What is Insomnia?
Insomnia is a very common sleep disorder in which your sleep quality is compromised. It could range from finding it hard to fall asleep to staying asleep during the night or cause you to wake up too early. In any case, insomnia could be related to some momentaneous stressful situations or it can be the expression of an underlying medical condition.
Insomnia Signs and Symptoms
Some of the symptoms related to insomnia include:
- Daytime tiredness
- Attention problems at work
- Difficulty to remember daily things
- Feeling tired even after having a long sleep
- Finding hard to fall asleep after going to bed
- Waking up several times during the night and not being able to fall sleep back again
Insomnia Causes
Insomnia can be presented as a primary problem or it might be associated with other medical conditions. Also, most adults, at some point in their life experience an episode of insomnia, usually related to stressful situations.
Some of the common causes of insomnia include:
- Stressful situations
- Aging
- Bad sleep habits
- Eating too much before going to bed
- Side effects of some medications
- Caffeine and drug abuse
Insomnia Diagnosis
Your doctor will make some questions about your condition and will perform a physical exam, in order to find some signs of a health problem causing your insomnia. Additionally, if the cause can’t be identified or if you have signs of having another condition, your doctor will suggest a sleep study and you might need to spend a night at a sleep center. During this exam, your body activity will be monitored and recorded while you sleep, for subsequent analysis from your doctor.
Insomnia Treatment
Most cases of insomnia can be solved by making some changes in your daily habits. Although, some other cases, require a more complex intervention.
Lifestyle Changes
The following advice is often recommend in case of insomnia:
- Dealing with your stressful situation
- Changing the medication that is probably causing your insomnia
- Changing your habits like smoking, eating or drinking too much caffeine
In case any of these options helped you, your doctor will suggest cognitive behavioral therapy, which involves the creation of some strategies to control or eliminate those thoughts that keep you from having a regular sleep cycle during the night.
Medications
In case any of the above options aren’t enough to solve your condition, your doctor might prescribe you some sleeping pills. It’s important for you to know that some sleeping pills have some serious side effects and that usually, they are not recommended as a long-term solution.
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