My Insomnia

Insomnia is a common sleep disorder. Many people will experience it sometime in their lives. Some insomnia symptoms are temporary and some are long term. If you occasionally experience sleep troubles, it might not be insomnia. But if you notice the following symptoms for a week, then you need to pay attention and seek help: if you lie awake for hours and have trouble falling asleep; wake up frequently and can’t go back to sleep; wake up at 3 in the morning; feel sleepy during the day. If you have chronic insomnia, you can experience the symptoms for over a month. As a result of that, you will feel constantly irritable and depressed.

In laymens terms, Insomnia is a medical condition characterized by the patient’s inability to sleep or rest his/her mind for a reasonable time. The common symptoms include trouble falling asleep, waking up frequently at night and finding it difficult to go back to sleep again, waking up very early before dawn, or feeling non-refreshed even after an apparent 7-8 hrs sleep at night. The direct outcome of this condition is that the patients,during the day, will appear sleepy and fatigued, may have troubles concentrating or thinking clearly, and very often, behaves depressed and irritable. However, thanks to the developments happened in the medical domain, insomnia is completely curable now, the only important aspect being to diagnose the exact cause of insomnia with precision.

Types of Insomnia

Insomnia is classified into three types – Transient, Acute (Short-Term) and Chronic. Transient Insomnia lasts from a single night to few weeks and after that everything will be normal. Sleeplessness caused due to a short term anxiety or jet-lag can be grouped under transient insomnia. If such sleeplessness occurs again and again, then that condition is referred to as intermittent.

Acute Insomnia lasts from three weeks to six months, but the patient experiences no symptoms or episodes after that. If sleeplessness occurs for at least three nights a week and the pattern continues to over a month or more, then it is considered to be Chronic Insomnia. It is the most severe form of insomnia one can get.

Causes

Insomnia can be primary or secondary. Primary insomnia is caused naturally and is in no way related to any health issue or disease. Secondary insomnia is the result of some medical condition – such as asthma, cancer, arthritis – fear, stress, anxiety, medications, or a poor sleeping environment in one’s bedroom (partner snoring or any other irritating sound or noise constantly disturbing the sleep).

Some other causes of insomnia include sleep apnea, parasomnia, mania, hypomania, gastroesophageal reflux disease etc. It can also be a symptom of an approaching depression or hyper-thyroidsm.

Treatments

As mentioned earlier, insomnia may be the result of a variety of factors. Hence its treatment also includes diagnosing the exact cause of sleeplessness, and addressing the issue precisely. For example, if insomnia is caused due to some underlying mental illnesses, it must be cured before the patient could again able to sleep peacefully. In some cases, doctors may prescribe sleeping pills to bring back the sleep, but such a methodology is not advisable for longer periods. Relaxation therapy, meditation, acupuncture, aromatherapy, reconditioning, and sleep restriction techniques are also invariably suggested for insomnia, but its effectiveness may vary from person to person.

About The Author

Jason Rickard is the owner of http://www.yourfavouriteshop.com – Offering White Noise and Relaxation CDs – Visit http://www.hapahapa.com for more articles.

Sleep apnea is a disorder of interrupted breathing during sleep. It usually occurs in association with fat buildup or loss of muscle tone with aging. These changes allow the windpipe to collapse during breathing when muscles relax during sleep.

This problem, called obstructive sleep apnea, is usually associated with loud snoring (though not everyone who snores has this disorder). Sleep apnea also can occur if the neurons that control breathing malfunction during sleep.

During an episode of obstructive apnea, the person’s effort to inhale air creates suction that collapses the windpipe. This blocks the air flow for 10 seconds to a minute while the sleeping person struggles to breathe. When the person’s blood oxygen level falls, the brain responds by awakening the person enough to tighten the upper airway muscles and open the windpipe. The person may snort or gasp, then resume snoring. This cycle may be repeated hundreds of times a night. The frequent awakenings that sleep apnea patients experience leave them continually sleepy and may lead to personality changes such as irritability or depression. Sleep apnea also deprives the person of oxygen, which can lead to morning headaches, a loss of interest in sex, or a decline in mental functioning. It also is linked to high blood pressure, irregular heartbeats, and an increased risk of heart attacks and stroke. Patients with severe, untreated sleep apnea are two to three times more likely to have automobile accidents than the general population. In some high-risk individuals, sleep apnea may even lead to sudden death from respiratory arrest during sleep.

An estimated 18 million Americans have sleep apnea. However, few of them have had the problem diagnosed. Patients with the typical features of sleep apnea, such as loud snoring, obesity, and excessive daytime sleepiness, should be referred to a specialized sleep center that can perform a test called polysomnography. This test records the patient’s brain waves, heartbeat, and breathing during an entire night. If sleep apnea is diagnosed, several treatments are available. Mild sleep apnea frequently can be overcome through weight loss or by preventing the person from sleeping on his or her back. Other people may need special devices or surgery to correct the obstruction. People with sleep apnea should never take sedatives or sleeping pills, which can prevent them from awakening enough to breathe.

Source: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke

Almost everyone occasionally suffers from short-term insomnia. This problem can result from stress, jet lag, diet, or many other factors. Insomnia almost always affects job performance and well-being the next day. About 60 million Americans a year have insomnia frequently or for extended periods of time, which leads to even more serious sleep deficits. Insomnia tends to increase with age and affects about 40 percent of women and 30 percent of men. It is often the major disabling symptom of an underlying medical disorder.

For short-term insomnia, doctors may prescribe sleeping pills. Most sleeping pills stop working after several weeks of nightly use, however, and long-term use can actually interfere with good sleep. Mild insomnia often can be prevented or cured by practicing good sleep habits. For more serious cases of insomnia, researchers are experimenting with light therapy and other ways to alter circadian cycles.

Source: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke