Sleep (cont.)
Could you have a sleep disorder?
Are you spending enough time in bed and still wake up tired or feel very
sleepy during the day, you may be one of the estimated 40million Americans with
a sleep disorder.
The most common sleep disorders are insomnia, sleep apnea (sleep-disordered
breathing), restless legs
syndrome
, and narcolepsy. Although sleep disorders can
significantly affect your health, safety, and well-being, they can be treated.
Talk to your doctor if you have any of these signs of a sleep disorder:
- You consistently take more than 30 minutes each night
to fall asleep.
- You consistently awaken several time each night and
then have trouble falling back to sleep, or you awaken too early in the
morning.
- You often feel sleepy during the day, you take
frequent naps, or you fall asleep at inappropriate times during the day.
- Your bed partner says that when you sleep, you snore loudly, snort,
gasp, make choking sounds, or
stop breathing for short periods.
- You have creeping, tingling, or crawling feelings in
your legs or arms that are relieved by moving or massaging them, especially in
the evening and when trying to fall alseep.
- Your bed partner notices that your legs or arms jerk
often during sleep.
- You have vivid, dreamlike experiences while falling
asleep or dozing.
- You have episodes of sudden muscle weakness when you are angry or fearful, or
when you laugh.
- You feel as though you cannot move when you first wake up.
Keep in mind that children can have some of these same signs when they have a
sleep disorder, but they often do not show signs of excessive daytime
sleepiness. Instead they may seem overactive and have difficulty focusing or
doing their best in school.
Source: U.S. Department of Health and Services, National Institutes of Health
Last Editorial Review: 3/9/2007
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