Sleep tracker via Fitbit

[Tigerlily]

I've been using cpap since February. I just got a Fitbit a week ago to help me monitor my steps and to assist me in my weight loss goals.

The Fitbit (http://www.fitbit.com) has the ability to track the time sleeping and overall quality of sleep. How it does, I'm not sure. You wear it on your wrist, so I'm guessing it senses movement, but how it knows if you are asleep or awake, I don't know.

My sleep efficiency has only been in the low 60%'s. That's terrible!! It shows that I awaken 15 times a night or so.

My sister uses it also (she doesn't have OSA) and her sleep efficiency is in the high 90% range.

Is anyone else using this? Is it very accurate? It seems to me like I may be having other sleep issues....insomnia??

I've got work to do!

[chunkyfrog]

When i looked at the fitbit, I had the exact same thought.
So I bought a pedometer with 3-axis accelerometers at Target instead.
Way less money; and no snake oil.

[Kate M]

I've been using cpap since February. I just got a Fitbit a week ago to help me monitor my steps and to assist me in my weight loss goals.

The Fitbit (http://www.fitbit.com) has the ability to track the time sleeping and overall quality of sleep. How it does, I'm not sure. You wear it on your wrist, so I'm guessing it senses movement, but how it knows if you are asleep or awake, I don't know.

I was intrigued by this, as I would just love a reliable way to monitor my sleep quality. Not sure this is it though, although it may be better than nothing! Hmmmm... considering it.

This is from their website at https://help.fitbit.com/customer/portal ... 9m-asleep-

How does my Fitbit tracker know when I’m asleep?
Last updated: Apr 29, 2013 10:00AM PDT

Your tracker has a motion sensor that analyzes your movement patterns in such a way that it can distinguish between when you are awake and when you are asleep. It works most accurately when worn on your wrist during sleep, because arm movements are a good indicator of how heavily you are sleeping.

[chunkyfrog]

I still feel the Zeo was a much better design--but unfortunately, not commercially viable.

[LaurieRenz]

I have the Fitbit... I use it every night and it usually scores me from 94-97%. Like you said, I'm not sure how accurate it is because I just think that it senses movement but still interesting.

[Hawk600]

I also have a FitBit One and use it to monitor my sleep and the average sleep efficiency has been around 95%. It is certainly not accurate as the information provided by the PAP machine but isn't bad at all! Maybe your is not registering your sleeping properly?
Make sure your wristband is properly adjusted at night plus have you tried to tweak the sleep tracking sensitivity in your FitBit dashboard/device settings?

[Tigerlily]

Well, I woke up feeling pretty good (I guess), went to Fitbit and my worst sleep efficiency so far - 56%...yikes!

Now I know something is wrong hearing that a few of you are in the 90% range and you have sleep apnea. Hmmmmmm

Either I have issues....or maybe the sensitivity is too high. I will adjust that.

[Todzo]

I've been using cpap since February. I just got a Fitbit a week ago to help me monitor my steps and to assist me in my weight loss goals.

The Fitbit (http://www.fitbit.com) has the ability to track the time sleeping and overall quality of sleep. How it does, I'm not sure. You wear it on your wrist, so I'm guessing it senses movement, but how it knows if you are asleep or awake, I don't know.

My sleep efficiency has only been in the low 60%'s. That's terrible!! It shows that I awaken 15 times a night or so.

My sister uses it also (she doesn't have OSA) and her sleep efficiency is in the high 90% range.

Is anyone else using this? Is it very accurate? It seems to me like I may be having other sleep issues....insomnia??

I've got work to do!

Silly questions - does fitbit track your steps like a pedometer and are graphs of those steps available - perhaps even with connection to the speed of the steps?

[caffeinatedcfo]

Neat device, but does it determine sleep stages? Without that I don't see the value.

[chunkyfrog]

I think a lot of people have learned a lesson from Zeo:
Avoid any elctronic device that only works with the cloud,
because, when it rains, the cloud washes away.

[chunkyfrog]

--and I just read a review on the new Fitbit Flex, but no indication if it is Web-dependent.
I'm tempted, but not if I have to go online to use it.

[squid13]

I think a lot of people have learned a lesson from Zeo

You can say that again, they made their money and left a lot of people high and dry.

[HoseCrusher]

I love my FitBit. It does have many limitations but as a general indicator it works very well.

It does not actually measure sleep stages. It measures your movement during the night. The assumption is that when you are sleeping you are not in motion.

To measure an activity like exercise or sleeping you push the button to start recording and after the activity is over you push the button to stop recording.

A downside is that you need to daily upload your data to the web. Your raw data is not available but their website has some graphs. They also send a weekly email with summary statistics.

I use it to track the number of steps I take a day, the number of stairs I climb, and for my sleep. In general if you are sick or troubled in your sleep you tend to toss and turn a lot. If you track it nightly you can get an idea of this if the numbers change from what is normal for you.

I must say that their customer service is excellent. A little over a year after purchase my FitBit fell apart. I contacted them with a description of the problem and they sent me a new one. No hassle, no problems, no cost, and they went out of their way to make sure my new unit would link up to my existing account. I was prepared to just go and purchase a new one and was pleasantly surprised with their response.