Comments | rampling: Night Owl News / Zeo Lust

rampling

Night Owl News / Zeo Lust

Jan 22, 2010 17:15

OK, anyone who knows me much knows I'm a "Night Owl" -- I naturally stay up late (can't get to sleep earlier) and always have low energy when I force myself to climb out of bed (regardless of how much sleep I got). Every day! Years ago I found out about Non-24-Hour Circadian Rhythm Syndrome, and that seems to fit me very well. It feels to me ( Read more... )

purchase possibility, about me, sleep, experiment, gadgets, mental health

Comments 8

dieppe January 23 2010, 02:49:43 UTC

That's, what, two redlight camera tickets? ;)

I'd totally muse it! Sounds like data could be good!

rampling January 24 2010, 14:12:06 UTC

Well, actually the Zeo is only ½ of a red light ticket! That is, I could've bought two Zeos and still had change left over for how much I paid for my damned red light ticket!! And it's that damned ticket that has me feeling that I really oughtn't spend more money now on ostensible non-essentials. Argh!!!

dieppe January 25 2010, 10:17:50 UTC

Yeah I was thinking later... "No wait, 1/2 the cost of a red light ticket!" Still bummer on that ticket.. but you could get his and use it for 30 days and see what you can learn, if anything! :)

eeekster January 23 2010, 10:43:10 UTC

I'm so going to tell my mother about those studies!

nolly January 24 2010, 02:57:45 UTC

Have you looked at the Sleeptracker watch? Same conceot, but a little less expensive last I looked.

rampling January 24 2010, 14:04:59 UTC

I did also look at the Sleeptracker watch and the Fitbit. The Fitbit is clear on its website that it has a "3D motion sensor". The Sleeptracker's website is less clear, so I went to some reviews that had more explanatory detail:

"The Sleeptracker Pro watch uses a built-in accelerometer to guess when your are most close to waking while asleep" [ref]
"So how exactly does this watch work? There is an accelerometer inside that senses motion." [ref]

BTW, I've heard "there's an app for that" for people who have an iPhone (I don't), that may give similar functionality -- it's called Good Night - Sleep Monitor. An alarm clock that monitors your sleep cycle and wakes you up in a light sleep phase, making you feel rested and relaxed. Good Night does this by utilizing either your iPhone's microphone or accelerometer to sense your subtle movements when you sleep and uses this information to calculate your sleep rythm- and phases.
So the Zeo interests me more because it's not a motion sensor; it's more direct about trying to measure sleep ( ... )

unbeliever64 January 29 2010, 22:31:18 UTC

Have you tried a proper sleep study at your local hospital?

("Here, let us glue approximately 2000 wires all over your body and hook you up to a machine. Now have a nice sleep!")

I did, and now I use a CPAP machine, which does wonders for me...

rampling January 30 2010, 03:01:59 UTC

I don't feel optimistic about getting the help I need from a sleep study. The understanding I have (based strongly on my sporadic reading of the "Niteowl" Circadian Disorders email list) is that sleep studies are primarily looking for things like sleep apnea, which I know I don't have. People on the Niteowl list routinely complain about sleep studies missing what's really troubling them.

Plus I suspect my sleep difficulties wouldn't show up so much in a single night -- it's all about my sleep patterns over time. And it's even probable that I wouldn't sleep during such a study, since it usually difficult for me to get to sleep in even the best circumstances. One of the things I like about the Zeo is it's a bit like a mini sleep study that I can do myself every night, night after night! Which would hopefully be able to reveal the patterns that affect me.

Hmmm... looking at the Sleep Medicine page on Wikipedia, I see:Polysomnography [also known as a sleep study] is performed in a sleep laboratory while the patient sleeps, ( ... )