If you’ve thought to yourself "help me sleep" while lying wide away in bed at night, or if you wake still tired after you believe you’ve received a good night’s sleep, you may wonder if you have a sleep disorder. Interrupted sleep can cause a myriad of health risks, and impact your work and relationships. Understanding what is your sleep disorder is the first important step to treatment of your sleep problem.
Symptoms that you're suffering from a sleep disorder include:
- Snoring
- Witnessed Apnea events
- Excessive daytime sleepiness or fatigue
- Morning headaches
- Difficulty falling asleep
- Waking throughout the night
- Restless, twitching and/or jerking of the limbs
- Irritability and/or depression
- Decreased ability to concentrate
Here are some common sleep disorders REM Sleep diagnoses:
Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) is a sleep related breathing disorder that causes you to stop breathing during sleep. OSA occurs with the tissue in the back of the throat collapses and blocs the air from getting into the lungs. Blockage of the airway can happen a few times a night or several times per night. OSA can cause serious health issues and unfortunately is also one of the most common sleep disorders.
Snoring is a vibration in the throat caused by airflow being obstructed. It can be caused by a number of physical causes including apnea, allergies, sinusitis, and obstructions in the nose or throat. Snoring not only impacts the health of the snorer, but the snorer's bed partner as well.
Insomnia is a chronic inability to fall asleep or remain asleep for an adequate length of time.
Hypersomnia, also known as Narcolepsy, is the term used to describe people who suffer from extreme sleepiness. It can cause a person to suddenly fall asleep and can be dangerous because these episodes can happen while eating, walking or driving.
Restless Leg Syndrome, or RLS, is a neurological condition that is characterized by the irresistible urge to move the legs. RLS cause difficulty falling and staying asleep, which is one of the primary complaints of this sleep problem. Many people who have RLS also have periodic limb movements of sleep (PLMS).
Periodic Leg Movement Disorder manifests as jerks that occur every 20 to 30 seconds on and off throughout the night. This can cause partial awakenings that disrupt sleep.
Inadequate Sleep Hygiene is a form of insomnia that is also called "bad sleep habits." It involves the things you normally do every day. These habits keep your sleep from being refreshing and can keep you from being alert during the day.
Jet Lag is caused when a long trip by plane quickly puts you in a place where you need to sleep and wake at a time that is different that your internal body clock's expectations.
Shift Work Disorder can be caused by a person's work conditions. Those who have work rotations, early morning or night shifts often suffer from shift work disorder. The work schedule requires you to work when your body wants to sleep, then sleep when your body expects to be awake. This causes severe tiredness when awake.
Delayed Sleep Phase (DSP) can occur when busy work and social schedules can cause some to get in the habit of going to bed very late. DSP is when you can only fall asleep a few hours or more later than normal. This can also cause you to have difficulty waking early in the morning.
Additional sleep disorders REM Sleep Diagnoses:
- Sleep Walking
- Sleep Related Seizures
- Sleep Terrors
- Parasomnia
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