An overview of sleep disorders in adults – Part 6

“Golden Slumbers fill your eyes. Smiles awake you when you rise. Sleep pretty darling do not cry, and I will sing a lullabye.”

For too many people, these Paul McCartney lyrics ring only in their daydreams. Insomnia, sleep apnea, night terrors, restless leg syndrome and narcolepsy interrupt the peaceful cycle of sleep and wreak havoc on the productivity of millions of Americans.

Insomnia is not just the inability to fall asleep. It includes waking in the middle of the night or waking too early. All three are equally disruptive to normal functioning. Specialty prescription drugs such as Lunesta or over-the-counter medications including Tylenol PM have shown effectiveness in combating the problem.

Sleep apnea is the cessation of breathing during sleep. People can stop breathing for minutes at a time, but treatments as conventional as Breathe-Rite strips or as physical as the C-PAP machine can help conquer that problem as well. C-PAP is a mask the sufferer wears over the face at night that forces air into the nose after the person is trained to breathe through their nose.

Night terrors make nightmares seem relatively docile. Night terrors are the pervasive and unrelenting feelings of being chased by beings or creatures. The night terror sufferer might walk around the room with open eyes and appear wide awake, but they are locked in the visions of their terror. While not considered particularly dangerous, therapy to deal with the stress-induced terror might be required.

While creepy-crawly things create the night terror, restless leg syndrome sufferers feel those things crawling on their legs. Most of the time, the discomfort, burning and itching are relieved by walking, but mild pain relievers, iron supplements and some drugs used in Parkinson’s Disease treatment have shown some positive effects.

Narcolepsy is a pervasive sleepiness in the daytime, and a perpetual sleepy feeling. Other sleep disorders include advanced or delayed sleep phase syndrome, sleep paralysis, sleepwalking/sleep talking and violent sleep sex, which ranges from sexual moaning to rape-like behaviors.

Research is making vast headway into understanding sleep and sleep disorders, if only they were covered by health insurance.