INSOMNIA: Lack of sleep makes you sick!!

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Have you ever faced TROUBLE SLEEPING? AND SLEEP FAST IS HARD FOR YOU NO MATTER HOW TIRED YOU ARE? Here are some tips that you should do if you are suffering from insomnia.

INSOMNIA is a psychiatric and common sleep disorder which means ‘inability to sleep’, stay awake on the bed for many hours and stay asleep makes you wake up early or in midnight and not able to sleep again, make you tired, sleepy, slower at work all the day and affect your mood, health and work performance and quality of life.

Normal sleep hours vary from person to person and age to age, like infants sleep for 12-15 hours, school-going children take 9-11 hours and adults take 7-9 hours. Sleeping less than this range of hours makes a person angry and lazy the whole day.

TYPES OF INSOMNIA:

There are 2 types of insomnia;

  • Primary Insomnia
  • Secondary Insomnia

Primary Insomnia

When your sleeping problem isn’t concerned with the other medical problems, like traumatic events, excitements, fairs and irritation it refers to Primary Insomnia..

Secondary Insomnia 

When you are facing other medical problems like asthma, depression, heartburn, due to pain and discomfort at night, caffeine, tobacco and endocrine problems (hyperthyroidism) it refers to Secondary Insomnia.

Other Sub-type of Insomnia:

  • ACUTE INSOMNIA: A small episode of discomfort in sleeping. It lasts for just 2-3 days and resolves without any treatment.
  • CHRONIC INSOMNIA: It is long episodes of discomfort in sleeping. It may be longer than 3 days to months.
  • COMORBID INSOMNIA: This type is associated with other medical or psychiatric conditions like anxiety and arthritis etc.
  • ONSET INSOMNIA: Having difficulty sleeping at the start of the night.
  • MAINTENANCE INSOMNIA: In this type, people wake up in the middle of the night and face difficulty to sleep again. 

SYMPTOMS: (figure out are you facing these?) 

Insomnia makes it hard and difficult to work during the day and people who are facing insomnia report the following symptoms;

  • Difficulty in falling asleep.
  • Awakening in midnight or too early in the morning
  • Staying asleep
  • Sleepiness during day time
  • Fatigue, worn out and tiredness 
  • Grumpiness in mood
  • The problem in concentration and attentiveness
  • Difficulty in memory, remembering 
  • Increase rate in errors and accidents

A US international telephone survey tells an average of 27.1% of people are insomnia prevalence in which 70% of people are facing sleep maintenance problems, 50 % of people are facing difficulty in falling asleep and in 40% of people are facing poor sleep quality.

Risk if you don’t report your doctor about Insomnia:

Although insomnia is a most common issue among people and it affects women more than men and occurs mostly in old age, but in America it mostly affects younger generation and it may lead to a risk like long term illness (diabetes, heart disease), mental health issue(dementia) and contributing risk like obesity, irritability, concentration problem, and poor immune system, increased BP and a high risk of fainting.

Some people are more likely to face insomnia, they are;

  • Travelers and businessmen who are usually on tour.
  • The elderly people
  • Illegal drug user
  • Pregnant women and menopause women 
  • Women during menses   
  • People with mental health problems

How doctors diagnose Insomnia?

A sleep specialist and other physicians will ask for sleep and other medical history and also recommend you to make a sleep diary for 1-2 weeks. Some questions they might ask are;

  • What is your bedtime routine?
  • When do you usually fall asleep?
  • Is it difficult to fall asleep?
  • How do you feel during the whole day?
  • How well can you sleep?
  • Have you any stress about it?
  • Are you facing depression?
  • Have you faced any traumatic event?
  • Are you taking any medication?
  • Are your room and environment comfortable for you?
  • Are you suffering from any mental disorders?

Insomnia Treatment

Doctors mostly recommend you a sleep hygiene training that helps you to prevent you some disorderly behavior in order like;

  • Go to bed early and wake up early, make it your routine.
  • Try not to sleep in the day time as it makes you less sleepy at night
  • Don’t see screens when you are on the bed.
  • Avoid caffeine (tea, coffee), nicotine (cigarette) and alcohol.
  • Exercise regularly before sleeping, it makes you tired and helps you to sleep early
  • Make yourself comfortable, such as make your room dark and make sure there are no noises. 
  • Make a routine of reading books, listening to music and taking bath
  • If something is troubling you then make a list or shout in a room which makes you relax and calm

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

If this training doesn’t help you then doctors recommend you a COGNITIVE BEHAVIORAL THERAPY to treat insomnia. It helps you control and eliminate negative thoughts and action that keeps you awake and teaches you to recognize and change beliefs that affect your ability to sleep, this therapy is generally known as First-line treatment for insomnia patient.

Some recommended medicines are eszopiclone (Lunesta) and zolpidem (Ambien).

GENERAL QUERIES:

Q. What are the causes of insomnia?

Acute insomnia mostly caused by traumatic events, excitement or fair fall or loss and if you are a panic attack patient and chronic insomnia caused by depression, anxiety, asthma, and medical health problems.  

Q. Can insomnia become the cause of death?

Maybe, if you don’t treat it or it becomes worse means panic leads to anxiety, then hallucination, then weight loss, then complete sleep loss, then dementia then eventually death. But remember it is rare until you don’t have any parental history.

Q. Is insomnia therapies working?

Yes, these therapies work more than medications as many sleep centers are established in Texas, Alaska, and Chicago, etc working on it.

Q. Why do I wake up worn out?

If you are facing insomnia because of hyperthyroidism and anemia, as having low levels of iron in the blood which causes fatigue and weakness, because of thyroid disease or anemia.

Q. What should we eat if we are suffering from insomnia?

Mostly, people can’t sleep because of a full stomach and that is not insomnia. So we should eat light and healthy food at night or walk before going to bed and don’t eat late at night. And also take your meal on time.

Better Sleeping Positions

Correct sleeping cartoon set of flat isolated images with female human characters and isometric orthopedic inserts vector illustration

Before you Leave!

Lifestyle changes often improve sleep or insomnia. Sleep is important to your health because it is the only way by which the brain and other vital organs repair themselves and helps in memory, learning, and regular physical activities. A good sleep habit can help prevent insomnia and other medical problems.