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Insomnia is a clinical diagnosis. Diagnosis of insomnia is based on an interview supplemented with a physical examination. If you experience sleep problems, don't hesitate - go to a sleep clinic. In the sleep lab, you'll get a diagnosis, and a well-chosen therapy will help you get a good night's sleep.

If you suffer frominsomniago tosleep treatment clinic . There are several of them in Poland. Unfortunately, you need a referral from your GP, and the lines are long (sometimes you have to wait up to six months for an appointment), but it's definitely worth a try. Special tests will allow the doctor to determine whether your troubles are of a psycho-emotional nature, or whether they are caused by some kind of ailment.

Initial diagnosis of insomnia

Various diseases can cause insomnia. In this case, you will have routine tests:

  • blood tests,
  • hormone tests
  • and the central nervous system (including brain examination with EEG or computed tomography).

The doctor will also check if you have problems with your spine or respiratory system (sometimes the curvature of the nasal septum is disturbed in sleeping, considered by many people to be a trivial ailment).

The doctor will also conduct a family history, paying particular attention to whether any of the relatives suffered from insomnia. After diagnosis, it is often enough to treat the underlying ailment (e.g. straighten the nasal septum, normalize the level of hormones in the blood) in order to overcome insomnia.

What is the sleep lab test?

If doctors have problems making a precise diagnosis, they will invite you to their clinic for two or three days and test you. The hospital room is small. There is a microphone above the bed, and an infrared camera on the wardrobe. Thanks to them, doctors can hear and see you while you are sleeping in the other room.

For the first 24 hours in the clinic, you wear a small camera strapped to your waist belt. The electrodes protruding from it are glued in various places on the head. The device performs the EEG test, i.e. it recordsthe graph of the bioelectric activity of the brain .

In the evening you will have your blood pressure, heart rate and temperature measured. lateryour diaphragm will be girdledwith a respiratory rhythm monitor . When you lie down in bed, the doctor will putpulse oximeter sensoron your index finger, that is, a cap with an electrode, which will test your blood oxygen saturation. The computer will register all the data.

The following night, the examination is more detailed.25 electrodesbetween the hairs, two behind the ears and two over the eyes are glued to the head.

Two more are attached to the skin around the heart. The tips of the electrodes are connected to the computer. It records the so-called polysomnograms, that is:

  • EEG records (bioelectric activity of the brain),
  • EMG (muscle tension),
  • EEA (eye movements)
  • and EKG (heart rate).

From the polysomnogram, doctors can read a complete picture of the sleep process, broken down into successive cycles. This will allow them to see if you are really having trouble sleeping, or just think you are having trouble sleeping.

How to get enough sleep? Check it out!

Important

People suffering from insomnia often ignore this ailment and do not go to a doctor for help. They try to deal with the problem themselves, for example by using herbs or drinking alcohol before going to bed. Meanwhile, they should look for a specialist who will find its cause and help eliminate it.

Further methods for diagnosing insomnia

The next day you go through a lot oftests . They are to show if your sleep was effective: if you got enough sleep and regenerated your strength. So your perceptiveness, the ability to concentrate and remember is checked.

The tests are constructed similarly to the IQ study. You go to bed for 20 minutes every two hours. Doctors then use monitors to track whether you fall asleep easily after about five minutes.

The data from the research are analyzed by specialists for three months. It's a tedious job. According to the statistics of the Laboratory of Sleep Disorders Treatment in Warsaw, every 10th patient qualifies for longer treatment (usually pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy). Professional advice is enough for the rest.

Pharmacological treatment of insomnia

Tablets used in the treatment of sleep disorders help you fall asleep and rest, but do not cure insomnia. A doctor prescribes them and he or she determines the dose, the way of taking and the time of discontinuation of the drug. What can a specialist prescribe?

  • Older generation means, the so-called barbiturates(e.g. veronal, luminal) are just as addictive as drugs after a few months of use. Increasingly higher doses are needed, and the day after taking the patient feels crushed. Sudden discontinuation of the drug causes neurological symptoms (tremors, convulsions) and psychological symptoms(restlessness, anxiety, hallucinations) and vegetative-somatic (circulatory disorders, heavy sweating, abdominal pain). These substances can accumulate in the body, which can be the cause of poisoning. Fortunately, the specificity of this group goes down in history.
  • Benzodiazepine derivatives(e.g. nitrazepam, flurazepam). We do not get used to the newer drugs in this group as much as to barbiturates, but they are also addictive and worsen the quality of sleep. They shallower effective deep sleep, which means that the next day we are distressed and distracted.
  • New generation preparations(eg stilnox, imovane, zopiratio, hypnogen) can be taken only when needed (they do not have to be used for a long time). They are much less addictive, do not shallow deep sleep and there is no so-called withdrawal effect.
  • Peaceful sleep - how to fall asleep quickly and ensure a good night's sleep?
  • Sleep Paralysis: Symptoms, Causes and Treatment. Is sleep paralysis harmful to your he alth?
  • Electroencephalography (EEG) is a test that diagnoses diseases of the brain. What is the EEG?

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Category:

Psychology