How to Pinpoint Your Sleep Disorder
There are almost as many sleep disorder as there are ways to sleep. Many sleep disorders go untreated and cause many problems for people simply because they don’t realize they suffer from a sleep disorder. How can you tell if you have a sleep disorder? If you find it difficult to stay awake during the day or hard to sleep at night then you might. Also, if you are moody or emotional, have trouble concentrating and thinking clearly, or simply can’t remember things like you used to, then you might be suffering from a sleep disorder.
The quickest way to get to the bottom of your sleep disorder is to answer one simple question: What is your problem with sleep? Do you have trouble falling asleep? Do you have a hard time getting up in the morning? Maybe you simply can’t make through a day without falling asleep. Or you might not sleep because your partner’s sleeping keeps you up at night. Some people even discover that they strange things in their sleep that keeps them from becoming well-rested. How you answer this question will certainly help to narrow down the possible sleep disorders you might be experiencing.
If it is falling asleep that you have trouble with then you ought to identify if it is falling asleep at night that’s the problem or is it falling asleep after waking in the middle of the night or in the early morning that is the problem? Difficulty with falling asleep at bedtime is quite common. It is called sleep latency and could indicate that you are suffering from sleep onset insomnia or restless leg syndrome. Those that find it hard to stay asleep all night are experiencing sleep fragmentation. There are several sleep disorders that could cause this. You might be suffering from sleep maintenance insomnia or advanced sleep phase disorder. All of these sleep problems could be compounded if your sleep patterns change because of a changing work schedule.
If your symptoms involve constant tiredness throughout the day and you have trouble staying awake then you are probably suffering from a different sort of sleep disorder. You could have narcolepsy, especially if you seem to fall asleep uncontrollably and quickly, throughout the day.
Getting up in the morning is difficult for some people. This is because they have trouble making the transition from sleeping to becoming awake. This is called excessive sleep inertia. It might be caused by sleep apnea.
Other people have been told or somehow discovered that they do strange things in their sleep. They might be sleepwalkers or suffer from sleep terrors. There are other REM sleep behavior disorders that could be the cause. Most of these sleep disorders fall under the category of parasomnia.
If it is your partner that keeps you up, then they might be suffering from sleep apnea or snoring. It could also be restless leg syndrome that makes it difficult for you to sleep.
Once you know what your problem with sleep is, you should be on your way to pinpointing your specific disorder.
