What is disruptive to your sleep?

[LizFitbit]

Whether you are actively working on a sleep goal or just tracking your sleep stages, have you noticed any patterns in lower quality sleep nights? Or conversely, anything that has really helped you improve your sleep?

Maybe it's bright summer nights, having young children or eating late before bed, we're curious to hear what you've noticed... 

[Odyssey13]

@LizFitbit  for me, having a radio on becomes background noise, so I don't hear the washing machine or dryer when I need my sleep! So many people seem to think a tv in the bedroom isn't a distraction, but the light coming from it sure is. I like a mostly dark room, except for my clock. My best sleep seems to be with just the radio on and not letting too many thoughts from the day take over. It's too easy to let the worries of life disturb a much needed good night's sleep. I listen to old radio shows and fade away.

I've been able to gauge my sleep and know when I get under five hours of sleep, I'm going to have a rough time of it by afternoon. My best is with seven hours or more of sleep. Knowing what I need helps me understand my energy levels, too. No matter what I do, I am the night owl. If I need to be up early, I can manage it, but I'll revert back to my nocturnal habits.

[DramaQueenDiva]

For me, it's one of two things:

1.) Nerves about big events happening in my life: shows I'm in that are having Opening Night the next night, events at work, life events, etc.

2.) Sleeping in a new place: I travel a lot and need to be used to my surroundings before going to bed.

Studies have shown that keeping a notepad nearby helps you sleep.  When we sleep, we are still thinking about the events of the day and things we have to do.  When one of these thoughts runs in your head, write it down in the notepad.  That way the thought is psychologically out of your mind, and therefore, you can rest easier.

[emili]

I need my pups one or both. Their warm hearty little bodies smooshed up against me is so comforting I relax and fall asleep faster than when their not there.

[NellyG]

I have been trying to improve my sleep for a few years now. By improve I mean, more hours asleep, more deep sleep, and going to sleep quicker. For most of my life i have struggled with going to sleep - I struggle to switch off my super active brain. I have used The Headspace App and another one I forget the name of that has sleep stories and they helped enormously, but I eventually found the noise irritating, so started doing relaxation exercises in my head instead and am finding it has really helped. The one thing that really increased my deep sleep was giving up caffeine. I never drank coffee after midday, but when I gave it up almost entirely (I still eat some chocolate! ) the amount of deep sleep I get magically improved. I rarely feel sleep deprived these days unless I am stressed by something and it is WONDERFUL!

[Heather-S]

There are several things I've noticed over the years that disrupt my sleep.

1. Temperature -- too cold or too warm.  I've found a sweet spot with my thermometer at night that keeps me at a really nice temperature for optimal sleep.
2. Too much food before bed.  If I eat too close to bedtime, it causes me to have dreams and be uncomfortable -- lots of tossing and turning!
3. Light and noise.  I'm a light sleeper.  While I enjoy falling asleep to the TV, I do turn it off when I'm on the brink of falling asleep so as it won't disturb me during the night.

[GraceGFitbit]

Sleep all night become really hard since the birth of my daughter, even if she sleep well enough for a baby.

Also, I used to read but noticed that sometimes in bed I was thinking about what I just read. My phone was also a big distractor. Of course bad sleep was affecting me in my day to day. 

I read that for help children to sleep early prepare the environment is important, I think it worked for her but still having issues to sleep all night. I guess now it's about bad habits so I made some changes.

As for her I prepare my own environment doing things like :

• No phone once I'm in bed. I turn Off the notifications.
• No TV or reading.
• Like some of you mentioned above, no coffee, tea or chocolate after 5PM. 
• I follow the same routine every night.  

Finally, I have to recognize that I slept better when I was going to the gym. 

[YojanaFitbit]

I think that sometime it's just what you're eating before going to bed. Or if you're eating too late too. 

I read in an article that women who report better sleep were 33 percent more likely to hit their weight-loss goals, according to a study published in the journal Obesity. Whether you want to doze your way slim, or you just want to wake up feeling more refreshed in the morning, check out these foods that help you sleep.

1. Kiwi
2. Soy-foods
3. Fiber-Rich Foods
4. Fish
5. Tart Cherry Juice
6. Yogurt
7. Whole Grains
8. Bananas

Now you know! Let's eat well too. 

[Makinthemagic]

For the last ~20 years (roughly my adult life) I've had problems waking up before 9AM.  My natural bedtime has been around 130 AM and I have to fight to keep it around 11 PM so I can make it to work in the morning.  Even then, I wake up tired and really drag in the morning.  Once in awhile I'll have an insomnia episode where, no matter how sleepy I am, I am unable to get to and stay asleep, even using over the counter sleep aids.  It builds over a week or so until it breaks and I can get some sleep.

I'm always sleepy in the morning and have brain fog almost every day.  I've been medicating with caffeine so I can function in the mornings, and even then, I'm not functioning well.  I've been living alone until 2 years ago when I moved in with my now wife.  She pointed out how poor my sleep is in ways I would never have noticed on my own.

To improve my sleep I wear an eye mask, have put up darker drapes on the bedroom window and talked with my wife and step-son so that they disturb my sleep as little as possible.  I've also obtained a weighted blanket to see if that reduces my movement.  However, I'll still toss that around even though its 20 pounds.  I also take melatonin before bed and often magnesium too.  I set my phone to reduce white light after sunset.   None of this has been a cure.  Things are so @$$ backwards for me, some caffeine and watching tv in bed have actually helped.

I track my fitbit sleep data in excel based upon a worksheet I found on here (google pspfrench).  I see that my total hours slept and my total restorative sleep (deep+rem) vary in a sine wave pattern over time, if analyzed using a moving average.

Based on that, I thought I might have sleep apnea.  I used another app to track my breathing and it said I breathe ok during sleep.  I'm having a sleep test done in a few weeks.  I'm also in the process of having my mental health checked.  There are several possibilities based upon my medical history, ranging from an atypical case of ADHD to Lupus.  I hope to have answers to that in a few weeks too.

[SunsetRunner]

I’ve learned that eating later in the evening will result in restless sleep. Even drinking anything but water or a nice cup of decaf tea will affect my sleep. What helps me fall asleep faster and seems to result in a more restful sleep is Fitbit’s Relax feature. I do the 5 minute session in bed to clear my mind. Relax is a controlled, deep breathing exercise. It’s almost like meditation. Works for me. One of my granddaughters was so very anxious about the SAT test that it kept her up at night. I showed her how to use Relaxion as she went thru the test study guides, urging her to use it before studying, then after studying to clear her mind. I also urged her to use it again before going to sleep. She said it was a big help. 

[USAF-Larry]

I am one of the fortunate ones in that as soon as my head hits the pillow, I am asleep. The sleep stages usually show me immediately dropping into Deep Sleep as soon as I go to bed, then later in the night it is a mixture of Light Sleep and REM Sleep.  But, one of the unfortunate things about age is the frequent nighttime trips to the bathroom, so there are several periods of Awake scattered throughout.

One thing the Fitbit has shown about my sleep habits, though, is that one days that I am unable to do physical activity of some type, I have a lot of periods of restlessness throughout the night. My wife also notices these periods of my restlessness and encourages me the next day to get out an exercise so she can get some sleep the next night.

[Heather-S]

Something else that is disruptive would be my Siberian Husky, who hates rain and storms.  Twice this week he's woken me up either too early or in the middle of the night because he's scared of the thunder.  Luckily I love him to pieces ♥

[LizFitbit]

@Makinthemagic thanks for sharing your story with us. It sounds like consistent or high quality sleep has been challenging for you. But, it also sounds like you've done tons of research and tried lots of new things! Have you tried any herbal remedies or teas like chamomile or those night time teas?

Very curious to hear what you get back from the doctor or sleep doctor. I hope you circle back and let us know, as I'm sure others in the community may have had similar challenges!

[irakez]

- What is disruptive to your sleep?

- Receiving unsolicited advice about my sleep and seeing my sleep being graded by some people I don't know and whose opinion I don't need. AKA SLEEP SCORE.

Please give us an option to remove it.

[BYR]

Any light or noise is disruptive. I am even finding the light flashing on my Inspire at night tends to interrupt my sleep. Any suggestions on how to manage this?

[YojanaFitbit]

If you suffer from interrupted sleep, there are lifestyle changes you can implement to try and sustain sleep for longer periods of time.

First, try restricting your sleep a little bit. Figure out how many hours you’re actually getting per night, minus any periods of wakefulness, and only allow yourself to be in bed for that long. After cutting down on your sleep, you’ll naturally become sleepier at night, leading you to sleep more deeply. 

Next, if you find yourself awake at night for more than fifteen minutes, get out of bed. Go to a quiet, dimly lit couch or comfortable chair, and do a relaxing activity like reading, meditating, or gentle stretching. Once you feel drowsy again, head back to bed. 

Finally, stick to your normal wake up time, even if you had a bad night of sleep the night before. Staying consistent with a bedtime and wake up time will help your body remain in tune with its circadian rhythm, and help your chances of resting peacefully through the night. *(best comments I've read)

[Makinthemagic]

I wanted to update everyone on my progress.  I've had 2 different at home sleep studies.  The first about a year ago, about the time of my last post.  It came back normal.  A year passed with treatment by medication.  It helped but wasn't a cure.  I saw a sleep specialist who ordered the latest sleep study.  This one showed lots of limb movement.  My interim diagnosis is REM sleep behavior disorder.  I have an in-lab sleep study scheduled for the end of the month. I also had an EEG which showed my brain to be "very sleepy."  It should be interesting where this goes.

They say you can't diagnose sleep disorders from Fitbit.  However, I could see Fitbit recording me going from REM to awake constantly.  I could tell something was wrong but didn't have the medical knowledge to diagnose.  If you suspect you have a problem keep asking questions and seeking help.