Deep Sleep only a few mins on FitBit

[MerlotMayhem]

I'm feeling tired all the time and according to my Fitbit I'm only getting a few minutes of deep sleep every night

Does anyone else have the same and is there anything I can do to get more deep sleep?

Is it possible you could have sleep apnea? This condition impacts on the periods of deep sleep your body will go in to. Do you have any other symptoms?

I had the same, OP. It could be as easy as maybe doing some white noise so little noises don't rouse you out of deep sleep, or maybe turning down the thermostat/turning on a fan if you're a little warm. In my case I noticed that when I turned on a little fan on my nightstand and cracked the window I started sleeping a lot more deeply.

I get no more than 30
Min of deep sleep, and it's only ever in one chunk at the beginning of the night. DH has sleep apnoea and is on cpap but his shows that he only has light and deep sleep, no rem at all

Glad someone started this thread! Sadly this is my problem too. I do get about 7-8h sleep a night but vast majority of it is light sleep and I'm lucky if I ever get 1h deep sleep a night. I usually get between 30-40mns, sometimes less.

I suffer from chronic fatigue as a, result. Sadly, its, very hard to improve as it is, down to subconsciously resting the mind. Meditation/mindfulness is, supposed to help, reducing stress etc... but so far, I haven't found the way to make a significant difference. Of course, the mire you obsess about it, the worse it gets!

I think the fan is a good idea - but sadly Him Indoors isn't so keen - it will keep him awake apparently!

I do often have trouble falling asleep. Last night Him Indoors was somehow creaking the bed on his side - dunno how - and every time I was just asleep it would wake me up again. I'm going to try ear plugs tonight.

We both had bad dreams last night which we ended up waking each other up from at different times in the night. First time that has happened!

I use mediation/mindful apps when I'm falling asleep and they don't seem to have made a different to the deep sleep. I'm often the least tired I've been all day when it's time to sleep!

The titbits aren't known to be terribly accurate so I wouldn't worry too much. I don't appear to get much deep sleep either. It sometimes has me deeply asleep when I'm reading my book!

fitbits

What's your alcohol intake like? Caffeine intake? Both interfere with deep sleep.

Do you have a baby perchance? I slept much lighter when I was cosleeping with my newborn.

If you're most awake at bedtime then whatever your wind down routine is isn't doing its job. Are you eating too late? On screens? Doing something that winds you up? Are you doing enough exercise to wear you out physically and disperse adrenaline?

First thing I'd do is basic sleep hygiene - no screens in the bedroom or an hour before bed, no food, exercise or work late at night. Relaxing activities only for an hour before bed. No caffeine after noon. Minimal alcohol. Blue light filters on all your devices.

I don’t think the Fitbit is completely accurate. Mine from last night shows 1h 40 minutes of deep sleep, but during that period I actually got up to feed the cat, and went to the loo - I might not have been completely with it, but I was definitely not deeply asleep!

While the Fitbit isn't always accurate, OP specifically said she wakes up feeling tired, so she clearly isn't getting enough good quality sleep.

I have been meaning to start a similar post for ages! I don't ever get any more than 1 hr 10 Mins deep sleep-that's it in a 'good' night, the norm is around 35-50 Mins. I feel permanently drained. Same as another user said - I only ever get deep sleep for the first part of the night as soon as I fall asleep, past 1am I only get R.E.M. or light, and when I sleep in those 2 states my brain still feels switched on like I am half awake / half asleep.

Mine definitely isn’t accurate, often says I’m asleep when I’m reading. Resting heart rate overnight much higher when I’ve had a drink however.

It isn't completely accurate as it does think I'm asleep at times when I'm just lying there. I only drink caffeine in the morning and don't drink alcohol very often, although I did yesterday evening, so not sure if that is a contributing factor to the bad dream. My children are older so I can't blame them. I just feel so tired!

Got some ear plugs in, not convinced they are keeping any sound out!

I don’t think the Fitbit is completely accurate
I had mine for over two years and am amazed how accurate it is. If I wake up after a dream and check the time, it shows every morning that I did dream at that time. I also believe the deep sllep to be accurate as I know exactly how I feel the next day depending on whether I had 30mns, 1h or more DS and it always confirms how I feel.

My issue is cortisol rises due to the perimenopause. Like you OP, I will feel the least tired as I get to sleep despite yawning for hours before. I am not stressed, don't drink, smoke, take light exercise, increased my water intake but ultimately it makes little difference.

It is so frustrating because I feel so different when I had enough DS. After two years of doing absolutely everything recommended with no improvement at all, I am just hoping it will get better once I'm on the other side of the menopause.

swingofthings I agree mine is completely accurate aswell, my awake times are always bang on correct time for toilet get ups, hearing the kids etc.
I too had thought about peri menopause, I was 40 in October but about 6 months before that my sleep has really gone down hill....constant waking etc. Do u kind me asking how old u are swingofthings? Not sure whether I'm to young for peri?....

@Abkbjbjb, I'm 46 but I now know that peri started 4 years ago. Some women have long peri periods and then sail through the menopause, whilst others are hit by menopause without many signs but then really struggle with it.

According to this (article research funded by Fitbit!!) it is about 69% accurate and we don't need as much deep sleep as we think we do!

How long would people say is long enough ds on average? Is an hour good or way off not enough?

I'm in a group of 7 friends all with fitbit and it seems to be a case of either very accurate or not much at all. One colleague constantly has to adjust her bed time as its never accurate, but for me, it is so accurate, it is almost spooky. I can read with the only movement being touching the screen of my kindle to turn the page and it picks up I'm not asleep but will do the moment I put it down. I don't often dream late in the mornings but each time I woke up from a dream, the fitbit picked up I was in REM sleep.

Of course you can't rely on it to detect exactly how much deep or REM sleep you get but what I do know is how much better all around I feel when I got over 1h deep sleep according to the fitbit compared to 20mns.

I also had a hospital heart rate monitor for 5 days and the readings came exactly the same as my fitbit which even my doctor was quite surprised about.

@Thethingswedoforlove, for a start it depends on your age. Then it very much depends how you feel when yo wake up. Some function very well on 5h sleep and 1 1/2 h or DS. Others will wake up feeling they had no sleep after 8 hours and 1h DS.

It also depends whether you get it all in one go or a number of 10mns there and then. It is normal to go into more DS at the start of your sleep.

Thanks @seingofthings