The act of sleeping is something everyone needs to do, but there is still much we don’t understand about how it works, or even exactly how much we need. Eight hours is often recommended for adults, but how much we actually need varies from person to person.
Our whole body is often thought to be resting while sleeping, but our brains are still quite active, with some parts of it using larger amounts of oxygen and glucose while the body is at rest.
Lack of sleep can affect your body, whether you’re dealing with a few nights of sleeplessness or you have full-blown insomnia. Not getting enough sleep can lead to lack of concentration, slowed reaction time, and worse.
Determining whether you’re dealing with insomnia is important to getting it treated, so let’s examine the condition itself, the complications of extended periods of insomnia, and what signs you should look for.
If you live in the Glendale, Arizona area and you’re struggling with insomnia or other sleep disorders, Dr. Sarah Patel and the medical team at Sonoran Sleep Center can help.
UNDERSTANDING INSOMNIA
This common condition makes getting asleep, staying asleep, or waking up and not being able to go back to sleep a problem. It can be the result of stress, work schedule, eating too much just before bed, or poor sleeping habits. Insomnia can be acute or chronic (short term or long term), which can last for a few days or over a month.
Primary and secondary insomnia are the ways we generally experience the condition — the former being when the cause of insomnia is unknown, and the latter being connected to another condition as a side effect.
In addition to the two types of insomnia mentioned above, you may also experience feeling like you didn’t sleep when you wake up, suffering from sleep and waking cycles all through the night, and even being concerned about your lack of sleep.
COMPLICATIONS OF PROLONGED LACK OF SLEEP
Acute cases of insomnia may affect your cognition during the day and make focusing or concentrating harder in the short term, but chronic insomnia can affect a range of physical and mental functions.
Your work and school performance, sex drive, memory, and mood are all diminished with chronic insomnia, and your risk of preventable accidents when driving or operating other machinery is increased. Chronic insomnia also increases the chances of conditions like anxiety, depression, stroke, seizures, asthma attacks, obesity, diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and a weakened immune system.
SIGNS TO LOOK FOR
Here are some common symptoms of this sleep disorder to look out for:
DAYTIME FATIGUE
If you don’t get adequate rest, your body won’t get the energy it needs to function during the day. This leads to difficulty staying awake or active during daytime hours.
MOOD SWINGS
You’re more likely to be irritable, tense, and anxious if your body hasn’t had enough rest.
LACK OF FOCUS
You will have problems being able to concentrate on things due to lack of proper sleep, so even basic things you normally do will somehow seem elusive and more difficult. It also means you’re more likely to make mistakes trying to function normally.
PHYSICAL PAIN
Insomnia can also manifest in physical pain, such as headaches and stomachaches.
MEMORY PROBLEMS
Being unfocused due to lack of sleep can also affect your memory, making it harder to remember to do things, or even recall what you’re supposed to do.
Any of these symptoms can result from insomnia, but fortunately there are ways to prevent dealing with further sleep problems, and we have methods of treatment for both acute or chronic types of this condition. If you’re dealing with insomnia we can help, so make an appointment with Dr. Patel at the Sonoran Sleep Center today to get better rest.