Insomnia : A Sleep Disorder, Symptoms, Cause and Remedies

DEFINITION: Insomnia is a sleep disorder in which you have trouble falling or staying asleep. The condition can short-term (acute) or can last a long time (chronic). It may also come and go. Acute insomnia lasts from 1 (one) night to a few weeks. Insomnia is chronic when it happens at last 3 (three) nights a week for 3 (three) months or more.

CHARACTERISTICS:

·        Difficulty falling asleep at night.

·       Waking up during the night.

·       Waking up too early.

·       Not feeling well-rested after a night's sleep.

·       Daytime tiredness or sleepiness.

·       Irritability, depression, or anxiety.

·       Difficulty paying attention, focusing on tasks or remembering.

·       Increased errors or accidents.

             

TYPES:

 Primary insomnia: This means your sleep problems aren’t linked to any other health condition or problem.

Secondary insomnia: This means you have trouble sleeping because of a health condition (like asthma, depression, arthritis, cancer, or heartburn); pain; medication; or substance use (like alcohol).

 

CAUSE:

·        Stress. 

·        Travel or work schedule.

·        Poor sleep habits.

·        Eating too much late in the evening. 

·        Medical conditions. 

·        Mental health disorders.

·        Caffeine, nicotine, and alcohol.

PATHOPHYSIOLOGY OF INSOMNIA:

Individuals fluctuate between NREM stages 1 to 3 and REM periods in 90 to 120-minute cycles. [Riemann D et al., 2015]

5% of the night is spent in stage 1, 50% in stage 2, 20% in stage 3 and REM sleep whereas 5% of the night is spent awake.

Characteristics of stages of sleep: [Carley D & Farabi S., 2016]

1.     Drowsy wakefulness: associated with alpha waves (8- to 13-Hz)

2.     Stage 1 NREM (N1):  loss of alpha rhythm and presence of theta waves (4–7   Hz).

3.     Stage 2 NREM (N2): marked by the expression of spindles (burst-like trains of waves 11- to 16-Hz) and K-complexes (well-defined biphasic waves lasting ≥0.5 seconds and usually maximal over the frontal cortex).

4.     Stage 3 NREM sleep (N3): Also known as deep sleep and is associated with       slow (0.5–3 Hz) waves known as delta waves.

5. REM sleep: associated with the lowest skeletal muscle tone and with either          sharp theta waves (sawtooth waves) or wake-like EEG patterns.

TREATMENT:

 PHYSICAL TREATMENT:

• 1.    To take some work out in free time.
• 2.    To include himself in some of the important work to relieve the stress.
• 3.    To practice to change the sleep habit & time, pattern.
• 4.    Try to leave some habit: smoking, drinking alcohol some anxiolytic and psychiatric medicine withdrawal slowly in case of addiction, and others.
• 5.    Use some relaxation technique 

TREATMENT BY MEDICINE:

• 1.   Use a high dose of drugs.
• 2.   Use some general sleeping pills for a comfortable sleep.
• 3.   To use some of the Benzodiazepines, Barbiturate drugs.
• 4.   To use some of the sedative drugs for sleeping and relive for insomnia.
• 5.   For example Alprazolam.

N.B: This type of medication can cause:

• Allergic Reactions
• Facial Swelling
• Unusual Behaviours