What is insomnia?
Everyone has nights of not being able to get to sleep or stay aslee. Insomnia, however, is a chronic condition. Patients suffer from difficulty initiating or maintaining sleep on most nights during the week. It results in a reduced total amount of sleep for a patient; less than what they require to feel fully rested.
What causes insomnia?
Genetics play a large role as certain patients are susceptible to the development of insomnia. Everyone goes through brief periods of life where they have difficulty getting or staying asleep. However, some people are more susceptible to these sleep habits becoming persistent and becoming insomnia. Insomnia tends to spiral as the stress of “am I going to sleep tonight” or “how many times am I going to wake up” or “how long will it take me to get back to sleep” decreases the likelihood of sleeping.
Sometimes there are medicines or medical conditions that can worsen or bring about insomnia.
What are the symptoms of insomnia?
Main symptoms of insomnia come from sleep insufficiency with excessive daytime sleepiness, irritability, moodiness, depression, and difficulty focusing.
How is insomnia diagnosed?
Insomnia is diagnosed based on your symptoms and night experience when discussing with a healthcare provider. Evaluation can sometimes lead to blood work or other testing to evaluate for medical conditions that could be aggravating the insomnia (e.g. sleep study to rule out obstructive sleep apnea).
How is insomnia treated?
True, chronic insomnia is difficult to treat. Cornerstone of treatment is breaking bad habits in regard to sleep and your brain’s relation to sleep. This is often addressed with cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I), provided by a therapist, that looks to undue bad habits are thoughts in regard to sleep.
There are many medicines that can be used to help promote sleep, however, they should be used with caution as 1) they don’t always work, 2) often have side effects, or 3) some have addictive potential.
To discuss your sleep concerns, call our West Lakes Sleep Center at (515) 875-9555.