Knowing If You Have a Sleep Disorder
Sleep disorders are very common and many people do not realize that they have this problem. They may feel very sleepy during the day, but may have trouble falling to sleep or staying asleep at night. Friends or relatives may tell them they look very tired. Some symptoms of not sleeping include irritability, mood changes and being over emotional for no reason. Often they have difficulty paying attention, concentrating, or remembering important things. These are all symptoms of sleep deprivation, and possibly a sleep disorder.
If you think you have a sleep disorder, ask yourself, what is wrong with your sleeping pattern. Do you have any of these problems:
- Trouble falling asleep
- Difficulty staying awake
- Hard to wake up in the morning
- Strange behavior in your sleep
The diagnosis of a sleep disorder often lies in the answer to any of the above symptoms. Saying that you cannot fall asleep can mean several things. There could be a problem when first going to bed, or after waking up in the middle of the night, or in the early morning hours.
Many people have the problem of not being able to fall asleep when they go to bed and find help from an end tiredness program. Not being able to fall asleep is called sleep latency. Sleep latency can be a very serious symptom of certain sleep disorders, including sleep onset insomnia, delayed sleep phase disorder, shift work, restless leg syndrome, or paradoxical insomnia.
The problem is usually sleep fragmentation which is when you cannot stay asleep. Sufferers do not find it difficult to fall asleep, but wake up constantly throughout the night. Shift workers find it particularly hard to develop a sleep pattern and their disorder is called maintenance insomnia. If a person wakes up very early in the morning and cannot get back to sleep, it could be a sign of advanced sleep phase disorder, or sleep maintenance insomnia.
If you can’t stay awake and you fall asleep at inappropriate times, there are numerous sleep disorders contributed to this, such as narcolepsy, obstructive or central sleep apnea, periodic limb movement disorder, restless leg syndrome, shift work or advanced sleep phase disorder.
Excessive asleep inertia is when you cannot wake up in the morning and take an hour or so to become fully awake. It is also referred to as excessive daytime sleepiness. They also have a problem from making the transition from being asleep to fully awake. Sleep disorders that could be responsible for excessive sleep inertia, are sleep apnea and delayed sleep phase disorder.
A person that does strange things in their sleep may find their sleep is full of surprises.
- Sleep walking
- Sleep terrors
- Confusional arousals
- REM, ‘Rapid Eye Movement’ sleep behavior disorder
- Nightmares
- Sleep-related eating disorder
- Bruxism – the grinding of teeth
These are all types of sleep disorders known as parasomnias. An end tiredness program review of your situation can help deterine if you have a sleep problem. It is always recommended that if you have a problem concerning your health you should visit your doctor for a full diagnosis.
