Analyze Your Sleep Pattern With The iPhone And Sleep Cycle App

The iPod Touch and the iPhone are such nifty devices. You can use the iPod Touch to listen to music, watch videos, watch photos, listen to audiobooks, read ebooks, play games, manage your agenda and to do-list, check your email, surf the web, check the weather forecast for wherever your are that moment, buy music, keep track of your investments, take notes, chat, tweet, check radar and satellite images if any rain is coming your way, … Not even mentioning the extras on the iPhone. That you can use it to analyze your sleep pattern surprised even me.

What Does The Sleep Cycle App Do?

The Sleep Cycle alarm clock analyzes your sleep patterns and wakes you when you are in the lightest sleep phase. This is a more natural way to wake up and you will feel more rested and relaxed.
It not only analyzes your sleep patterns, but also stores the data on the iPod Touch or iPhone. The data is the time you activated and stopped the app, and a chart representing your sleep pattern. You can access this data via the app, save it as a screenshot, send it to an email address or send it to your Facebook account (?).
The requirements for the Sleep Cycle app are: iPod Touch (2nd generation) or iPhone with the iPhone OS 3.0 or later. I have no idea if this app will work with the iPad, but I believe this will be a bit uncomfortable.

How To Use The Sleep Cycle App?

The app is very easy to use and includes a short manual. The first 2 nights are used for calibration.
Activate the Sleep Cycle app, set the app’s alarm clock and either place a fully charged iPod Touch or iPhone with the screen facing downwards on your mattress besides your pillow or connect the device to a charger (recommended).
I always deactivate Wi-Fi on my iPod Touch and you can set the iPhone to airplane mode. Better be safe than sorry as far as electromagnetic radiation  is concerned.
Usually, while waiting for my sleep meds to kick in, I read a book (dead tree version) or use my iPod Touch to read an ebook, reply to emails, tweet, or watch a movie until I get drowsy and then I activate the Sleep Cycle app. This explains why according to the charts I fall asleep so fast, but by then I’ve been lying in bed for an hour or more. It might be a good experiment to activate the app as soon as I go to bed to see if watching a movie, listening to an audiobook, reading, or meditating has an effect on the time it takes to fall asleep.

Sleep Cycles

I am not going to attempt to explain the mysterious process of sleep; I’ve added some links in the Resources section below. Very simply put; there are a number of different sleep stages or phases (light sleep, deep sleep, dream sleep) and you go through these several times each night. Hence the name sleep cycle. It takes on average 90 minutes to complete a sleep cycle.
The Sleep Cycle app distinguishes 3 stages of sleep based on the movements you make. Since you move differently in bed during the different phases, the Sleep Cycle app uses the accelerometer in your iPhone to monitor your movement to determine which sleep phase you are in:

• Awake
• Dreaming
• Deep Sleep

Sleep Lab

I have been to a sleep lab once. There was a strike going on at the time, I wasn’t hooked up till after 11 pm, my feet and part of my lower legs were sticking out of the bed, I had to sleep in a semi-reclining position on my back instead of horizontally and on my side, I wasn’t allowed to listen to music on my iPod, I had (even) more difficulty falling asleep than usual, I woke up several times during the night, and was woken by the nurse a couple of times because the sensors had come loose. In my humble opinion this was a failed test. The doctor said that I had experienced a very bad night, and as he had nothing further to say he referred me to an otolaryngologist (ear, nose and throat doctor), because there had been a moment where I snored. This doctor wanted to operate my noise and laser my throat immediately. I didn’t trust his judgment (he confused left and right) and went to another clinic for a second opinion. This second otolaryngologist found no reason whatsoever to operate on my noise or to laser my throat. According to him this kind of surgical treatment could not guarantee any sleep improvement for me. He also advised against it based on my weakened condition (ME/CFS).
The waiting list in the first hospital was 2 days (3 possible dates for operations in the first week) and in the second hospital 2-3 months. Could it be that the first otolaryngologist had too much free time and was more concerned with his income or performance review than with my health. Scary thought.

Sleep Cycle App Versus Sleep Lab

In a sleep lab a lot more data is collected than is possible with the Sleep Cycle app: heart rate, airflow, snoring, brain waves, blood oxygen levels, breathing rate, …
A night in a sleep lab is a single event and isn’t necessarily representative for your sleep pattern, as I can testify. On the other hand, using the Sleep Cycle app you can collect data on your sleep pattern for weeks, even months on end. You can track the effect of different sleep medication, supplements, herbal teas, and sleep routines.
Using the Sleep Cycle app for weeks might provide a more realistic view on your sleep pattern than one night in a sleep lab.

What About My Sleep Pattern?

I started to suffer from insomnia at age 15 (approximately), it got worse a good 10 years later, and worsened again a couple of years later after which I got diagnosed with ME/CFS.
A good night for me now means getting 6 hours (or 4 cycles) of sleep with the use of sleeping medication.
Either as 3 hours of sleep, lying awake for a while and then another 3 hours of sleep, or as 4.5 hours of sleep, lying awake, and then another 1.5 hours of sleep. That doesn’t feel like enough, but I am grateful when I get that much.
A bad night would be like sleeping for 3 hours and then spent the rest of the night between lying awake, dozing off, sleeping and waking up again.
For a good night’s rest you need to sleep in cycles and get enough of them.

When I showed my doctor a month’s worth of charts, it felt good to see her jaw drop in amazement. It did so a second time when I told her the price. To discuss the results in detail I should probably make an appointment with a neurologist, but I am going to play with it some more first.

Conclusion

• As I explained in a previous paragraph, the data the Sleep Cycle app collects is limited; it is only based on movement.
• You can repeat the experiment as many times as you like with no extra cost, contrary to visit to a sleep lab. You can try out different medication, supplements, herbal teas, sleep routine, mattress, … and see the effect it has on your sleep pattern.
• This DIY, do it yourself, approach feels good. It makes me feel like I have at least some control over my life and health despite this disease. Other examples: taking your blood pressure in different positions, diet, pacing, meditation, …
• I feel a bit uncomfortable with the fact that the iPod Touch or iPhone needs to be connected to a charger, but only a little. You can try using a fully charged iPod Touch or iPhone first to see if the battery is still up to it.
• The Sleep Cycle app is available for the iPod Touch in the iTunes store, but the developers don’t officially recommend it, because it is not possible to shut down the screen and keep the accelerometer running on an iPod Touch. With the screen being on all night the device can become warm. I have used it on my iPod Touch for over 30 nights by now, mostly connected to a charger, and it never felt warm to the touch, but I make sure it is not covered by a sheet or pillow and I also remove the protective cover I bought for it.
• The main downside of this app is the price. It is too damn cheap. How can you ever expect a doctor to take the data collected with the Sleep Cycle app seriously when it only costs €0.79 (£0.79 or $0.99)? iPod Touch or iPhone not included.

Resources

• Understanding Sleep Deep Sleep, REM Sleep, Cycles, Stages, and Needs
• Sleep on Wikipedia
• Lexware Labs: Sleep Cycle
• iTunes Store: Sleep Cycle

When you have insomnia, you’re never really asleep, and you’re never really awake.

Chuck Palahniuk (Fight Club)

Tagged as: clinic, DIY, insomnia, iPhone, iPod, sleep, symptoms, Tests