Sleep Efficiency...shocked but what to do?
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FitGirl329
Posts: 103 Member
I've been using my FitBit for three weeks now. I continue to be shocked at my sleep efficiency numbers. I know I wake up for a couple of minutes at a time, turn over and go back to sleep. It happens all the time. I have a hard time getting up in the morning...I'm assuming from interrupted sleep. Here's my stats since getting my fitbit:
Efficiency :Time in Bed : Awakened Times: Time asleep
80% 9h 59m 8x 6h 29m
75% 8h 22m 11x 5h 42m
76% 7h 8m 8x 5h 21m
71% 8h 49m 13x 6h 2 m
75% 8h 22m 10x 5h 34m
88% 7h 33m 4x 6h 6m
79% 7h 12m 7x 5h 14m
75% 8h 1m 9x 5h 19m
78% 5h 48m 7x 4h 7m
86% 7h 57m 10x 6h 25m
80% 7h 11m 6x 5h 14m
93% 5h 45m 2x 4h 53m
89% 8h 48m 6x 7h 43m
85% 7h 21m 6x 6h 2m
72% 7h 20m 11x 5h 18m
My average percentage is 80% and that's with the skewed 93% thrown in from a night with friends and wine.
I'm getting on average six-ish hours of interrupted sleep time and toss/turn/wake roughly 8x a night on average. Those stats aren't good.
I knew I woke up during the night but didn't realize I was this restless. I fall asleep within minutes. I've read other fitbit users who have sleep efficiency numbers in the 90th percentile on a regular basis. I think how rested they must feel! So what can I do to achieve this now that the numbers are in front of me? I don't consume coffee late in the day. I don't watch late night TV. I fall asleep quickly. I just can't seem to stay asleep soundly all night. It's frustrating.
Efficiency :Time in Bed : Awakened Times: Time asleep
80% 9h 59m 8x 6h 29m
75% 8h 22m 11x 5h 42m
76% 7h 8m 8x 5h 21m
71% 8h 49m 13x 6h 2 m
75% 8h 22m 10x 5h 34m
88% 7h 33m 4x 6h 6m
79% 7h 12m 7x 5h 14m
75% 8h 1m 9x 5h 19m
78% 5h 48m 7x 4h 7m
86% 7h 57m 10x 6h 25m
80% 7h 11m 6x 5h 14m
93% 5h 45m 2x 4h 53m
89% 8h 48m 6x 7h 43m
85% 7h 21m 6x 6h 2m
72% 7h 20m 11x 5h 18m
My average percentage is 80% and that's with the skewed 93% thrown in from a night with friends and wine.
I'm getting on average six-ish hours of interrupted sleep time and toss/turn/wake roughly 8x a night on average. Those stats aren't good.I knew I woke up during the night but didn't realize I was this restless. I fall asleep within minutes. I've read other fitbit users who have sleep efficiency numbers in the 90th percentile on a regular basis. I think how rested they must feel! So what can I do to achieve this now that the numbers are in front of me? I don't consume coffee late in the day. I don't watch late night TV. I fall asleep quickly. I just can't seem to stay asleep soundly all night. It's frustrating.
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Replies
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Hi babs
I'm in a similar position, (56% last night, slept 4 hours 10 mins, woke 13 times) but I knew I had problems anyway. I had a hysterectomy and my ovaries removed over a year ago and my sleep has been awful since - hot flushes don't help lol.
Have you tried all the sleep hygiene tricks? Your bedroom shouldn't have a tv or radio in it, you need to have curtains that will block the light, make sure that the air has at least been circulating in it throughout the day, no stimulating activities before bed etc? I also use lavender oil on my bedding and use relaxation techniques when I go to bed.
I don't know if there is one solution for all re sleep, but hope you can find something that helps. If you do, let me know what it is lol xx0 -
Are you using the sensitive or normal setting for sleep? I find when I use the "sensitive tracker" my sleep efficiency goes down by as much as 20%. Using the "normal tracker" setting seems more akin with reality for me.0
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Are you sure you don't have sleep apnea? My mom used to wake often during the night, and her sister in law suggested she do a sleep study. Sure enough, she had to start using a CPAP machine at night. Do you snore? You may want to talk to your doctor about this if you are regularly not getting a good, restful night's sleep.0
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I have woken up every night since I got mine between 10 and 14 times, but I still average over 90% efficient. I'm not really sure how that works, but the efficiency score really doesn't mean you're getting good sleep for me. I still feel like crap in the morning and fall asleep on the couch almost every night before I intend to go to bed.0
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I don't really pay attention to the sleep efficiency stat because I am always in the mid-high 90s even on nights where fitbit tracked 6 hours of sleep. I guess I don't really know what it means in application to me. When I had it on sensitive my efficiency was pretty low I think in the 70s? I do find I feel pretty good on days where my fitbit tracked "actual sleep" is 8 hours or very close. And sometimes I will not feel well rested and see fitbit thinks I slept for 5 or 6 hours even if I was in bed for 8 or 9. I did learn getting a good 8 hours of rest means being in bed longer than 8 hours for me. It is of course really only tracking how long you are in bed, how often you get up, how much you move, and how much time you spend not moving and how much of that still time is uninterrupted. I don't know what to do about it, i you have might have a serious sleep issue it may be worth discussing with a doctor. If you are just not giving yourself enough time to get enough of the still time, going to bed a little earlier might help (for me anyway, it seems to generally take me a while to settle into sleep and I wasn't giving myself enough time).0
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No sleep apnea. I don't snore at all. DH snores. I sleep with ear plugs in. I will say that I'm wondering if part of it isn't our mattress. It's not even seven years old but it's just not that comfortable anymore to me. I guess I keep thinking sometime in the next year we'll replace it. But since it's a pillow top, we can't flip it. We just built a house and moved in a couple of months ago. I don't have window treatments yet. But it was like this before we moved. This is how I've been for a few years it feels like.
I honestly don't remember the last time I went to bed and slept through the entire night. I remember waking up at least once.
It is set to sensitive because after I bought my fitbit, I'd read that the normal setting wasn't sensitive enough. Now I don't know what to set it on! LOL!0 -
I would try setting it on normal, and see if what you get there is closer to reality. I have tried both the sensitive and the normal setting. On normal, I can usually remember waking up or moving around at each point that it says I woke up. On sensitive, it shows waking periods when I knew I didn't wake up. Try both, and pick the one that makes the most sense to you.It is set to sensitive because after I bought my fitbit, I'd read that the normal setting wasn't sensitive enough. Now I don't know what to set it on! LOL!0
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After two weeks of stressing out and being horrified by how much the fitbit thought I was awake and how little sleep I was getting, I switched to the normal setting and never looked back. But, I have two small children, so my biggest concern is how much time I allow myself in bed. If I'm only in bed/asleep from 11:30-5:00, that's a problem! The sensitive setting just made me anxious and upset and I decided it wasn't worth it!0
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I have mine set to normal and have 92-96% efficiency, I know I wake during the night and get up to use the bathroom (diabetic). I need abut 71/2 hours of sleep to feel good the next day.0
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Makes me feel weird...my sleep efficiency is always like 40-60%. I wake up constantly I guess.0
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I've been using my FitBit for three weeks now. I continue to be shocked at my sleep efficiency numbers. I know I wake up for a couple of minutes at a time, turn over and go back to sleep. It happens all the time. I have a hard time getting up in the morning...I'm assuming from interrupted sleep. Here's my stats since getting my fitbit:
Efficiency :Time in Bed : Awakened Times: Time asleep
80% 9h 59m 8x 6h 29m
75% 8h 22m 11x 5h 42m
76% 7h 8m 8x 5h 21m
71% 8h 49m 13x 6h 2 m
75% 8h 22m 10x 5h 34m
88% 7h 33m 4x 6h 6m
79% 7h 12m 7x 5h 14m
75% 8h 1m 9x 5h 19m
78% 5h 48m 7x 4h 7m
86% 7h 57m 10x 6h 25m
80% 7h 11m 6x 5h 14m
93% 5h 45m 2x 4h 53m
89% 8h 48m 6x 7h 43m
85% 7h 21m 6x 6h 2m
72% 7h 20m 11x 5h 18m
My average percentage is 80% and that's with the skewed 93% thrown in from a night with friends and wine. I'm getting on average six-ish hours of interrupted sleep time and toss/turn/wake roughly 8x a night on average. Those stats aren't good.
I knew I woke up during the night but didn't realize I was this restless. I fall asleep within minutes. I've read other fitbit users who have sleep efficiency numbers in the 90th percentile on a regular basis. I think how rested they must feel! So what can I do to achieve this now that the numbers are in front of me? I don't consume coffee late in the day. I don't watch late night TV. I fall asleep quickly. I just can't seem to stay asleep soundly all night. It's frustrating.
Your numbers are amazing compared to mine! My sleep efficiency is usually between 32-37%. :ohwell: The sad thing is that it's accurate. I just don't sleep well and I don't know how to fix it either!0 -
Good thinking. I would also point out that the reason to monitor your sleep isn't to make you feel bad, but to give you a comparison between 'today' and 'usually'. If it normally tells you that you have 8 hrs, and last night said 5 hrs, you know that your sleep quality last night was much worse (but you probably already knew that!) If it normally says 5 hrs, and last night said 5 hrs, it was pretty much a normal night.
Sometimes you really need a reality check - "I felt like I was tossing and turning all night long. I only got 2 hours of sleep." And then you look at your fitbit record and find out "I was tossing and turning from 3-4 a.m., it just felt longer." Or alternatively, you might need the confirmation "Yes, there's a reason that I'm tired today, that my run went badly, and that I want a nap at 3:30 p.m. I got 3 hours less sleep than usual last night."After two weeks of stressing out and being horrified by how much the fitbit thought I was awake and how little sleep I was getting, I switched to the normal setting and never looked back. But, I have two small children, so my biggest concern is how much time I allow myself in bed. If I'm only in bed/asleep from 11:30-5:00, that's a problem! The sensitive setting just made me anxious and upset and I decided it wasn't worth it!0 -
My sleeps a bit strange Im in the 90s of accuracy usually but there was a night I woke 12 times very strange! But it is a good tool I think...I think I do snore sometimes...but mostly I'm getting up to go to the restroom the same time every early am before 6am.
And take my thyroid and back to sleep.
How do we set the fitbit to sensitive I didn't know we could set that function ??0 -
My sleeps a bit strange Im in the 90s of accuracy usually but there was a night I woke 12 times very strange! But it is a good tool I think...I think I do snore sometimes...but mostly I'm getting up to go to the restroom the same time every early am before 6am.
And take my thyroid and back to sleep.
How do we set the fitbit to sensitive I didn't know we could set that function ??
In the Sleep Log section of the fitbit site, hover your mouse over the top right hand corner of your sleep data. A little note will come up that reads "click to edit." Click it and there will be a hyperlink near the bottom of the data that says "Use Sensitive Tracker." You can switch back and forth any time to compare. It doesn't change the way the FB gathers data, just the way it reports it back to you.0 -
My percentage went WAY up when I switched to normal. And then I tried the hovering thing and switching from the normal to sensitive view and was blown away. BUT, I notice that when I switched from normal to sensitive, it seemed like it may have been more accurate on normal. But when I had it set to sensitive and THEN switched the reading from sensitive to normal, I remember waking at times when it's not showing I woke on the converted view. Does that make sense? I'm going to keep it on the normal mode and see if that's a bit more accurate.0
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You might try taking melatonin. It helps me fall asleep but I've also seen others on the forum say it helps them stay asleep better. No ill effects in the morning.0
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I got my FitBit yesterday, set it up, linked with MFP, and got it charged. I love it so far- it seems to be working great. I was especially excited about the sleep tracker function due to some ongoing problems I have with sleeping through the night. I started wearing a bruxism (clenching/ grinding teeth) mouth guard over a year ago, and was amazed at how much more rested I felt in the mornings. However, the honeymoon period wore off, and while I'm getting better sleep than before, I'm still extremely tired in the mornings on days I go to work. I wore the FitBit for the first time last night while I slept. I set it to sensitive because I felt it might be more accurate. HA! I was in bed for 7 hours 20 minutes (far from ideal, but not too bad), and it said that I only slept for 2 hours 45 minutes, awakening 16 times. Maybe a little TOO sensitive, haha. I was really stressed last night due to some drama with friends, but I definitely think I got more than 3 hours. Gonna put it back on normal and give it another try, and maybe pick up some melatonin for good measure.0
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I agree on the melatonin. It helps to quiet your brain and helps you to sleep more soundly. You take it about 30 minutes before you plan to go to bed and then you should be able to get to sleep right away and no lingering effects the next morning. I love it because I have trouble shutting my brain off at night. Good luck with the sleep numbers.0
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It is completely normal to wake several times in the night, not something to be concerned aboout at all
Every 60-100 minutes we go through a cycle of four stages of sleep
Stage 1 is a drowsy, relaxed state between being awake and sleeping - breathing slows, muscles relax, heart rate drops
Stage 2 is slightly deeper sleep - you may feel awake and this means that, on many nights, you may be asleep and not know it
Stage 3 and Stage 4, or Deep Sleep - it is very hard to wake up from Deep Sleep because this is when there is the lowest amount of activity in your body
After Deep Sleep, we go back to Stage 2 for a few minutes, and then enter Dream Sleep - also called REM (rapid eye movement) sleep - which, as its name suggests, is when you dream
In a full sleep cycle, a person goes through all the stages of sleep from one to four, then back down through stages three and two, before entering dream sleep0 -
I bought my FitBit last night and did the sleep tracker. I had it on norma setting and it scored me with 98% Sleep Efficiency. Seems pretty accurate. I do toss about at times and it marked it on the time line.
Bed time Fell asleep in Awakened In bed time Sleep efficiency
12:20AM 11min 6 times 7hrs 43min 98%0
