What are some Common Sleep Disorders?

Do you struggle to fall asleep, feel worn out when you wake up, or get munchies during the day? Here are some tips on how to spot the signs of a sleep issue and seek the help you require.

What exactly is a sleep disorder?

Your capacity to get adequate good sleep is commonly impacted by a sleep problem. Many of us occasionally have trouble falling asleep. Stress, travel, illness, or other brief disruptions to your regular schedule are frequently to blame. However, you might have a sleep disturbance if you consistently struggle to fall asleep at night, wake up weary, or feel sleepy during the day.

Daytime tiredness is not the only effect of sleep problems. Your mental and physical health, as well as your mood, energy level, and capacity for managing stress, can suffer significantly. Ignoring sleep issues and disorders can result in weight gain, vehicle mishaps, decreased productivity at work, memory issues, and strained relationships. Quality sleep is not a luxury; it is a need if you want to perform at your peak, feel your best, and maintain good health.

A painful and crippling sensation is frequently having problems falling asleep. You don't get enough sleep at night, which makes you feel exhausted in the morning and causes any energy you do have to disappear throughout the day. However, no matter how worn out you are at night, you still have difficulties falling asleep. The cycle then starts over. You don't have to put up with a sleeping disorder, though. You can take various actions to determine the root reasons for your sleep disturbance and enhance your health, quality of life, and sleep.

Characteristics of a sleep problem

Everyone occasionally has trouble sleeping, so how can you determine whether your issue is only a minor inconvenience or an indication of a more severe sleep disorder or underlying medical condition?

1. Is it a sleeping problem?

2. Do you feel drowsy during the day?

3. Have trouble staying awake while reading or watching TV?

4. Experience extreme exhaustion when driving?

5. Do you have trouble focusing?

6. Do others frequently comment on how weary you appear?

7. respond slowly?

8. Have a hard time keeping your emotions in check?

9. Do you feel like you need to nap practically every day?

10. Do you need coffee or other caffeinated drinks to stay awake?

If you frequently experience any of the signs above, you may have a sleep disorder. The likelihood of a sleep issue increases as you check more "yes" boxes.

common sleep problems and their types

• Insomnia

The inability to fall asleep or stay asleep at night, known as insomnia, can be brought on by stress, jet lag, a medical condition, the medications you take, or even how much coffee you consume. Sleep problems or mood disorders like anxiety and depression can also contribute to insomnia.

Whatever the source of your insomnia, changing your everyday routine, learning to relax, and improving your sleep hygiene will all help you get through the majority of cases of insomnia without the help of a sleep specialist or using prescription or over-the-counter sleeping medicines.

• Sleep Apnea

Your breathing temporarily stops while you're asleep due to the standard (and treatable) sleep disease known as sleep apnea, which causes frequent awakenings. If you have sleep apnea, you might not remember these awakenings; still, you'll probably feel worn out, agitated, and unhappy during the day, or you might notice a drop in your productivity. See a doctor immediately and learn how to treat yourself if you have sleep apnea, a severe or fatal sleep problem.

• Irritable bowel syndrome (RLS)

RLS is a sleep disorder that makes you almost compulsively compelled to move your legs (or arms) at night. When you're sleeping or lying down, you can feel the want to move. This impulse is typically brought on by unpleasant, tingling, painful, or creeping sensations. However, there are many methods, including at-home self-help cures, that can be used to help control and reduce symptoms.

• Narcolepsy

A sleep disorder called narcolepsy causes extreme, uncontrollable daytime tiredness. It results from a malfunction of the brain system that regulates waking and sleeping. When you have narcolepsy, you could experience "sleep attacks" during work or even while driving. Even though there is currently no cure, a combination of medications can help reduce symptoms and let you participate in many everyday activities.

• Sleep issues involving the circadian rhythm

Our circadian rhythms, often known as our internal biological clocks, control our 24-hour sleep-wake cycle. Circadian rhythms are influenced mainly by light. Your brain causes the release of melatonin, a hormone that induces sleep, at night when there is less light. The brain signals the body to wake up when the sun rises in the morning.

You may experience drowsiness, confusion, and sleepiness at inconvenient times when your circadian cycles are disturbed or thrown off. Circadian rhythms have been connected to depression, bipolar disorder, seasonal affective disorder, and a range of sleep issues and sleep disorders (the winter blues).

• Disorder of shift work sleep

When your work schedule and biological clock are out of sync, shift work sleep problem develops. Many people in our always-on culture must work night, early or alternating shifts. These schedules are compelled to work when your body is telling you to sleep and to sleep when it is urging you to wake up.

While some people adapt to the pressures of shift work better than others, most shift workers have poorer sleep quality than their daytime counterparts. Lack of sleep may cause you to experience fatigue and mental drowsiness at work. Your productivity is hampered, and you run the danger of getting hurt.

1. To lessen how shift work affects your sleep

2. Take frequent breaks, and try to avoid changing shifts too frequently.

3. Request a shift later than earlier when switching shifts because it is simpler to change time ahead than backward.

4. By boosting light exposure at work (use bright lights) and reducing light exposure during sleep, you may naturally control your sleep-wake cycle. Use blackout shades or thick drapes to block out light in your bedroom, and stay away from TV and computer screens.

5. Whenever it's time to go to bed, think about taking melatonin.

• Disruption of the delayed sleep phase

Your biological clock is severely delayed if you have a sleep phase disorder. You fall asleep and awaken relatively later than other individuals as a result. This disease makes it challenging to maintain regular hours, such as morning classes, getting the kids to school on time, or maintaining a 9 to 5 work. It is more than just a penchant for staying late or being a night owl.

No matter how hard they try, people with delayed sleep phase disorder cannot fall asleep earlier than between 2 and 6 in the morning.

When given the freedom to set their schedules (as during a break from school or a vacation), they develop a regular sleeping pattern.

Teenagers are most frequently affected by delayed sleep phase disorder, and many will eventually recover.

Treatments like light therapy and chronotherapy can be helpful for people who still struggle with a biological clock that is out of sync. Make an appointment with your doctor or a nearby sleep clinic to learn more.

Monitor your symptoms

Finding and carefully monitoring your symptoms and sleep patterns is the first step in treating a sleep disorder or problem.

Maintain a sleep log.

A sleep journal can help you identify daytime behaviours and evening routines that might be causing you trouble at night. If you ever need to contact a sleep specialist, having a record of your sleep habits and issues will be helpful.

Listed in your sleep log should the following:

1. when you went to bed and when you woke up.

2. Total hours of sleep and perceived sleep quality.

3. A record of your time awake and what you did (“got up, had a glass of milk, and meditated.

4. Types and amount of food, liquids, caffeine, or alcohol you consumed before bed, and times of consumption.

5. Your feelings and moods before bed (happy, sad, stressed, anxious) (happy, sad, stressed, anxious).

6. Any drugs or medications taken, including dose and time of consumption.