Do I have a sleep disorder?!
Question: I don't sleep enough..I will got to sleep at 2 am and wake up at 5-6 am and cant go back to sleep..I'm awake for the day..I feel tired a lot and I don't believe in taking medicine so I haven't taken a sleep aid...Is there something else I can do to help me sleep?
Answers: I don't sleep enough..I will got to sleep at 2 am and wake up at 5-6 am and cant go back to sleep..I'm awake for the day..I feel tired a lot and I don't believe in taking medicine so I haven't taken a sleep aid...Is there something else I can do to help me sleep?
Take melatonin 20 minutes before you want to go to bed, it's a natural supplement. When you take the melatonin make sure you GO to bed. You have insomnia.
Understanding Sleep Problems - The Basics
What Are Sleep Disorders?
Sleep can be divided into two types: rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and non-REM (NREM) sleep. NREM sleep has four stages of increasingly deep sleep. Stage 1 sleep is the lightest, while stage 4 is the deepest.
During normal sleep, you cycle through these types and stages of sleep. But if your sleep is repeatedly interrupted and you cannot cycle normally through REM and NREM sleep, you may feel tired, fatigued, and have trouble concentrating and paying attention while awake. Sleepy individuals are at greater risk for driving and other accidents.
If you have trouble getting to sleep or sleeping through the night, if you wake up too early or have a hard time waking up at all, or if you are overly tired during the day, you may have one of the following sleep problems.
Circadian Rhythm Disorders
Typically, people sleep at night -- thanks not only to the conventions of the 9-to-5 workday, but also to the close interaction between our natural sleep and alertness rhythms, which are driven by an internal "clock."
This clock is a small part of the brain called the suprachiasmatic nucleus of the hypothalamus. It sits just above the nerves leaving the back of our eyes. Light and exercise "reset" the clock and can move it forward or backward. Abnormalities related to this clock are called circadian rhythm disorders ("circa" means "about," and "dies" means "day").
Circadian rhythm disorders include jet lag, adjustments to shift work, delayed sleep phase syndrome (you fall asleep and wake up too late), and advanced sleep phase syndrome (you fall asleep and wake up too early).
Insomnia
People who have insomnia don't feel as if they get enough sleep at night. They may have trouble falling asleep or may wake up frequently during the night or early in the morning. Insomnia is a problem if it affects your daytime activities. Insomnia has many possible causes, including stress, anxiety, depression, poor sleep habits, circadian rhythm disorders (such as jet lag), and taking certain medications.
Snoring
Many adults snore. The noise is produced when the air you inhale rattles over the relaxed tissues of the throat. Snoring can be a problem simply because of the noise it causes. It may also be a marker of a more serious sleep problem called sleep apnea.
Sleep Apnea
Sleep apnea occurs when the upper airway becomes completely or partially blocked, interrupting regular breathing for short periods of time - which then wakes you up. It can cause severe daytime sleepiness. Evidence is building that, left untreated, severe sleep apnea may be associated with high blood pressure and the risk of stroke and heart attack.
What Are Sleep Disorders? continued...
Narcolepsy
Narcolepsy is a brain disorder that causes excessive daytime sleepiness. There is a definite genetic component, but most patients have no family history of the problem. Though dramatic and uncontrolled "sleep attacks" have been the best-known feature of narcolepsy, in reality many patients do not have sleep attacks. Instead, they experience constant sleepiness during the day.
Restless Leg Syndrome
In people who have restless leg syndrome, discomfort in the legs and feet peaks during the evening and night. They feel an urge to move their legs and feet to get temporary relief, often with excessive, rhythmic, or cyclic leg movements during sleep. This can delay sleep onset and cause brief awakening during sleep. Restless leg syndrome is a common problem among middle-aged and older adults.
Nightmares
Nightmares are frightening dreams that arise during REM sleep. They can be caused by stress, anxiety, and some drugs. Often, there is no clear cause.
Night Terrors and Sleepwalking
Both night terrors and sleepwalking arise during NREM sleep and occur most often in children between the ages of 3 and 5. A night terror can be dramatic: Your child may wake up screaming, but unable to explain the fear. Sometimes children who have night terrors remember a frightening image, but often they remember nothing. Night terrors are often more frightening for parents than for their child. Sleepwalkers can perform a range of activities -- some potentially dangerous, like leaving the house - while they continue to sleep.
What Causes Sleep Disorders?
Insomnia
Insomnia may be temporary and stem from a simple cause, such as jet lag. Short-term insomnia may also be caused by an illness, a stressful event, or drinking too much coffee. Many medications have insomnia as a side effect.
Long-term insomnia may be caused by stress, depression, or anxiety. People can also become conditioned to insomnia: They associate bedtime with difficulty, expect to have trouble sleeping (and thus do), and become irritable (which can cause more insomnia). This cycle can be maintained for several years.
Circadian rhythm disorders are an important but less common cause of insomnia. People who abuse alcohol or drugs often suffer from insomnia.
Snoring and Sleep Apnea
When you fall asleep, many muscles in your body relax. If the muscles in your throat relax too much, your breathing may be blocked and you may snore. Sometimes, snoring is caused by allergies, asthma, or nasal deformities that make breathing difficult.
Apnea means "no airflow." Obstructive sleep apnea was thought to be a disorder primarily of overweight, older men. But abnormal breathing during sleep can affect people of any age and either sex, and at least 30% of those affected are not obese. Researchers now know that in many cases of sleep apnea, the obstruction in the airways is only partial. Most people with sleep apnea have a smaller-than-normal inner throat and other subtle bone and soft-tissue differences
I would first go to your family dr and he or she may give you a referral to a pulmonologist (lung dr) to send you for a sleep test. That can test for sleep apnea or snoring problems. It's a painless test where one stays overnight at a sleep lab with a tech and it tests your breathing, REM/rapid eye movement sleep, for sleep apnea (stopping breathing during sleep), restless leg syndrome/rls or such. I was diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea and am supposed to use a cpap (continuous positive airway pressue) machine. And please don't take any herbal supplements such as melatonin without getting the ok from the dr.