What is Insomnia?
In the most simple terms, insomnia is defined by difficulty falling, staying asleep, or waking too early. It can also manifest as fitful sleep, in which you may or may not fully wake during the night, but your body does not get to its deepest sleep cycles for the necessary 2-3 hours.
Though this issue is common enough, if it is an issue that a patient is having regularly, it can begin affecting other parts of their day-to-day life and can cause other medical problems. In extreme cases, insomnia may lead to weight gain, diabetes, and elevated blood pressure and, in turn, each of these medical conditions comes with its own symptoms, side effects, and treatment plans. In this situation, something as simple as not sleeping well at night could spiral into hospitalization if left untreated, as many people do.
Insomnia is a complex sleep disorder that manifests in many different ways. There are different kinds of insomnia that each come with their own causes, side effects, and treatments:
Types of Insomnia:
Onset
Onset insomnia specifically refers to patients who struggle to fall asleep, but have no trouble staying asleep throughout the night. The average person may take up to 30 minutes to fall asleep. This amount of time is completely normal and healthy. If you are consistently taking more than 30 minutes to get to sleep, this could be a sign of onset insomnia.
Maintenance
Maintenance insomnia is the opposite of onset insomnia; patients who suffer from maintenance insomnia do not have trouble falling asleep at night, but they often wake up throughout the night or wake up much too early in the morning.
Behavioral
Behavioral insomnia typically occurs in children, and it is often caused by a reluctance or fear of sleep and habitually “fighting” sleep. This is typically treated by behavioral therapy or therapy.
Insomnia Severity Levels:
Acute
The most common and least threatening type of insomnia is acute insomnia. Acute insomnia is typically caused by a known trigger such as a death in the family, divorce, etc. This can also be due to changes in the environment or routine. Things like moving or a new job might require an adjustment period from your body that could last up to a month.
Chronic
Chromic insomnia is defined as Insomnia DIMS (Difficulty initiating sleep or maintaining sleep). If symptoms continue for at least 3 months, you might have chronic insomnia. Chronic insomnia is categorized as a patient having trouble sleeping at least 3 days per week, for months on end.
Causes
Insomnia can be caused by any number of external factors. Many mental health conditions, such as depression, generalized and social anxiety, and addiction may lead to insomnia. Other causes could include environmental factors, such as a sudden change of sleep schedule or daytime routine, inconsistent sleep patterns, and stress.
Insomnia can also be caused by various medical conditions and medications. In these cases, it is referred to as secondary insomnia because it is not the root cause of a patient’s sleeping trouble, but a side effect of a different condition or treatment.
Symptoms and Side Effects
Insomnia can be a difficult disorder to spot if you aren’t looking for the signs. It is easy to write insomnia off as “bad nights” and assume that everything is normal.
Being unable to get a restful night’s sleep is not something that we should ever be complacent about, though. It is crucial that we be aware of our body’s signs of distress. If you find yourself regularly unable to go to sleep when you lay down or waking often in the night, you should immediately evaluate your nighttime routine to identify potential stressors. If the issue persists for several weeks, consider reaching out to a sleep specialist for treatment.
If you feel any of these symptoms on top of sleeping issues, you are likely suffering from insomnia or a different sleep disorder:
- Daytime drowsiness
- Morning headaches
- Snoring
- Difficulties focusing during the day
- Anxiety and/or depression
- Feelings of irritability
Diagnosis
Insomnia can be diagnosed in a few different ways, but the most common way to diagnose insomnia is to review family history and perform a physical exam. Polysomnography, also known as a sleep study, may also be used on occasion. A PSG is reserved to evaluate whether there is an underlying sleep disorder causing the insomnia such as Sleep Apnea, PLMD, etc. or if intervention is ineffective. Sleep studies monitor things like brain waves, blood pressure, blood-oxygen levels, breathing, and irregular eye and leg movement throughout the night.
Sleep studies are most commonly performed either in a special room or wing of a hospital dedicated to sleep studies or in a sleep medicine facility like the laboratory at Gingras Sleep Medicine in North Carolina.
To break down the process, it is best to walk through the steps of a sleep study as it is performed by an experienced and respected sleep medicine practitioner, Dr. Jeanine Gingras:
“Dr. Gingrass performs diagnostic sleep studies to gain a better understanding of what exactly is going on while you are in your bed at night time.
Before the sleep study, you’ll have a consultation and need to answer some routine questions about your sleep issues and medical history. You will also have a physical exam. The doctor may also ask you to start keeping a sleep journal as a way to track insomnia and get to the root cause.
The actual sleep study will take place at Gingras Sleep Medicine’s laboratories. Patients will settle in and get comfortable in our home-like setting. The lab includes a memory foam queen-sized bed, TV, and WiFi.
Once it’s time for bed, our computerized video polysomnography equipment will begin to monitor you for sleep apnea and other sleep disorders. A sleep technologist will also monitor things like brain activity, blood oxygen levels, heart rate, eye movements, and more.
After the sleep study, a follow-up appointment will be scheduled to discuss findings and a plan for treatment.”
For patients wanting to get more insight into their sleeping patterns and any warning signs that there could be an issue, there are many apps that can be downloaded onto your smartphone or smartwatch that can monitor your sleep by recording breathing rhythms, snoring, external noises that could cause poor sleep quality, and many other things. These apps are not to be used as a diagnosis tool, but to help you determine when there is an issue that should be addressed by a physician.
Treatment
Because insomnia is such a common issue, many people assume that it is one that they will always struggle with, but insomnia can be treated with a treatment plan tailored to you and your individual needs.
Insomnia often occurs as a side effect of other sleep disorders or other medical conditions. In these cases, treating your insomnia may be as simple as treating whatever other condition your body is battling. For example, patients who are suffering from sleep apnea often report having a hard time getting to sleep and staying asleep. This means that they are experiencing secondary insomnia and it is often alleviated when that patient gets their CPAP machine or mouth guard to treat the sleep apnea.
Similarly, medications can cause insomnia. It is important that you monitor your body for signs of unexpected change, especially when you are put on a new medication. Insomnia is a common problem cited with many medications. More often than not, though, there are other medication options that might respond to your body better and cause fewer, less harmful side effects.
When the issue is primary insomnia, treatment plans are focused entirely on helping improve your sleep quality. Many treatment plans for insomnia begin with a lifestyle change. Because insomnia is typically triggered by external factors, eliminating those things from the onset can help keep your plan on track.
Beyond that, you and your sleep specialist can decide what plan is best for you. Some patients are most comfortable with a therapeutic route. Therapies like behavioral interventions and cognitive therapies and even substance abuse counseling can make a real difference in sleep quality. Medication is also a viable option for patients who are experiencing more extreme episodes.
Why Choose Gingras Sleep Medicine?
If you are living in the Charlotte and Concord, North Carolina area and you think you are suffering from insomnia, Dr. Jeanine Gingras is the premier sleep disorder specialist in your area! She and her team of trained staff have been helping patients of all ages take back their sleep for over 20 years.
Their state-of-the-art facility and diagnosis equipment as well as their years of expertise allow their team to perform industry-leading sleep studies and build personalized insomnia treatment plans. With Gingras Sleep Medicine you can be on the road to recovery in no time!
Call their office at (704) 944-0562 today or make an appointment to take control of your insomnia!