Sleep Disorders

Sleep Disorder: Insomnia

Insomnia is a condition in which you have trouble falling or staying asleep. Some people with insomnia may fall asleep easily but wake up too soon. Other people may have the opposite problem, or they have trouble with both falling asleep and staying asleep. The end result is poor-quality sleep that doesn't leave you feeling refreshed when you wake up.

Sleep Disorder: Narcolepsy

Narcolepsy (NAR-ko-lep-see) is a disorder that causes a person to have difficulty staying awake. Narcolepsy can cause a person to suddenly fall asleep during the day. These "sleep attacks" occur even after getting enough sleep at night. The unusual sleep pattern that people with narcolepsy have can affect their schooling, work, and social life.

The two main types of sleep are rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and nonrapid eye movement (NREM) sleep. During REM sleep, your eyes move rapidly even though your eyelids stay shut. Dreaming mainly happens during REM sleep, when your body becomes limp and you are unable to move your muscles. This temporary inability to move prevents you from acting out any dreams that you may be having.

Normally, when people fall asleep they first have NREM sleep. Then they go through a period of REM sleep. People with narcolepsy have a different sleep pattern. They often fall into REM sleep before NREM sleep. Also, in people with narcolepsy, the fine line between being asleep and being awake can be blurred. They often find that certain aspects of REM sleep can happen while they are awake. This causes them to:

Suddenly lose muscle tone and control when awake (cataplexy). This can appear to be muscle weakness and sometimes can trigger the body to collapse.
Not be able to move or speak while falling asleep or waking up (sleep paralysis).
Have vivid dreams while falling asleep or waking up (hallucinations).

Effects of Narcolepsy

People with narcolepsy often fall asleep without warning at inappropriate times. Sleep attacks don't just happen during quiet times, such as when reading or watching TV. These attacks can occur during driving, eating, or other activities and can cause:

Accidents and injuries
Problems at work or at school
Social problems
Impaired memory, thinking, or ability to concentrate
Depression

Sleep Disorder: Restless Legs Syndrome

What Is Restless Legs Syndrome?

Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a sensory disorder causing an almost irresistible urge to move the legs. The urge to move is usually due to unpleasant feelings in the legs that occur when at rest. People with RLS use words such as creeping, crawling, tingling, or burning to describe these feelings. Moving the legs eases the feelings, but only for a while. The unpleasant feelings may also occur in the arms.

Effects of RLS

RLS can make it hard to fall asleep and stay asleep. People with RLS often don't get enough sleep and may feel tired and sleepy during the day. This can make it difficult to:

Concentrate, making it harder to learn and remember things
Work
Carry out other usual daily activities
Take part in family and social activities

Not getting enough sleep can also make you feel depressed or have mood swings.

RLS can range from mild to severe, based on:

How much discomfort you have in your legs and arms
Whether you feel the need to move around
How much relief you get from moving around
How much sleep disturbance you have
How tired or sleepy you are during the day
How often you have symptoms
How severe your symptoms are on most days
How well you carry out daily activities
How angry, depressed, sad, anxious, or irritable you feel

Sleep Disorder: Sleep Apnea

There are three types of apnea: obstructive, central, and mixed; of the three, obstructive is the most common. Sleep apnea is a common disorder that can be serious. In sleep apnea, your breathing stops or gets very shallow. Each pause in breathing typically lasts 10 to 20 seconds or more. These pauses can occur 20 to 30 times or more an hour.

The most common type is obstructive sleep apnea. That means you are unable to get enough air through your mouth and nose into your lungs. When that happens, the amount of oxygen in your blood may drop. Normal breaths resume with a snort or choking sound. People with sleep apnea often snore loudly. However, not everyone who snores has sleep apnea.

When your sleep is interrupted throughout the night, you can be drowsy during the day. People with sleep apnea are at higher risk for car crashes, work-related accidents and other medical problems. If you have it, it is important to get treatment.