Sleep disturbance is a common problem that affects one in four people on Earth. Moreover, according to statistics, only 5% of them seek help from doctors, while the remaining 20% self-medicate without falling asleep without a pill of sleeping pills.
No heartburn and seizures - how to quickly get rid of sleep problems
09 September 2021
But the lack of a full sleep is extremely dangerous for the human body. Poor-quality night rest prevents the full recovery of the body, preventing it from normalizing all vital systems. As a result, regular lack of sleep leads to a disorder of the nervous system, to a violation of brain activity, as well as to the occurrence of many chronic diseases that will make themselves felt in the near future.
But is it worth it every night to expose yourself to torment and aggravate your own health, if most sleep disorders can be coped with without any problems and medication? In this article, we will talk about how to forget about insomnia, night awakenings, heartburn, seizures and other problems that haunt us at night.
Causes of sleep disorders
To solve problems with sleep, first of all, it is necessary to understand the causes of this condition, because some people do not even suspect that they suffer from sleep disturbance.
So, sleep disorders should include:
- problematic, prolonged falling asleep;
- superficial sleep with frequent awakenings;
- early awakening;
- somnambulism and bruxism;
- pain at night.
The causes of sleep disturbance are quite a lot. Among them there are many primitive reasons that we do not even think about, but there are also quite dangerous ones, where a sleep disorder is one of the symptoms of an existing ailment.
1. Insomnia
The most common cause of sleep disturbance is insomnia, which can appear in a person regardless of age. Insomnia is characterized by difficulty falling asleep, as well as superficial sleep, in which a person often wakes up. Moreover, this condition can appear several times a week for months and even years. It is not surprising that a person suffering from insomnia after a month of such suffering feels exhausted, because he does not have the opportunity to rest at night, and during the day he struggles with weakness and drowsiness.
Insomnia can be provoked by daily stress, disorders of the nervous system, unfavorable conditions in the room where a person sleeps, abuse of coffee or strong tea, as well as a violation of the sleep regime due to frequent jet lag. In addition, insomnia is often one of the side effects of taking medications.
2. Restless legs syndrome
Such a neurological disease manifests itself by twitching the legs at rest, when a person relaxes, going to bed. Such a problem can be inherited, can be caused by a lack of certain elements in the body (B vitamins, folic acid or iron), as well as a number of diseases (diabetes mellitus, thyroid pathologies and lung diseases).
Чаще всего от синдрома беспокойных ног страдают женщины, которые, только успев задремать, просыпаются от резких судорог, тянущего, скребущего или распирающего чувства, а также от ощущения «ползающих мурашек». На время избавиться от этого ощущения помогает встряхивание или растирание ног, но очень скоро неприятные симптомы появляются вновь. С этой неврологической проблемой необходимо обращаться к врачам.
3. Апноэ
Это довольно тяжелое заболевание, при котором у человека за время сна несколько раз случается остановка дыхания. Чаще от ночного апноэ страдают мужчины, которые от остановки дыхания просыпаются, чем нарушают сон и не дают мозгу полноценно отдохнуть. А ведь такие приступы могут случаться по десятку раз за ночь, в результате чего человек не высыпается и уже с утра чувствует себя разбитым и изможденным. К тому же, апноэ – это угроза не только здоровью, но и жизни человека, ведь при продолжительной задержке дыхания человек может попросту не проснуться.
4. Нарколепсия
С этим редким и очень тяжелым заболеванием чаще сталкиваются молодые мужчины. Болезнь проявляет себя сонливостью и желанием спать везде, где бы не находился человек, в любое время дня и ночи. Ученым не удалось выявить причину этого патологического состояния, однако точно известно, что у людей, страдающих от нарколепсии, имеется нехватка гормона орексина, необходимого каждому из нас для поддержания организма в нормальном состоянии в период бодрствования.
5. Сомнамбулизм
Это еще одно опасное нарушение сна, которое в народе называется «лунатизм». Человек, страдающий от этого заболевания, может разговаривать во сне, вставать на ноги, ходить и даже выполнять привычные действия, делая это совершенно неосознанно, т.е. не просыпаясь. Что интересно, проснувшись утром, «лунатик» совершенно не помнит, что происходило с ним ночью. Повлиять на развитие сомнамбулизма может сильный стресс, прием наркотических веществ или сильнодействующих лекарств, постоянное чувство тревоги, а также некоторые заболевания, в т.ч. эпилепсия.
6. Бруксизм
Такое нарушение сна сопровождается постукиванием или скрежетом зубами, причем приступы могут длиться минутами и происходить по нескольку раз за ночь. При этом скрежет зубами может быть столь сильным, что его отчетливо слышат окружающие. Стоит ли удивляться, что кроме проблем со сном у таких людей очень быстро портятся зубы. А еще, по утрам они страдают от болей в челюсти, головной боли и звона в ушах.
Если же говорить о причинах этого неприятного состояния, то специалисты сходятся во мнении, что всему виной эмоциональное перенапряжение, стрессы и неврозы. Что интересно, бруксизм очень часто диагностируют у людей с неправильным прикусом.
7. Nightmares
Nightmares can also ruin a night's rest. Waking up in a cold sweat from a nightmare, a person for a long time can not recover, feeling despair and helplessness. A normal sleep in such a situation is out of the question. But if isolated cases of nightmares do not cause harm to health, then regular dreams, from which the sleeper experiences real horror, adversely affect the nervous system and can bring a person to a state in which he will be afraid to fall asleep. In this case, it is not far from depression.
Why do people have nightmares? Scientists say that these are the consequences of experienced stress, or mild mental abnormalities, which a qualified psychologist should understand.
8. Pain during sleep
In addition to the above problems with sleep, many people are prevented from sleeping banal pains that overcome a person sleeping in a certain position. As a rule, the cause of discomfort in a horizontal position is osteochondrosis of the spine. This condition is treated by a neurologist, although improving well-being and getting rid of constant pain largely depends on the implementation of medical recommendations by the patient himself.
How to eliminate sleep disorders and establish a sound sleep
To get rid of sleep problems, you need to consult a specialist. It can be a somnologist or a neurologist who will identify the true cause of the violation and, based on this, build a course of treatment. If sleep disturbance is associated with a disease, it is important to cure the existing ailment, after which this unpleasant symptom will be eliminated on its own.
However, in most cases, the root of the problem lies not in diseases, but in bad habits and violation of the rules of preparation for sleep.
1. Bad habits
Fans of listening to loud music in headphones, as a rule, in the evening so overexcit the nervous system that then they can not fall asleep for a long time. The same can be said about lovers of drinking coffee or strong tea in the afternoon. A large amount of caffeine in this case for a long time drives away sleep. In these situations, it is enough only to overcome your bad habits, as there will be no trace of sleep problems.
2. Use of excitatory drugs
It is worth analyzing your actions and understanding what exactly prevents you from sleeping normally at night. Perhaps a person uses drugs that excite the nervous system or is addicted to drinks and narcotic substances that cause the same stimulating effect. In this case, it is important to make efforts and abandon the funds that interfere with the full recovery of the body at night. Sometimes this requires the help of a psychologist or narcologist.
3. Improper nutrition
Eating disorders can also cause sleep problems. People who overeat at night, can not fall asleep for a long time, because their digestive system during these hours is actively working, digesting food. Similar problems with falling asleep are experienced by a hungry person. He may even wake up in the middle of the night from hunger pains and suffer from heartburn until he gets up and eats. To avoid such problems, it is important to eat a small portion of low-fat food 1.5-2 hours before bedtime, getting up from the table with a slight feeling of hunger. In this case, thoughts of food will not bother you at night.
And one more thing. Alcohol consumption can negatively affect sleep. Alcohol-containing drinks disrupt the water balance in the body, negatively affecting sleep. If you are suffering from heartburn, learn to sleep on your left side. In this case, such an unpleasant symptom will cease to cause you inconvenience.
4. Sleep disturbance
