Wednesday, October 5, 2016

Causes of Insomnia

What keeps you up at night?  Do you think you are suffering from insomnia? Insomnia is a disorder that can make it hard to fall asleep easy, hard to stay asleep, waking up too early and/or cause afternoon sleepiness. Over time insomnia takes a toll on your ability to function during the day. Insomnia will not only diminish your energy level and affect your mood, but it can also cause health problems, decreased work performance and an over all decline in your general well-being.

How much sleep is enough varies from person to person. Most adults need seven to eight hours a night. Many adults experience insomnia at some point, but some people have long-term (chronic) insomnia.

According to WebMD some common causes of insomnia include:

Stress. Concerns about work, school, health or family can keep your mind active at night, making it difficult to sleep. Stressful life events, such as the death or illness of a loved one, divorce or a job loss, may lead to insomnia.  See Causes of Insomnia Part 5 De-stress to Rest for more information on how stress can affect your sleep. I've also written an article about how grief can cause insomnia:  Causes of Insomnia Part 1 Grief Cycle.

Anxiety. Everyday anxieties as well as more-serious anxiety disorders may disrupt your asleep.  Keeping your New Year's Resolution can cause anxiety. See: Causes of Insomnia Part 3 New Years Resolution.

Depression. You might either sleep too much or have trouble sleeping if you're depressed. This may be due to chemical imbalances in your brain or because worries that accompany depression may keep you from relaxing enough to fall asleep. Insomnia often accompanies other mental health disorders as well.  Part 4 of my causes of insomnia is related to chronic depression symptoms.

Medications. Many prescription drugs can interfere with sleep, including some antidepressants, heart and blood pressure medications, allergy medications, stimulants (such as Ritalin) and corticosteroids like prednisone. Many over-the-counter (OTC) medications, including some pain medication combinations, decongestants and weight-loss products, contain caffeine and other stimulants. Antihistamines may initially make you groggy, but they can worsen urinary problems, causing you to get up to urinate more during the night.

Caffeine, nicotine and alcohol. Coffee, tea, cola and other caffeine-containing drinks are well-known stimulants. Drinking coffee in the late afternoon and later can keep you from falling asleep at night. Nicotine in tobacco products is another stimulant that can cause insomnia. Alcohol is a sedative that may help you fall asleep, but it prevents deeper stages of sleep and often causes you to awaken in the middle of the night.

Medical conditions. If you have chronic pain, breathing difficulties or a need to urinate frequently, you might develop insomnia. Conditions linked with insomnia include arthritis, cancer, heart failure, lung disease, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), overactive thyroid, stroke, Parkinson disease and Alzheimer's disease. Making sure that your medical conditions are well treated may help with your insomnia. If you have arthritis, for example, taking a pain reliever before bed may help you sleep better.  Phobias about going to bed or to sleep can also be a cause of insomnia. See:  Causes of Insomnia Part 2 Clinophobia The Fear of Going to Bed.  If you are premenopausal you may have hot flashes and/or night sweats which can play havoc on your sleep.  See: Causes of Insomnia Part 7 Perimenopause or Pre Menopause Symptoms and get some relief so you can sleep easy.

Change in your environment or work schedule. Travel or working a late or early shift can disrupt your body's circadian rhythms, making it difficult to sleep. Your circadian rhythms act as internal clocks, guiding such things as your sleep-wake cycle, metabolism and body temperature.

Poor sleep habits. Habits that help promote good sleep are called sleep hygiene. Poor sleep hygiene includes an irregular sleep schedule, stimulating activities before bed, an uncomfortable sleep environment and use of your bed for activities other than sleep or intimacy.

'Learned' insomnia. This may occur when you worry excessively about not being able to sleep well and try too hard to fall asleep. Most people with this condition sleep better when they're away from their usual sleep environment or when they don't try to sleep, such as when they're watching TV or reading.

Eating too much late in the evening. Having a light snack before bedtime is OK, but eating too much may cause you to feel physically uncomfortable while lying down, making it difficult to get to sleep. Many people also experience heartburn, a backflow of acid and food from the stomach into the esophagus after eating. This uncomfortable feeling may keep you awake.

Insomnia and Aging


Insomnia becomes more common with age. As you get older, changes can occur that may affect your sleep. You may experience:

A change in sleep patterns. Sleep often becomes less restful as you age, and you may find that noise or other changes in your environment are more likely to wake you as you get older. With age, your internal clock often advances, which means you get tired earlier in the evening and wake up earlier in the morning. But older people generally still need the same amount of sleep as younger people do.

A change in activity. You may be less physically or socially active. Activity helps promote a good night's sleep. You may also be more likely to take a daily nap, which also can interfere with sleep at night.

Changes in your health. The chronic pain of conditions such as arthritis or back problems as well as depression, anxiety and stress can interfere with sleep. Older men often develop noncancerous enlargement of the prostate gland (benign prostatic hyperplasia), which can cause the need to urinate frequently, interrupting sleep. In women, hot flashes that accompany menopause can be equally disruptive.

Other sleep-related disorders, such as sleep apnea and restless legs syndrome, also become more common with age. Sleep apnea (for more information about sleep apnea: Causes of Insomnia Part 6 Obstructive Sleep Apnea OSA) causes you to stop breathing periodically throughout the night. Restless legs syndrome causes unpleasant sensations in your legs and an almost irresistible desire to move them, which may prevent you from falling asleep.

Increased use of medications. Older people use more prescription drugs than younger people do, which increases the chance of insomnia caused by a medication.

Sleep problems may be a concern for children and teenagers as well. Some children and teenagers simply have trouble getting to sleep or resist a regular bedtime because their internal clocks are more delayed. They want to go to bed later and sleep later in the morning.

The content provided in Causes of Insomnia s is for information purposes only, intended to raise the awareness of different solutions for you or your families sleep problems and should not be considered medical advice. For medical diagnosis and treatment, please see your qualified health-care professional.
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