How to Cope with More than One Sleep Problem at a Time
There are thought to be more than 100 different sleep problems, and it’s not unusual for one patient to have several sleep disorders. Patients suffering from fibromyalgia deal with symptoms of many different ailments and may not realize that some or all of them might be related to sleep problems.
While no one knows for sure whether any or all disorders from fibromyalgia are sleep related, there is a possible connection between the condition and sleep problems. For instance, a patient who has constant pain in his bones, joints, and muscles, is always tired and doesn’t feel rested, may be suffering from a sleep problem that is not allowing the body to repair or rejuvenate. This, in turn, can explain the aches and pains that don’t go away. Once the sleep problems are addressed, the patient might feel more rested, but still have other issues.
It may not be until much later that other symptoms or diseases are ruled out and sleep problems become a focus again. Another doctor might request more tests; depending on the preliminary results, additional diagnostic workups may be undertaken. Only then can a medical professional determine what, if anything, else can be done to assist the patient with the difficulties being experienced.
Nightmares and Sleepwalking
People suffering from nightmares or night terrors may also suffer from sleepwalking or bedwetting. Drugs and various therapies are available to assist those suffering to lead relatively normal lives.
Snoring is another commonly recognized symptom of sleep problems—the louder someone snores, the more a person is assumed to have sleep apnea. During sleep apnea, a person either breathes with difficulty or doesn’t breath at all during several points in a sleep cycle. For instance, someone can be breathing, but only taking in 50 percent oxygen, which is causing them to wake up tired and dazed, because not enough oxygen has been flowing through their circulatory system during the night.
Some people don’t have inner bodily clocks that regulate when they should wake and when they should sleep. These people don’t have insomnia—that would suggest being tired but not being able to fall asleep. People who don’t have regulated sleep cycles can continue for days or extended hours without the need or urge to sleep. While this might be considered an advantage during school or early adulthood, it becomes a problem later in life.