Insomnia: symptoms, causes, and how to treat it

Definition

What is insomnia?

Insomnia is a condition in which you find it very difficult to sleep, have difficulty sleeping well, or both. This condition can become chronic, making you completely unable to sleep, even when you want to sleep. If you have this sleep disorder, you will usually wake up tired. As a result, your activities the next day will be disrupted.

Sleep disorders have two types, namely primary and secondary types. The primary type signifies that insomnia is a disease, that is, it presents itself unrelated to any medical condition. While the secondary type indicates a symptom that arises due to other medical conditions.

In addition, this sleep disorder is also distinguished based on its intensity, namely acute and chronic. Acute insomnia occurs in the short term. This lasts from one night to or within a few weeks, it's just that the symptoms come and go. Meanwhile, chronic insomnia can last longer, namely three nights a week, a month, or more and is felt almost every night.

How common is insomnia?

A World Health Organization (WHO) study found that an estimated 27% of patients surveyed reported "difficulty sleeping". This condition affects women more than men. Women are believed to be more sensitive to change and thus more prone to anxiety and depression — medical problems that cause insomnia.

This condition can affect patients at any age. However, the odds are increasing in older people. This condition can be managed by reducing your risk factors. Please discuss with your doctor for more information.

Signs & symptoms

What are the signs and symptoms of insomnia?

This sleep disorder is marked by difficulty sleeping. However, there are other accompanying symptoms. Common signs and symptoms of insomnia include:

• Difficulty starting to sleep at night
• Often wakes up in the middle of the night or gets up very early
• Wake up tired
• Drowsiness and fatigue during the day
• Irritability, depression, or anxiety / nervousness
• Problems paying attention, difficulty focusing on tasks, and difficulty remembering
• Headache and head feeling tense
• Pressure in the stomach and intestines
• Worries about sleep

There may be signs and symptoms not listed above. If you have concerns about a particular symptom, consult your doctor.

When should I see a doctor?

For mild cases, insomnia can go away within a few days. Of course, when you know the causes and how to overcome them. However, you need to do further tests, if:

• This sleep disturbance lasts more than 4 weeks to interfere with daily activities
• You often wake up in the middle of the night with a start or short of breath
• You experience other conditions that are quite disturbing to sleep, such as heartburnmuscle aches, discomfort in the body when you try to sleep

If insomnia is causing you to be unable to move around during the day, it is necessary for you to check with your doctor to determine what may be the cause of your sleep problem and how it can be treated.

Cause

What causes insomnia?

There are many things that can cause you to have trouble sleeping, including:

Stress

Anything you worry about in your life, such as work, school, health, or family can make your mind too active to sleep at night.

Worry

Just like stress, anxiety and fear make you uneasy. In this condition, the brain will be active because it thinks about various things, for example the bad possibilities that will happen. This can disturb your sleep.

Bad sleeping habits

Bad sleep habits often make you sleep deprived. This could be the result of you playing on your phone or doing some physical activity before bedtime, an uncomfortable sleeping environment.

Caffeine and alcohol

Drinks that contain caffeine can make you more alert. As a result, it will be difficult for you to close your eyes if you drink it in the evening or at night. Meanwhile alcohol prevents the deeper stages of sleep and often causes you to wake up in the middle of the night.

Most eat

Eating a lot before bed makes you feel physically uncomfortable when you lie down, making it difficult to sleep. You can also experience heartburn due to the increased flow of acid and food from the stomach into the esophagus after eating.

Other medical conditions

There are many diseases that can make it difficult for you to sleep, such as chronic illnesses (fibromyalgia and arthritis), difficulty breathing (GERD and heartburn) or frequent urination (diabetes and nocturia).

Drug use

Several types of drugs can cause sleep disorders, including antidepressants, corticosteroids, drugs for hypertension and other types of drugs.

Risk factors

What increases my risk for insomnia?

There are many risk factors for insomnia, such as:

• Gender. Hormonal changes during the menstrual cycle and menopause, cause symptoms hot flashes and night sweats, causing sleep disturbances.
• Age. If you are over the age of 60 because of changes in sleep patterns and health. Insomnia increases with increasing age.
• Mental problems. Mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder can cause sleep disorders.
• Your work.If your job requires you to work nights or a shift system, this increases your risk of developing insomnia because your body's biological clock changes.
• Travel.You are at higher risk for insomnia if you have to travel long distances. Jet lag from traveling across multiple time zones can cause insomnia.

What are the complications of insomnia?

Sleep is a need that you must fulfill so that the systems in the body can work normally. If sleep disturbances continue to occur, it is not only physical health that will have a negative impact. Mental health is also affected. This causes the quality of life for people with sleep disorders to decrease.

Some of the complications of insomnia that may occur include:

• Performance in school at work will decline
• The reaction to respond is so slower that there is a high risk of accidents
• May develop psychiatric illness, such as depression and anxiety disorders. If you already have it, the symptoms will get worse
• Increases the risk of developing high blood pressure (hypertension) or heart disease because the body's biological clock changes

Medicines & Medicines

The information provided is not a substitute for medical advice. ALWAYS consult your doctor.

What are my treatment options for insomnia?

The causes of insomnia are very diverse, so the treatment must be adjusted according to the underlying cause. Medications that are usually undertaken in people with insomnia include:

Drug administration

If these don't help, your doctor may recommend medication to help you relax and sleep more. You may be prescribed sleeping pills such as zolpidem (Ambien), eszopiclone (Lunesta), zaleplon (Sonata), melatonin, or Ramelteon (Rozerem) to help you sleep.

However, sleeping pills are considered a last resort, so you need to be sure which drugs can be used short term and which can be used for a long time.

Doctors can also provide non-prescription sleeping pills. This medicine contains antihistamines which can make you drowsy but can also cause side effects. In addition to medication to help you sleep, you will be given medication to manage other underlying medical conditions.

Cognitive behavioral therapy

Apart from taking medication, insomnia can also be managed by undergoing therapy. There are several recommended therapies for this sleep disorder, for example:

• Relaxation therapy.This therapy helps patients to calm the mind and relax tense body muscles so that it can encourage a person to sleep. The relaxation techniques used are usually breathing exercises, exercises to focus attention, and meditation techniques.
• Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT).CBT therapy is done to help patients deal with anxiety, stress, and fear that often make it difficult for them to sleep. In addition, this therapy can also help patients to get used to implementing good sleep habits.

What are the usual tests for insomnia?

Your doctor can ask you a number of questions to diagnose your condition. Your doctor may ask you to complete a questionnaire to determine your sleep-wake pattern and your level of daytime sleepiness. Your doctor may provide a sleep diary to check your sleep patterns.

If your doctor suspects another condition causing insomnia, they'll ask for further medical tests to determine the underlying condition. In some cases and with the equipment available, your doctor may ask to monitor and record your body's activity while you sleep, including brain waves, breathing, heart rate, eye movements, and body movements.

Home remedies

What are some lifestyle changes or home remedies that can be used to treat insomnia?

In addition to taking the medication recommended by your doctor, you also need to make lifestyle changes so that sleep quality is better. The following lifestyle and home remedies can help you deal with insomnia, including:

Regular exercise

Exercise will nourish your body as a whole. This physical activity makes you more alert, speeds up your metabolism, and reduces stress. You can do regular exercise, which is 30 minutes 5 times a week.

It is recommended to exercise in the morning so that sunlight can normalize the body's biological clock again. Instead, you should avoid exercising at night, which is less than 3 hours before bedtime to be precise. This can cause your metabolism, body temperature, and energy to increase, making it difficult for you to sleep.

Avoid caffeine and alcohol

Caffeine is indeed a mainstay for dealing with drowsiness. Food or drinks that contain caffeine if they are not drunk at the right time, for example, less than 4 hours before bedtime can cause insomnia.

Likewise with alcohol. This drink can keep you urinating in the middle of the night so you don't sleep well. If you are experiencing insomnia or don't want to experience it, avoid these two types of drinks

Avoid dinner

Dinner time shouldn't come close to your bedtime. In addition to causing weight gain because the calories you can not use maximally for activities, your stomach will also feel full. As a result, it will be difficult for you to sleep because your stomach feels full.

This bad habit can also trigger acid reflux. Sleeping after eating causes the acid produced by the stomach to digest food to rise up into the esophagus, causing heartburn and continuing to burp.

So, reset your dinner time. At least 3 or 4 hours before bed. In addition, pay attention to portions and types of food. If you choose spicy food in large portions, at night or the next day you will most likely experience digestive problems, such as heartburn.

Take a short nap

Naps help you deal with daytime sleepiness. Like charging a battery, a nap can make you recharge and focus more on your work. Unfortunately, many people take too long naps.

Better, take a nap no more than 20 minutes. If you sleep for long hours, you will get even more sleepy. Apart from that, headaches can also occur. Because you are satisfied sleeping, your eyes will stay up late and it is difficult to start sleeping. This is the reason why you should take a short nap.

Prevent stress

Stress, anxiety, and fear keep your brain active. This happens because your mind is occupied with thinking about problems and bad possibilities that will occur. As a result, it will be difficult for you to close your eyes.

There are many things you can do to both prevent and deal with stress. Starting from the easiest things, namely reflection therapy, taking time for yourself, or consulting a doctor or psychologist.

Improve sleep habits

To improve the quality of your sleep damaged by insomnia, you need to improve sleep habits. Some of the things you can do include:

• Set up the same wake-up and sleep time schedule
• Not playing gadgets or watching TV before bed
• Make sure you clean your body and urinate before bed
• Don't forget to turn off the lights as a signal to your body that it's late and you need to sleep
• Make yourself comfortable with room cleanliness, pillow positions, and room temperature right

If you have any questions, consult your doctor for the best solution to your problem.