than the 25-30 minutes they say is "normal."

I take no sleep aids. But because of my restless periods my fitbit subtracts 3 hours and calls my sleep 3-4 hours. Do I have a problem?!? (2 years ago my restless periods were not as long.)

[RosieO]

I can only stay asleep for an average of 5 hours a night. Once in a while I'll take an afternoon nap. I'm a notorious night owl trying to get into the habit of shutting off the lights at about the same time every night. Going to see how my FitBit tracks my new habit. Maybe my sleep will get better with this consistency.

[Willbicki]

Like you, I'm a night owl. Because fitbit only counts non-restless sleep,
even tho I'm in bed, it subtracts my many tosses and turns from my sleep
total - even tho I don't wake - giving me about 4.25 hours sleep per night
average. This is so even when I'm in bed 7-8 hours! I seldom nap.

I do feel tired, but ok...and can rise to the occasion when I need. Just
don't know if I need to be concerned with how restless I am? Another sleep
watch I have gives me credit for the restless sleep. It's amazing how
differently the two measure. Fitbit is more detailed.

Good luck!

[JanetSclar]

Hmm, good observations.  Did you come to any conclusion?   My Fitbit registers me awake usually 20+ times/night, whereas my husband who has the snoring issue registers less awake times.  I’m thinking I need to try setting my watch to normal rather than sensitive and see if I still get any detailed results but with less awake sensitivity.

[AionTempus]

Check your model. Some don't respond to the switch between normal and sensitive. May just be the models with heart rate monitors.

In my own case I'm averaging over 30 times of 'awake' each night but don't know if this figure is significant or not. While Fitbits do provide data, and this is rather interesting, it's not all that clear what counts as exceptional.