Insomnia

Normally, most adults need about 7 to 8 hours of sleep per night to ensure they feel comfortable.
The person’s inadequate sleep may cause them to suffer from insomnia, with consequences for their mental, physical, and mental health.
Some practices and health habits can help you alleviate the severity of insomnia.

What is insomnia?

Insomnia is a common sleep disorder that in turn leads to insufficient sleep hours.
This includes:
 Difficult to start sleeping.
 Or you break to sleep and wake up too much at night.

 Or get up very early in the morning.
This affects your energy, mood, and overall performance in life. Over time insomnia and lack of sleep can also lead to health problems such as hypertension, diabetes, and weight gain.

Types of insomnia.

Insomnia can come and disappear, or it can become a long-lasting problem and continue.
Therefore, insomnia is classified into two main types:
Sudden insomnia: It can last from one night to several days or a week and is often due to Stress.
Chronic insomnia: It is possible to say that a person has chronic insomnia if he has sleep difficulties at least 3 times a week for three months or more.

The person may have some other types of insomnia such as Insomnia when you start sleep: This means that you have a problem when you start to sleep, or you wake up many times during the night.
You may have difficulty beginning your sleep because of some psychological causes such as stress, anxiety, and depression.
Some people may have difficulty at the beginning of their sleep due to their use of caffeine and other stimulants from sleep.

Sleep-keeping insomnia:

A person may experience this type of insomnia in case of difficulty sleeping overnight or getting up early.

Mixed insomnia:

People with mixed insomnia may have trouble sleeping and staying asleep all night.

Paradoxical insomnia:

People with paradoxical insomnia may find themselves underestimating the time they sleep, feeling that they sleep much less than they do.

Causes of insomnia.

Women are more likely to suffer from insomnia as hormonal changes and pregnancy may lead to sleep disorders. Insomnia is also more common after the age of 60 because older persons are properly affected by physical changes associated with old age or suffer from chronic medical conditions and medication that may lead to insomnia. For the causes, many things can contribute to insomnia, including psychological, environmental, and physiological factors.

These reasons can be classified as follows:

Daily habits and behaviors:

Everyday habits can affect sleep, insomnia, and lack of sleep, such as:

 Too much sleep during the day.

 Over-consumption of nicotine, caffeine, or alcohol.

 Avoid exposure to sunlight during the day.

 Frequent urination during the night.

 Physical pain.

 Exposure to many stimuli before going to sleep like Video games, sports, or watching TV.

Medication:

Some medications may cause problems and sleep difficulty such as:
 Hormones such as cortisone and contraceptives.
 Caffeinated medicines.
 Some antiepileptic drugs and antidepressant drugs.
 Some anti-hypertensive drugs such as beta receptor blockers.

Sleep environment factors:

An incorrect sleeping environment may affect sleep disturbances such as:
 Noise.
 Long travel with different timing between areas.
 The uncomfortable bedrooms.

Gastrointestinal disorders:

Gastrointestinal disorders may cause sleep quality problems such as stomach acidity.
Other causes that may cause insomnia include:
 Neurological disorders such as Parkinson’s disease or Alzheimer’s disease.
 Other sleep disorders such as restless legs syndrome and daily breathing discontinuation.
 Tension and anxiety.
 Psychological pressures.
 Depression.
 Chronic pain due to fibrosis or arthritis.

Symptoms of insomnia.

Symptoms of insomnia may include:
 difficult to start sleeping.
 Wake up very early in the morning.
 Repeated waking from sleep at night.
 Stress.
 The difficulty of being attentive, remembering, and focusing on tasks.
 Always worry about sleep.
 Headache.
 Recurring errors or accidents.
 Not feeling comfortable after a night’s sleep.

Diagnosis of insomnia.

In case of persistent insomnia, sleep difficulties, and complications that may occur, such as their effect on the quality of the individual's life course. The person should follow the therapist to find out what might cause this problem.
The diagnosis is made by the following steps:
Clinical examination: A physician may perform a physical examination to access medical problems that may be related to insomnia.
Blood tests: To check for other pathological problems such as thyroid diseases, hormonal disorders, or some other conditions that may be
associated with insomnia and lack of sleep. Inquire about any other problems the patient has: Chronic pain, anxiety, or depression.

Sleep Test Procedure:

If your doctor suspects you have apnea at night, restless legs, or other sleep disorders, your doctor may give you a sleep test.
In this test, the patient spends the night in a sleep center or hospital and is supervised overnight by the specialist. Respiration, blood pressure, heart rate, oxygen levels, and brain waves are monitored. This test is done to check for any signs of sleep disorder.  Perform laboratory tests.
Review sleep habits:
In addition to asking the patient about insomnia and sleep-related questions, your doctor may recommend that you record your daily sleep habits, to help the person identify factors that may cause this
a problem such as:
 Medication taken.
 Describe the patient’s daily mood.
 The amount of food and drinks he ate.
 Record daily activities and patient activity levels.
Determine the quality of sleep each day. Record sleep habits such as when you went to bed each day and when you woke up.

Treatment of insomnia:

Options for treating insomnia may include several options for behavioral treatments, natural therapies, medicines, and so on.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy:

These start by trying to improve habits and behaviors such as:

 

 Avoid caffeine, alcohol, and diuretics for at least 8 hours before sleep.
 Avoid exercising the 3 hours before bedtime.
 Avoid a day nap longer than 30 minutes.
 Avoid exposure to incentives such as watching TV before sleeping or using a mobile phone.
 Taking a warm bath, listening to soothing music, or reading a book can help you sleep easily.
 Turning off all electrical appliances in your room before sleep, such as radio, television, and computer, as these appliances adversely affect the body and sleep due to magnetic and electrical waves that come out of them.

Light therapy:

This method is used if you grow early and wake up early as well.
You can use the light to delay your internal clock.
Treat conditions that can cause insomnia.
If the patient has health problems such as depressive disorders, anxiety, or other causes mentioned earlier that may cause insomnia.
The patient will need to address this root cause to resolve this issue.
Sleep-aiding medicines.

Your doctor may prescribe some medicines that help you sleep such as:

Lunesta (eszopiclone).

These medicines can cause addiction; Therefore, doctors generally do not recommend the use of these medicines, which are prescribed by a doctor for more than a few weeks.
Medications that help sleep without a doctor’s prescription:
These drugs contain antihistamines, which may cause you drowsiness during the day.
So, if you don't get enough sleep during the night, you may cause drowsiness in the morning, confusion, dizziness, and poor cognition. So, talk to your doctor in case you start over-the-counter medication.

Complications of insomnia:

Human beings need to sleep so that they can repair themselves and excel in areas of life such as work, learning, and keeping memories. The problem of insomnia is not simple, especially if it is chronic as it may affect your mental and physical health. Here are the most

important of these complications:

 headache and lack of focus.
 excessive nervousness.
 Stress, anxiety, and depression.
 Fatigue during the day.
 The appearance of some dark circles is noticeable under the eyes.
 Excessive obesity.
 High blood pressure.
 Increased pain sensitivity.
 Weakness of the immune system.
 Diabetes.
 Low libido for you men and women.
 Erectile dysfunction.
 Insomnia and pregnancy.
 Pregnant women may experience insomnia, especially in the first and third stages of pregnancy.
 Women have trouble sleeping because of the following:
 Physical changes, hormonal changes, nausea, increased need for urination.
 Increased concern and tension over increased new responsibilities.
 Pain like back pain and cramps.

Insomnia in children.

If your child has difficulty sleeping, they may have a problem with insomnia. The symptoms of insomnia in children are:

 Drowsiness during the day.

 Irritation and mood changes.
 Problems in concentration and memory.
 You can deal if your child has insomnia problem by:
 Follow a soothing routine before bedtime.
 Reduce your Child’s sources of stress.
 You can follow the attending physician to examine the child and offer more medications for insomnia problems.

How much sleep do most people need?

Getting adequate sleep is essential for mental and physical health. Sleep also plays an important role in maintaining brain activities such as cognition, emotions, learning, and memory.
 A healthy adult needs 7 to 9 hours per day every night.
 Newborns, infants, and young children need approximately 9 to 14 hours of sleep every night.
 People aged 65 and over are advised to get at least 8 hours of sleep each night.