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).
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.
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.