Do You Have a Sleep Disorder Symptom?

Do you snore? Do you feel sleepy during the day? Do you ever get a creepy, restless, almost itchy feeling in your legs? Do people tell you that you move around a lot during the night? Do you have difficulty sleeping? Then you may have a sleep disorder.

I don't profess to be a doctor, but I am a person with more than one sleep disorder and have a child with a sleep disorder. I do know a lot about the subject, but please do not mistake that for actual medical advice. There are actually over 100 types of sleep disorders. I will be discussing the most common ones.

I've had restless leg syndrome for many years and have always described it as "my legs feel like they are itching from the inside." It makes it difficult for me to go to asleep or stay asleep. I have a hard time sitting still, wearing pants, or shoes and/or socks. I know, makes life hard when you can't keep your pants on! It's the feeling of the pressure of the fabric on my legs that bothers me. I am properly medicated now so it is less of an issue unless I forget my meds. Although this situation sounds unpleasant and uncomfortable (which it is) it can also interrupt your sleep.

Periodic limb movement is a related sleep disorder which my son has. It is characterized by a repetitive cramping or jerking of the limbs when sleeping. This is not that jerking or jumping you sometimes get right when falling asleep and dreaming of falling or stepping off a curb. This is chronic, repetetive and annoying for anyone sharing your bed. It is also controlled by medication.

Snoring is usually the first clue someone has sleep apnea. Those who snore loudly and visibly and/or audibly stop breathing at night are sufferers of sleep anea, which is a dangerous condition. It can cause heart failure and other severe conditions. Not all people with sleep apnea are loud snorers. I snore very lightly, but do wake up with that sputtering, can't breathe feeling. This can be treated with equipment that the patient wears while sleeping, as shown in the picture, or with surgery.

Insomnia is also a sleep disorder. It can be transient, which means it comes and goes, short term or chronic, which means most of the time. Insomnia is associated with depression and often the anxiety of worrying about being able to go to sleep can make the problem worse. I think most everyone has had a bout or two of insomnia. It is very common in my premenopausal and menopausal friends. Treatment for insomnia primarily consists of learning sleep hygiene. No, that isn't about washing your sheets, it means learning about how to use your bed and your time to faciliate adequate sleep. For example, not taking naps, avoiding caffeine and alcohol and adjusting your bedroom environment so that it welcomes sleep.

Other sleep disorders include narcolepsy, which is inability to stay awake, night terrors and sleepwalking. I don't have any personal information to share on those.

So how do you know if you have a sleep disorder? First you will go to your family doctor who will mostly likely send you to a neurologist. The neurologist will schedule a sleep study.

The sleep study itself is not that scary of a thing. You check into the sleep center which is set up to look more like a hotel room than a doctor's clinic. You change into pajamas, get hooked up to some monitors (which are annoying but not painful). You sit around and watch tv and then get into bed. You are on camera and there is a sound system so that the person behind the camera can communicate with you. They will have you count and answer some questions to get the sound right and test the equipment. Then all you have to do is sleep.

They may wake you in the night if you are stopping breathing and try to have you wear a cpap or bipap machine. These machines blow air down your nose which forces the tissue that is causing you not to breathe to move out of the way. Otherwise they'll wake you in the morning and send you on your way. At the follow up appointment with your neurologist you will get the results.

Once you are successfully treated, you will notice a big difference in your quality of sleep. The first night I used my cpap machine I woke up without my alarm, ready and rested for work. I never knew it was possible to feel so great in the morning. Now, if I happen to fall asleep without the machine I wake up instantly unable to breathe and wonder how I ever got through life without it.

The medications for restless leg syndrome and periodic limb movement may take a while to get you on the proper dose. Every now and then mine has to be tweaked. I'll notice that the restless, creepy feeling is coming on when it shouldn't and have to go in to get my dose corrected.

I work in education and used to have to fight dozing off while teachers were lecturing. Now I can sit through the most boring of lectures and actually stay awake. Not sure if that's a good thing or not. Treating your sleep disorder can improve your life and in many cases actually save it. It's well worth the time and money to check it out.