Just A Thought 4
Some of us with obvious trouble would be like – “DUH!!!” But some others would have subtle issues. So here are statements we hear that tell us when we can suspect ourselves of having sleeping issues-
1. I NEED A LONG TIME TO FALL ASLEEP, WHETHER I COUNT SHEEP OR T-REX. Some of those beverage users (at night) often face this issue.
2. I CANNOT SLEEP WELL. EVEN AFTER YOU SLEEP ONCE, I KEEP WAKING UP. Those late night movies are often the disturbing issues. And again, of course, the beverages are the culprits. Disturbing background noise also affects the quality of sleep. Abnormal sleeping times, the ones your body is not routinely used to, also cause ‘hangovers’ and ‘lumbago’. This may specially happen with your weekend parties. People working ‘night shifts’ are prone to problems resulting of this, including high blood pressures and heart diseases- in fact it may be better to take night duties in a ‘string’ rather than the usual ‘hit and runs’
3. I WAKE UP AT ABNORMAL TIMES. Once you have a disturbed sleep cycle, the waking hours also get abnormal and make one drowsy through the day.
4. DOCTOR, MY SPOUSE SNORES. This is common among people who are overweight and obese (heavy built in any discussion over a couple of ‘drinks’). And this leads to issues like high blood pressure, heart problems and other components of metabolic syndrome. And most commonly these people come to the doctors with I FEEL SLEEPY EVEN IF I HAVE SLEPT THROUGHOUT THE NIGHT. And many of them have frequent NAPS DURING THE DAY, and still do not feel refreshed.
5. THE LACK OF SLEEP MAKES YOU ANXIOUS/DEPRESSED- ABOUT SLEEP AND ABOUT LIFE. On one hand, anxiety may lead one to have sleep-related problems. However, one may feel anxious about things in general and possibility of sleeping in the next 24 hours because of improper sleep on the previous day. This is a sure sign that you need help.
6. OH! I HAVE THESE SLEEPING PROBLEMS SINCE FOREVER. The duration of your sleep problem is important. Shorter duration problems have fewer complications and are therefore swift to treat.
Dr Saumya Mittal. MBBS, MD (Medicine), CC (Diabetes Mellitus), DNB (Neurology) more