Sleep Tracker - Anyone can recommend one?

[Insomniac]

I think sleep trackers are important for CFS. They can give you a clue over what factors or supplements can improve your sleep.

I ocassionally use this app called sleep cycle to monitor my sleep and it is great.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.northcube.sleepcycle&hl=en

The only problem is I find it uncomfortable that you have to sleep with the phone on your bed to use it.

I found the Beurer Sleep recommended sensor on this CFS blog:
http://cfspatientadvocate.blogspot.co.il/2017/07/sleep-and-mecfs.html
https://www.beurer.com/web/us/products/sleep-rest/sleep/SE-80-SleepExpert

It sounded expensive so I tried the cheaper Beurer activity tracker first. It is from the same company. It was useless because it kept recording deep sleep while I was awake.
But maybe this the SE80 Beurer Sleep sensor is better?

Has anyone tried the Beurer Sleep sensor?

Can anyone recommend any good sleep tracker for CFS?
Ideally one that doesn't involve you sleeping with the phone near your head- like sleep cycle.

 

[Dechi]

I had a Polar a360 smart watch for 1 1/2 years and I sold it to get the new version, the Polar a370. In addition to great sleep tracking, you’ll get 24/7 heart rate monitoring with good accuracy (it measures the HR every 5 minutes).

Check it out, maybe you’ll like it : https://www.polar.com/blog/sleep-tracking-with-polar-sleep-plus/

 

[mattie]

For reliable sleep tracking you need to glue sensors to your skull.
Alle other trackers and apps are just guessing how you've slept. They cannot reliably measure your sleep stages.

 

[zzz]

For reliable sleep tracking you need to glue sensors to your skull.
Alle other trackers and apps are just guessing how you've slept. They cannot reliably measure your sleep stages.

They can come surprisingly close, though. There are some reviews that compare the best of the sleep trackers to professional sleep tracking, and the best of the consumer sleep trackers do come close enough to be extremely useful.

For a general activity tracker that also contains a sleep tracker, I would recommend that Fitbit Charge 2, which I use. I find it provides sleep results that are quite accurate in that they reflect my own experience of my sleep. Sleep is divided into deep sleep, light sleep, REM sleep, and awake periods. This particular Fitbit also serves as an excellent heart-rate monitor, continuously tracking heart rate throughout the day and night, and also determining your resting heart rate every day. The final thing that people here may find useful is that it tracks your steps for each day. The Fitbit can be found for $129 on Amazon, but you can find new ones for as low as $100 on eBay, especially if you're willing to bargain.

For the best consumer sleep monitoring device, the Oura Ring is highly recommended by many. As it records body temperature in addition to heart rate and body motion, it's able to better than just about any other sleep monitor. The Oura Ring is normally $300 dollars. However, a new generation of the Oura Ring has been announced, and you can pre-order the new Oura Ring for $240 until the end of this month.

Neither of these devices require that a smartphone be near them while you sleep. I don't even own a smartphone.

 

[Hikaru]

I ordered a Mi Band 2 for this and heart rate monitoring since I have a Xiaomi smartphone as well and they are quite cheap. It's not here yet but I can post about what it's like once it arrives.

 

[Ema]

They can come surprisingly close, though. There are some reviews that compare the best of the sleep trackers to professional sleep tracking, and the best of the consumer sleep trackers do come close enough to be extremely useful.

For a general activity tracker that also contains a sleep tracker, I would recommend that Fitbit Charge 2, which I use. I find it provides sleep results that are quite accurate in that they reflect my own experience of my sleep. Sleep is divided into deep sleep, light sleep, REM sleep, and awake periods. This particular Fitbit also serves as an excellent heart-rate monitor, continuously tracking heart rate throughout the day and night, and also determining your resting heart rate every day. The final thing that people here may find useful is that it tracks your steps for each day. The Fitbit can be found for $129 on Amazon, but you can find new ones for as low as $100 on eBay, especially if you're willing to bargain.

For the best consumer sleep monitoring device, the Oura Ring is highly recommended by many. As it records body temperature in addition to heart rate and body motion, it's able to better than just about any other sleep monitor. The Oura Ring is normally $300 dollars. However, a new generation of the Oura Ring has been announced, and you can pre-order the new Oura Ring for $240 until the end of this month.

Neither of these devices require that a smartphone be near them while you sleep. I don't even own a smartphone.

I have both of these models.

The Fitbit more accurately reflects my subjective sleep experience. The Oura ring shows that I wake up excessively. I think it may actually be showing me alpha wave intrusrions or REM sleep behavior disorder.

They both have positives and negatives. I’m really hoping that with the second generation Oura, I can stop wearing the Fitbit though as I hate wearing a watch. I like the HR on demand though with POTs.

 

[Eneia]

I ordered a Mi Band 2 for this and heart rate monitoring since I have a Xiaomi smartphone as well and they are quite cheap. It's not here yet but I can post about what it's like once it arrives.

This is what I ended up purchasing, as you can use the MI band2 to monitor your heart rate and alarm if it goes higher (which you can't really do with fitbit in spite of the request being made daily by users and totally ignored since the start). You do that with the MI tool sapp. Didnt bother working on that side yet, as I went over my 115 HR limit during sleep and got woken up a few times. I'm sure things can be set properly.
For sleep I use the band with Urban Sleep, there is a lot of development it's quite an active app. It's much more optimistic than Mi Tools, and needs to be started before you sleep, but it has a good correlation with how I feel and helps me see when deep sleep occurs in certain conditions.

 

[Insomniac]

I want to revive this topic because maybe there are newer or better sleep trackers since 2018. I gave up finding a good sleep tracker in 2018.

To complicate matters I have reversal of sleep timing - that is I fall asleep circa 6am and get up to pee a number of times. I need a sleep tracker that can record accurately despite that. One review for Withings sleep mat complained that it stopped recording if a person got up in the middle of a night to do something for half an hour.

I really want a sleep App that is 1. Reliable and will work
2. that can be used and set up for a person with brain fog or who is not technologically able

I look at the watchpat device that the local sleep lab used on me and can't understand why I can't buy a simple lower grade version of this.

If anyone has any recommendations of something that helped them, please let me know.