The Knock-out of Narcolepsy
Caused by the brain’s inability to regulate sleep-wake cycles normally, narcolepsy is a neurological sleep disorder that affects one in 2000 people.
This condition is characterized by excessive sleepiness and a tendency to fall sleep at inappropriate times.
For those suffering with narcolepsy, falling asleep for a few seconds to a few minutes is quite typical. Although more rare, these periods of falling asleep can last for an hour or even longer.
The episodes of falling asleep can occur without warning, making this a dangerous condition, since the falling asleep can occur at most inopportune times. Even the nighttime sleep can be affected in that sufferers can wake frequently throughout the night.
Although the exact cause of narcolepsy remains unknown, it appears to be hereditary, affecting both men and women of any age alike. However it is thought that many factors must combine in order to cause the neurological and sleep disturbances.
Unless detected and appropriately treated, narcolepsy can definitely have an adverse affect on your quality of life. But the true challenge is that typically diagnosing narcolepsy takes many years from the initial time of the onset of symptoms.
Two of the tests that are often used to diagnose narcolepsy are the polysomnogram and the multiple sleep latency test. When these tests are performed it is evident that people with narcolepsy fall asleep rapidly, enter REM sleep early, and may awaken often during the night.
Although there are several treatments for narcolepsy all are designed to treat the symptoms and not the cause itself since that remains elusive.
Narcolepsy is treatable but at this time it remains incurable. Often with trial and error, symptoms of narcolepsy can be managed in most people.
Education and information are the keys to learning to live with narcolepsy. Maintaining a set sleep and waking schedule, avoiding alcohol, nicotine, and caffeine, and working with your physician to determine which medications are best to treat your symptoms are the wisest choices to help you best manage the ravages of narcolepsy. Stimulant medications may be prescribed for improving alertness and wakefulness, while antidepressants may be prescribed for controlling hallucinations, cataplexy, and sleep paralysis.
Narcolepsy can without a doubt adversely impact your everyday life. Depending on when and where you fall asleep it can even be a dangerous condition.
If you have been diagnosed with narcolepsy working with a knowledgeable healthcare provider to help regain control of your life is the best thing you can do for yourself.
Restless Leg Syndrome Can’t Stop the Moving
Affecting almost ten percent of the population, restless leg syndrome (RLS)is a neurological condition characterized by unpleasant sensations in the legs resulting in an uncontrollable urge to move when at rest in an effort to relieve these feelings.
RLS sensations are often described by people as burning, creeping, tugging, or like insects crawling inside the legs and these unpleasant sensations can only be relieved by moving the legs.
For those suffering with restless leg syndrome, RLS, keeping the legs in motion helps to provide relief. These people cross and uncross their legs, they pace and in bed they constantly toss and turn trying to find relief.
For those diagnosed with restless leg syndrome taking a car or plane trip, trying to sit through a television show or a movie, other long periods of inactivity and certainly trying to sleep can all be nearly impossible because of RLS.
The hallmark sign of RLS is that the symptoms occur when a person is at rest, trying to relax or lying down. Because these patients feel they never get any relief, this disorder can significantly impact daily life.
RLS can occur in both men and women although women seem to have a slightly higher incidence and pregnant women tend to experience the condition in the last trimester of pregnancy. Restless leg syndrome can occur at any age, including infancy, but is typically seen in middle age adults. The severity of the disorder seems to increase with age and elderly patients usually experience symptoms for longer periods of time and more frequently.
In order to be diagnosed with RLS a patient must exhibit the following symptoms: a strong, almost irresistible, urge to move the legs caused by unpleasant sensations felt deep in the legs, symptoms that are worse during inactivity and at night, symptoms that are partially or totally relieved by movement and symptoms that are the worse of all at night.
It is important to work with a healthcare provider to rule out other diagnosis that may cause similar symptoms. Once other causes have been ruled out then a diagnosis of restless leg syndrome may be reached.
Some easy treatments for RLS include warm or cold packs to the legs, if directed by a physician, vitamin and mineral supplementation to correct deficiencies in iron, folate, and magnesium, and decreased use of caffeine, alcohol, tobacco.
Medications used to treat RLS may include dopaminergics, benzodiazepines (central nervous system depressants), opioids, and anticonvulsants.
In 2005, many RLS patients were very happy when ropinirole became the only FDA approved drug designed specifically to treat moderate to severe RLS.
Restless leg syndrome can definitely impact everyday life and patients deserve to be treated in an effort to find relief. The ability to rest and relax is in the quiet legs.
Sleep Apnea and the Breathless Nights
Meaning cessation of breath, sleep apnea is a common and yet very serious sleep disorder in which the breathing stops or becomes very shallow while sleeping.
These pauses in breathing can happen 20 to 30 times per hour or hundreds of times each night and can last from 10 to 30 seconds or more.
When sleep apnea occurs you typically don’t even know that it is happening but on occasion you might wake up gasping for air. Sleep apnea is typically accompanied by snoring and can be a direct result of daytime fatigue.
The two kinds of sleep apnea are obstructive apnea and central apnea.
With nine out of ten sufferers being diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea it is the most common type of sleep apnea. Sleep apnea is typically caused by a partial or complete blockage of the breathing airway in your nose or throat. This blockage can be caused by large tonsils, a large tongue or by excess tissue in the airway, which is more common among people who are overweight.
The second type of sleep apnea is central sleep apnea and it is quite rare. With central apnea, the muscles you use to breathe don’t get the “go-ahead” signal from your brain. Either the brain doesn’t send the signal, or the signal gets interrupted resulting in apnea.
After a thorough medical exam and a review of your medical history, your physician will generally order a sleep study in order to diagnose sleep apnea. This painless exam requires you to spend the night in a sleep study lab while connected to a machine which tracks episodes of apnea. This exam will confirm the presence and type of sleep apnea.
Treating sleep apnea is based on the cause of the apnea and can be accomplished rather simply with a dental device that can treat mild cases by moving the jaw forward and opening the airways. A very common treatment involves the use of a CPAP, a continuous positive pressure, machine.
By wearing a special face mask, the CPAP machine helps keep the airways open by adding pressure to the air your normally breath. In very few cases, surgery may be necessary in order to remove the tonsils or excess tissue from the throat.
Sleep apnea can definitely affect your life but the good news is that often with appropriate treatment you may feel better than you have felt in a very long time.
Sleep Insomnia the Stuff of Sleepless Nights
Insomnia is defined as the inability to fall asleep or to stay asleep or even a disturbance in sleep that causes you to awaken in the morning feeling unrefreshed.
With insomnia most people either experience difficulty with actually falling asleep while others fall asleep rather rapidly and waken within a few hours and then have difficulty falling back asleep.
Whatever the cause of insomnia the result is the same… starting the next day feeling just as tired or more so as when you tried to go to be the night before. Many people who complain of insomnia feel that they are unable to “turn” their minds off.
Although there are often many causes of insomnia such as stress, pain, anxiety, medications, or caffeine, there can also simply be no apparent reason for the insomnia.
Now having no apparent reason must be the most frustrating of all. Proper treatment of insomnia can only occur when you have been able to determine the root cause of the insomnia.
Different types of insomnia have been defined as acute, transient, intermittent and chronic. Acute insomnia occurs when you are unable to sleep well for three to twenty-four weeks. Transient insomnia is typically a result of short term stress or anxiety or may be a result of working an unexpected night shift or even jet lag. Intermittent, as its name implies, occurs off and on and is short term in nature. Chronic insomnia occurs when you are unable to sleep well night after night for weeks and months on end.
Diagnosing insomnia is handled by your healthcare provider and is often rather easy to diagnose especially if you have been proactive and have kept a sleep diary to share during your visit. A sleep diary can detail how you felt during the day, daily routine, sleep pattern, things you have tried in order to get sleep and the results of those interventions.
The treatment of insomnia is based on the underlying cause of insomnia and whether you are experiencing trouble falling asleep or staying asleep. It also depends on whether the insomnia is transient or chronic.
Treatments may include finding and treating any underlying medical conditions, adjusting sleep schedules or your sleep space, avoiding exercise, alcohol or caffeine several hours before bedtime, maintaining a consistent sleep schedule, avoiding naps during the day, relaxation therapy, or even a short-term course of sleep medication.
Insomnia can definitely interrupt your daily activities and it can leave you with complete and utter exhaustion unlike none other. If insomnia persists, seek professional help so that you too can reclaim your nights.