Adult Sleep Disorders

Adults as well as children often have sleep problems. Some that adults might suffer from are insomnia, sleep apnea, narcolepsy, and restless leg syndrome.

Let’s define sleep. Sleep is more than taking a break from a busy schedule or resting. Sleep is an important part of our physical and emotional health. Sleep also helps the body recover quicker from injury and illness. Someone not getting enough sleep report having trouble performing tasks that involve memory, learning, logical reasoning, and math calculations. Even just a few nights of not getting your needed sleep can cause stress in your life and make you less productive. Severe insomnia results in psychiatric problems in some people.

Loss of sleep can be dangerous, strain relationships, and cause you to lose your concentration on your job. Three facts from the National Transportation Safety Board about sleep:

An estimated $15.0 billion dollars is what it costs businesses for sleepiness and lost productivity.

At least 100,000 police-reported accidents in the United States are because of drowsy drivers.

The sad one is, 40 million Americans suffer sleep disorders, and most of them go undiagnosed.

How much does your body need? That will be different for everyone. Most adults need an average of 7-8 hours each night if they are healthy. If you have trouble staying alert during monotonous activities or have a tendency to be unreasonable and irritable with family, friends, or co-workers, you need more sleep. If you have trouble concentrating or remembering facts, it’s another signal you body needs more sleep.

There are at least 84 sleep disorders that interfere with our quality of life and personal health. Some of these problems range from irregular sleep patterns, sleepwalking, nightmares, and insomnia. Other problems are restless legs syndrome, snoring, and sleep apnea.

There is help for those suffering from sleep disorders. Sleep problems can be caused by different disorders in various body systems. These disorders can be treated by different medical specialties such as neurology for narcolepsy and pulmonary medicine for those suffering from sleep apnea. A doctor can help you decide if you have a sleep disorder and the treatment you need for it.

Insomnia is one of the most common sleep problems for adults. Insomnia is defined as having difficulty falling asleep, waking up often through the night, waking up too early in the morning, and not feeling refreshed when you wake up in the morning. Insomnia can occur from one night to a few weeks, episodes that happen sporadically and severe insomnia lasting a month or more.

What are the causes of insomnia? Several causes of insomnia including anxiety, depression, pain, illness, irregular schedules, and drugs (including nicotine and alcohol products.)

There are ways to help sleep problems. One of those is to keep regular hours, go to bed at the same time each night, and get up at the same time in the morning. Go to bed only if you feel sleepy and do relaxing things before you go to bed. You can read for 10 minutes, take a warm bath, or have a light snack.

Exercising regularly will also help but only if you don’t exercise at least six hours before your bedtime. Exercising stimulates the body and the brain. Maintaining a regular schedule for all of your regular activities will keep your “inner clock” running on time.

Don’t have anything to eat or drink with caffeine within 5-6 hours before bedtime. Try not to smoke close to bedtime, and if you do take naps during the day, try to take them at the same time every day, preferably in the mid-afternoon.

Insomnia and other sleep disorders can be treated. If you suffer from insomnia more than just a few days, make an appointment with your doctor to find the underlying cause.

Restless Legs Syndrome or RLS can also be something that will disrupt your sleep. Usually it’s described as a creepy, crawling, and tingling feeling usually in the calf area. It can occur anywhere from the thigh to the ankle. When they feel those feelings in their legs, they have an urge to move whichever leg is being affected. Sleep problems often go with RLS because it makes it difficult to fall asleep when you are experiencing those feelings.

No one knows for sure what causes Restless Legs Syndrome. Diabetes, kidney problems, and alcohol abuse are believed to irritate RLS. It also could be hereditary or be a result of a nerve being pinched in the lower back.

Consult your doctor if you are having sleeping difficulties. They will be able to find out what sleep disorder you have, and suggestions on how to deal with it.