Sleep Disorders - SleepWerx | Sleep Disorder Evaluation and Treatment

Insomnia

Insomnia is the most common and widely known sleep disorder. It is characterized by inability to sleep, restlessness at night, or habitual sleeplessness. Insomnia can come about from a variety of things that can range from your biology to certain medical conditions, bad sleep habits, and specific drugs or substances. Stress, anxiety, and depression are often manifested as insomnia, and the primary treatment for insomnia is behavioral: cognitive behavioral therapy specific to insomnia (CBT-I).

CBT-I is highly effective in treating insomnia, and is usually completed over 10-12 weeks of therapy to remodel behaviors surrounding sleep. There are programs available online that have demonstrated excellent results. Brief Behavioral Treatment for Insomnia (BBTI) is a brief behavioral modification treatment which is delivered over four weeks, focusing on sleep restriction and developing stimulus control.

Sleep Deprivation

Sleep deprivation is a condition that is simply caused by not getting enough sleep. This can either be chronic or acute, and it will eventually lead to general fatigue, sleepiness during the day, clumsiness, trouble making everyday decisions, or weight gain. Chronic sleep deprivation can take a major toll on your productivity at work, your social life, and your mental health and well-being.

Sleep Apnea

Sleep apnea is a serious, medically diagnosed sleep disorder where a person stops breathing during sleep, or breathes too shallow to maintain safe oxygen levels. The dangerous thing about sleep apnea is that pauses in breathing can occur dozens of times every night, limiting oxygen flow to the brain and the rest of the body.

The brain responds by constricting blood vessels to push out more blood: this causes rapid elevation in blood pressure and heart rate, that is perceived by the body as stress. This activates release of the ‘fight or flight’ hormones during sleep, or release of stress hormones adrenalin and cortisol. Secondary to that are several other hormonal problems that affect hunger, satiety, libido, and daily function.

Sleep Apnea can be Life-threatening

Left untreated, sleep apnea can lead to dangerous complications, including high blood pressure, diabetes, irregular heartbeat, heart attack, heart failure, stroke, and more. Sleep apnea makes you gain weight because of the hormones secreted, and many people tend to eat sweet foods to stay awake.

Sleep apnea can also up your risk of developing emotional difficulties and disorders, such as depression. Sleep apnea may impact your relationships, both at home (if your bed partner is losing sleep from your breathing patterns) and at work (if you are constantly feeling tired, making errors, or using sick time).

SNORING

Snoring is a noisy breathing pattern that occurs during sleep. The frustrating aspect of snoring is that it can wake either you or your partner up in the middle of sleep. What’s interesting is that approximately one-half of the people that snore loudly are usually suffering from obstructive sleep apnea, and may not realize it.

CIRCADIAN RHYTHM SLEEP DISORDER

Circadian rhythm sleep disorders occur when your sleep schedule gets out of sync. This can be caused by something as simple as a change in your work schedule, having trouble falling asleep one night during the week, and even jet lag from a trip that you just took or are taking.

HYPERSOMNIA: EXCESSIVE DAYTIME SLEEPINESS (EDS)

Hypersomnia is what you experience if you have trouble staying awake throughout the day, and is exhibited by excessive sleepiness or drowsiness throughout the daylight hours. The key characteristic of spotting hypersomnia is if you are sleeping plenty or excessively during the night and you are still utterly exhausted during the day. This condition can be commonly caused by narcolepsy, sleep apnea, and certain medications.

PARASOMNIAS

These particular sleep disorders refer to abnormal things that happen when you are sleeping. More often it happens when you are falling asleep or waking, but can occur anytime during sleep. If it does occur while you are already sleeping, chances are that you may have hallucinations or even sleep paralysis where you are unable to move or speak.

RESTLESS LEGS SYNDROME (RLS)

As you may already assume, RLS a disorder that occurs because you have an urge to move your legs. Typically, this is also going to occur during sleep which is why it is labeled as a sleeping disorder. Anybody who has experienced this disorder before may have their ideas of what happened but the majority of people who suffer from it say that they often have uncomfortable sensations in their legs and they get an urge to move their legs to help relieve the sensation they are feeling.

PERIODIC LIMB MOVEMENT DISORDER

When it comes to this particular disorder, you’re going to find that the word periodic is important in understanding what you’re experiencing. The disorder as a whole refers to repeated jerking and cramping of your legs while you are sleeping. Periodic means that it is going to happen repeatedly and in a rhythm and it will probably occur every 20 to 40 second depending on the situation at hand.

This is a quick overview of the most common sleep disorders in our office. Sleep disorders affect millions of people every year. If you suspect that you may have some kind of sleep disorder, set up an appointment with us, and we will figure it out together so that you can GET SOME GOOD SLEEP.

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