Sleep Disorders

Insomnia Insomnia is defined as perceived or actual difficulty falling asleep, waking up frequently or the inability to maintain sleep.  There are many causes for insomnia, the most common being poor sleep hygiene (sleep habits), use of drugs (stimulants or sleeping pills), and depression or anxiety.  Intermittent or transient insomnia can be a normal phenomenon caused by stress, environmental noise, extreme temperatures, a change in the surrounding environment, sleep/wake schedule problems (such as those due to jet lag, or medication side effects).  Any insomnia lasting more than a few weeks will need evaluation.

Chronic Fatigue An area of controversy, Chronic Fatigue is a subjective condition and challenging to quantify.  It is difficult to establish whether the patient is suffering from abnormal fatigue compared with normal, everyday fatigue.  Some patients, whose persistent and unexplained fatigue truly becomes problematic for daily living, may have an occult sleep disorder.

Narcolepsy Narcolepsy is a neurological disorder that overcomes the subject with extreme sleepiness, causing him to fall asleep suddenly and uncontrollably, often at inappropriate times (such as driving).  Frequently the patient enters directly into REM sleep that can be so deep that muscle weakness occurs and even sudden paralysis (cataplexy).  These patients tend to have severe daytime sleepiness as well as an experience of automatic behaviors (such as doing something “automatically” and not remembering how it occurred).  Not only are their “awake” hours abnormal, but their sleep during the night also appears disrupted.

Restless Leg Syndrome This is a disorder that causes people to have very uneasy and uncomfortable sensations in their legs especially during the evening while sitting or lying down.  It is often relieved with movement or walking, but makes falling asleep difficult.

Parasomnia Sleep-walking, sleep-talking, or night-terrors are what sleep specialists call parasomnias.  These usually occur in the deeper stages of sleep, during the first half of the night.  Often, these episodes can occur during times of stress.  They occur more commonly in children, who usually grow out of the condition.