What is Really Keeping You from Getting Shut Eye?

If you know everything there is too know about government grants to open that latte laundromat and how to make all your family meals in the new amazing portable microwave toaster oven combination, then you have been watching infomercials. If you watch infomercials than chances are you are one of the 100 million Americans that occasionally suffers from insomnia.

There are many causes of insomnia. Pain is a common cause for many Americans. That dull nagging back pain that you ignore during the day becomes the focus of your sleepless nights. It could be certain medications or sleep apnea is the culprits keeping you up. Other folks just are anxious and too emotionally charged up to sleep at night.

There are some medical sleep saboteurs you are going to want to have checked out by a sleep specialist. These may require an overnight sleep study to find, but many are easy to deal with medication aimed at the condition, and will be resolved allowing you to finally get some shut eye.

Restless Legs Syndrome- This can best be described as an icky feeling you have in your legs that your mind thinks you can resolve by motion. It can be little prickly pains, slight spasms, burning, or just tingling. Restless leg syndrome keeps you up because you unconsciously move your legs all night waking you and no doubt your partner up. It is a condition most common in women and can be caused by a nutritional deficiency (like iron) pregnancy, or a side effect of prescription medication. You can make the condition many times better by exercise , which is the case a pregnancy would be all you would want to do because you would not want to take a prescription solution. If you do not have nutritional cause, then you would want to ask your doctor for one of many prescriptions to suppress the sensations making your legs move at night.

Narcolepsy- This is a condition that leaves folks feeling sleepily after a good nights sleep and napping. You tend to find yourself falling asleep for short period of times during the day and then at night your body is not ready to go to bed. It is a case of too many short naps keeping you from finding a normal sleep cyle. This condition is diagnosed by a sleep study and treated with a stimulant during the day to stop your sleep "attacks." It is estimated that one in two thousand people suffer from narcolepsy.

Sleep Apnea - Sleep apnea is a breathing disorder where the back of the throat blocks the air way at certain times during the night causing you to stop breathing for a short amount of time. If it goes on too long your body wakes you and you wake up catching your breath. If you do not wake up your sleep cycle is still disrupted and you never get good nights sleep.

This problem is most common is middle aged men and snoring may be a symptom. A test called polysomnogram is used to diagnose this condition. The most common treatment for sleep apnea is wearing a CPAP which is a mask that forces the air way open. Some people who are overweight and have this condition find that losing the excess weight resolves the issues. Others to resolve this condition have the excess throat tissue removed surgically if other methods to resolve the sleep apnea are not effective.

Lack of sleep makes some unexpected health impacts. People who sleep too little tends to overeat. It is hard to raid the fridge at two am and your body may think it needs more food to counteract fatigue. It has also been shown that sleep deprived folk are at greater risk for heart disease and elevated blood sugar.

Most of us who find ourselves occasionally watching infomercials and reading the news online at 2 am are not suffering from some more serious sleep disorder. We simply drink caffeine too late in the day, worry about work. or have pain issues. On going pain issues are best dealt with by a pain management specialist. If the nagging pain is relieved we should be able to get good nights sleep. The main cause of my sleeplessness is hot flashes related to menopause. These symptoms can be relieved by hormone replacement therapy.

Occasional sleeplessness can be dealt with an over the counter sleep aid or supplement such as melatonin. Talk to your pharmacist before using any OTC sleep aid to make sure it does not interfere with your prescription medication. Other than that try elimination caffeine late in the day and possibly journaling your worries before you go to bed so you are not focusing on work. An adoption of a healthy lifestyle can go a long way to deal with your addiction to infomercials. If the insomnia becomes chronic then it is time to talk to your doctor to find the root cause.

Sources

http://www.sleepmedicineservice.com/narcolepsy.htm

http://www.sleepapnea.org/info/index.html

http://www.rls.org/Page.aspx?pid=47

http://www.webmd.com/osteoarthritis/guide/arthritis-aches-keeping-you-up

http://www.lunesta.com/understandingInsomnia/understanding-insomnia.html?iid=LHC_understandingInsomnia&utm_campaign=sem1h09&utm_medium=sem&utm_source=googleppc&utm_content=insomnia-d&utm_term=chronic-insomnia&cid=sem1h09ggle_chronicinsomnia