Some probably saw the Wall Street Journal article (today, Mossberg) on the new Fitbit, a motion detecting device that monitors your movements and estimates how much you are moving and how many calories being burned. It apparently also can be worn at might to monitor sleep (estimating how much you sleep by how much you move). There are several similar devices out there such as Bodybugg, Gowear, and Sensewear (all by the same firm). Google searches will show more on any of these devices.

I have periodic limb movements and was wondering if any of these were useful in monitoring that (presumably if attached to your leg it could show how much you were moving). Of course, these are not sold as medical devices and I am aware of no tests.

Have any of you had any experiences with any of these. If they showed more movements on nights when you felt worse the next day, it could be a sign your PLM were worse and you might see the doctor to change your drug prescription and/or have your ferritin checked.

I'll be watching this thread because I too am interested in hearing if anyone has any experience with these devices. I have read about home use medical devices for detecting PLMD movements but if I remember correctly they were very expensive and for single use. There's also something called KickStrip, but I know nothing about it. I will soon be revisiting my sleep doc as the Ropinerole is up to 4mg and still not working well. Since my cpap therapy is fine, I sure would like some way to monitor my limb movements without a sleep study.

If you have periodic RLS, you might want to research adding a magnesium supplement. I'm no medical or health expert, but have read several articles that indicate magnesium can help counter RLS.

katcw - I read some about it too, have been taking a calcium, zinc, and magnesium supplement. Not sure if it's effectiveness is better in RLS or PLMD, but I figure it could only help. I broke down and started taking them more due to extreme leg cramps, and it sure did help those!

Update.

I placed a reservation for this device when it was announced and have had the E-mail saying to confirm my order so they can ship. I am inclined to go ahead (costing $99 for device and another $10 for shipping, etc.) They have changed the interior color to blue I noticed.

I thought I would update this posting and ask if anyone had any new knowledge regarding this device or alternatives.

There is now a Wikipedia entry and I have learned there is a 3D accelerometer as the heart of the device, and from a web search that the delay in shipping is due to a firmware problem that required every device to be opened and updated
(most product introductions are managed so that when you read review you can immediately purchase the item).

A long and informative review is at http://www.timeatlas.com/reviews/review ... _direction emphasizing the general exercise tracking rather than my particular goal of monitoring periodic leg movements.

I bought myself one of these at Best Buy... a fitness thing in my case. Cost me $99... and no shipping.

It sure does say that I'm active at night.

How is this different than an Actigraph? Wouldn't it be subject to the same issues?

http://books.google.com/books?id=8Igfu_ ... hy&f=false

What's the name of the one at Best Buy?

cflame1 wrote:I bought myself one of these at Best Buy... a fitness thing in my case. Cost me $99... and no shipping.

It sure does say that I'm active at night.

Thanks for the Bestbuy idea.

If you search on Bing cashback for Fitbit it takes you to Bestbuy and states you get 5% Bing cashback. In general you can order on line and pick up at Bestbuy, saving shipping.

However, at the Bestbuy site it is described as coming soon (and priced at $99.99, I corrected my earlier post where an intended $ became a 4). I will wait and buy through Bestbuy, assuming they will have it in stock soon (especially since the quote shows at least one store already has it). Having a Bestbuy gift card to use make it even better. The slight delay in receipt from waiting, may be offset by getting further information from a actual user such as cflame.

Meanwhile, any further feedback from cflame or anyone else would be appreciated.

I know nothing about an actigraph...

What I bought was a fitbit.

When I tell it what hours I supposedly was sleeping... it tells me how many hours I actually slept. Which when I've had a lousy night (wake up tired)... it makes sense.

It keeps track of my steps as well.

I'm not saying it CANNOT, only that I don't know how it can tell the difference between when you're awake (e.g., due to arousals) vs. when you're having limb movements. I googled but can't find any research about fitbit and PLMs. Maybe it's out there, but I couldn't find it.

Actigraphy is not very helpful in people whose sleep is fragmented, at least per the one study I read. It can tell if someone is awake for long periods of time, but not short periods as in transient arousals.

cflame1 wrote:I know nothing about an actigraph...

What I bought was a fitbit.

When I tell it what hours I supposedly was sleeping... it tells me how many hours I actually slept. Which when I've had a lousy night (wake up tired)... it makes sense.

It keeps track of my steps as well.