Excessive daytime sleepiness is one of the most common sleep disorders. Excessive sleepiness, which is often accompanied by fatigue, is not a disease in itself, but is a symptom of a variety of but not limited to sleep-related diseases. Read about the causes of excessive daytime sleepiness, where to seek help, what tests should be done and how to treat excessive daytime sleepiness.
Excessive daytime sleepiness(hypersomnia) means a tendency to fall asleep while awake.The causes ofexcessive daytime sleepiness vary, and accompanying symptoms such as snoring, intermittent breathing, restlessness in the legs, irresistible urge to move them, catalepsy (numbness whole body or its individual parts) or sleep paralysis.
It is estimated that about 30% of people suffer from excessive daytime sleepiness. society. What is the cause of excessive sleepiness? Check.
Excessive daytime sleepiness - causes
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Excessive daytime sleepiness - Improper sleep hygiene
Poor sleep hygiene refers to behaviors that are not conducive to proper sleep. These include consuming caffeinated drinks or stimulant medications before bedtime, exercise or emotions (caused by, for example, watching scary TV programs) late in the evening, and an irregular sleep schedule. Such people compensate for the lack of sleep by sleeping or falling asleep during the day.
In order to get a good night's sleep, make sure that the room in which we sleep is cool (recommended temperature is 18 degrees Celsius) and aired, clean bedding (the fewer mites the better, even for people who do not have allergies ). In addition, it should be dark - light sources such as a phone or computer should be removed, and silent - here it is recommended to remove devices that work - even quietly. This can subconsciously stress us.
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Excessive daytime sleepiness - Depression and other mental illnesses
Most mental illnesses are associated with excessive daytime sleepiness and insomnia. It is estimated that even about 80 percent. patients with severe depression suffer from these disorders.
This disease often causes over agitationorganism - makes it difficult to fall asleep and is associated with frequent waking up during the night. This does not allow you to get enough rest. "People with depression tend to think too much, have trouble quieting their minds, and have elevated levels of stress hormones," says Fernandez-Mendoza, a researcher at Penn State College of Medicine (USA). The consequence is excessive daytime sleepiness. In addition, excessive sleepiness may be a symptom of other mental illnesses, such as affective disorder, schizophrenia.
Read also: Sleep paralysis - causes and symptoms. Is sleep paralysis serious?
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Excessive daytime sleepiness - Obesity
According to researchers from Penn State College of Medicine, the cause of excessive daytime sleepiness may not only be depression, but also obesity. In their experiment, the body weight of the subjects was a better indicator of excessive daytime sleepiness than the sleep apnea that often accompanies overweight people. This may explain why some respiratory support methods used to treat this condition, such as CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure), fail to prevent excessive sleepiness.
- These methods are not effective in reducing drowsiness because they do not cause weight loss .¹ According to the authors of the study, obesity causes the body to become permanently inflamed, which promotes the release of cytokines, proteins involved in the body's immune response. It is the elevated level of cytokines that makes a person feel constantly tired .¹
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Excessive Daytime Sleepiness - Sleep Apnea Syndrome
Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a disease characterized by repeated, repeated episodes of stopping or significantly reducing the flow of air through the respiratory tract at the throat level with increased work of the respiratory muscles. You can find help at Sleep Medicine Centers.
Nighttime sleep apnea symptoms include loud, irregular snoring interrupted by sudden silence, causing anxiety in third parties, restless interrupted sleep, sudden waking from sleep, often accompanied by a feeling of lack of air, rapid breathing or heart rate, sometimes problems with falling asleep after waking up because of anxiety, excessive sweating at night, the need to urinate at night.Daytime symptoms of night apnea include morning headache, fatigue regardless of the length of sleep, increased daytime sleepiness, difficult normal functioning, dry mouth, chapped lips after waking up, excessive irritability and nervousness, difficulty concentrating andmemory, potency disorders in men.
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Excessive daytime sleepiness - Narcolepsy
Narcolepsy is the occurrence of episodes of difficult-to-control sleepiness during the day that quickly turns into sleep lasting from a few seconds to several minutes.
The four main symptoms of narcolepsy are excessive daytime sleepiness (patients fall asleep in less than 5 minutes in situations in which we are always active, e.g. when talking to our supervisor), catalepsy (numbness of the whole body or its parts ), hallucinations, sleep paralysis (the patient cannot move for a few or several seconds because the body is paralyzed).
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Excessive daytime sleepiness - Disorders of the circadian rhythm
They are associated with disturbances in the sleep-wake cycle. The causes may be external (e.g., sudden change of time zone syndrome and shift work) or internal (e.g. delayed or accelerated sleep phase syndrome).
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Excessive daytime sleepiness - Periodic movements of the limbs while sleeping
They consist of repeated (usually every 20-40 seconds) shaking or kicking of the lower limbs during sleep. Patients usually complain of sleep disturbances or excessive daytime sleepiness. They are typically unaware of their movements and waking up, and no sensory disturbances in their limbs. Not to be confused with RLS (in this case, patients have difficulty falling asleep, wake up frequently at night, or both).
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Excessive daytime sleepiness - Neurological and other diseases
- multiple sclerosis
- Parkinson's disease
- dystonie
- epilepsy syndromes
- cerebral vascular diseases
- cerebellar ataxia
- neuromuscular diseases
- diabetes
- ischemic heart disease, circulatory failure
- respiratory diseases (COPD, bronchial asthma)
- gastroesophageal reflux disease, peptic ulcer disease
- rheumatic diseases
- anemia
- parasitic diseases (e.g. tapeworm, human roundworm)
Excessive daytime sleepiness - what tests?
The doctor should interview the patient - ask about the duration of the symptoms, the patient's age at the time of their occurrence, and any event related to their occurrence (e.g. change of job, use of a new drug). He should note the symptoms occurring during sleep and wakefulness, assess the quality and quantity of sleep. Research such as:
- ScalesSleep Quality
- Sleep Scales - Epworth, Stanfordzka, Karolińska
- Attention retention test
- Multiple Sleep Latency Measurement Test (MSLT)
- Aktygrafia
The doctor should pay attention to symptoms accompanying excessive sleepiness and illnesses that may affect the quality of sleep. If indicated, the doctor should perform sleep apnea and snoring tests.
Excessive daytime sleepiness - treatment
Specific diseases that cause excessive sleepiness should be treated. However, whatever the cause, it is very important to maintain proper sleep hygiene. It is often the only treatment for patients with mild disorders. What should proper sleep hygiene consist of?
- sleep and wake-up times should be the same every day, also on weekends
- time spent in bed should be limited as it improves the continuity of sleep. If you cannot fall asleep within 20 minutes, leave your bed and return to bed only when you are sleepy
- avoid naps during the day (except for shift work, the elderly and narcolepsy patients)
- take care of a favorable environment for falling asleep - the bedroom should be darkened, calm and as cool as possible
- place pillows between your knees or under the waist - they can improve sleeping comfort