If you've ever had trouble sleeping, a sleep diary may be a great way for professionals to gain some insight into what may be the cause and how best to help you. Sleep is really important for your overall health, so if you’re struggling with your sleep, then you may begin to experience other health issues. Weight gain, stress exhaustion,  depression, skin issues, etc., may be some of the consequences of inadequate sleep. 

One of the things you can do if you are having trouble sleeping is to keep a sleep diary that you can take to a sleep specialist. This way you can get a better idea of your sleep patterns, and they have an idea as well. Let's talk more about what a sleep diary is and how it can help you and your sleep issues. 

What do Sleep Studies Monitor?

Sleep studies are important diagnostic tools for common sleep disorders like sleep apnea, insomnia, and circadian rhythm disorders. Sleep studies have proven to be particularly important in Alaska, where the extreme darkness and lightness tend to either cause or worsen sleep disorders.

It may seem like identifying sleep deprivation would be easy, or that the only symptom is fatigue. This list is intended to help you take measured stock of some of the most common symptoms of sleep deprivation so you may identify whether or not you may be operating at a suboptimal level due to chronic sleep deprivation.

There are two kinds of sleep: restful and unrestful. During restful sleep, you wake up feeling refreshed after a full night of several, uninterrupted, sleep cycles. During unrestful sleep, you may toss and turn all night, wake up several times, and wake up feeling as if you could sleep for another three hours. Regardless of how many hours you spend in bed if your sleep is not restorative, then you are still not achieving the amount of sleep that you need for optimal functioning. 

If you wake up feeling like you hardly slept, even if you were in bed with your eyes closed all night, it’s going to inhibit your ability to enjoy life – you’re going to be tired all the time. When you are tired all the time, you are crabbier, perform worse in nearly every task, lose motivation to do things for yourself or with others, have a reduced sex drive, etc. Life is simply less full when you have chronic fatigue.

It’s frustrating. You feel like you should be rested and happy because you've had a full night's sleep. This phenomenon is generally a strong symptom of either of the following:

• Bad habits and/or cognitive conditions
• Sleep disorders
• Bad sleeping environment
• Medical problem

What is a Sleep Diary?

A sleep diary is a record of your sleep, including all aspects of your sleep. This includes data about your sleep, patterns of sleep, and sleep habits in order to identify potential problems that could signal an underlying sleep disorder. Sleep diaries are generally kept over a period of at least two weeks, but the longer the better. 

Sleep diaries might be requested of you by your doctor or a sleep center in order to get more accurate data about your sleep.

Not being able to sleep is frustrating. You may have already tried the common suggestions like having a sleep routine, avoiding too much caffeine and alcohol before bed, etc. Fortunately, there are creative ways to help you get to sleep. Here are six strange but well-researched, proven ways to sleep better that may help you.

What is a Risk Factor for Insomnia?

A risk factor is something that increases your likelihood of developing a disease or condition. Insomnia, like other sleep disorders, has several potential causes and factors that can increase your risk of developing insomnia. Continue reading to learn more about insomnia and some of the risk factors that are associated with the condition. 

What are sleep medications? 

Sleeping medications are known as sedative hypnotics. They relax the mind and body in order to help promote sleep. They are prescribed to people who have trouble falling asleep, and/or staying asleep, such as in the case of insomniacs.

Sleeping medications can be:

• Pills like ambien, Klonopin, etc.
• Over the counter aids like Benadryl, Tylenol-PM, and Advil-PM
• Side effects of antihistamine, and antidepressants

For insomniacs they can feel like a lifeline, but they also come with hidden dangers. Most notable, they are not a reasonable solution for people with untreated obstructive sleep apnea. In the words of sleep specialist Dr. Thomas Winkler, “For my patients with untreated sleep apnea, I tell them [taking sleeping pills] is a bad idea.”

What is Sleep Apnea

Sleep apnea is a medical disorder where you repeatedly stop breathing throughout the night, anywhere from 40-100+ times per night. When you stop breathing you temporarily wake up to start breathing again. You are unaware of these arousals in the morning, so you will feel unrested, but be unsure why.

What is Sleep Apnea?

Sleep apnea is a medical condition and sleeping disorder where you repeatedly stop breathing throughout the night, anywhere from 5 to 30+ times per hour. This can happen because of:

• (Obstructive Sleep Apnea) An obstruction, such as because of your throat muscles relaxing and collapsing your airway (you try to breathe but can’t)
• (Central Sleep Apnea) A neurological condition where your breathing mechanism “short circuits” (you don’t try to breath)
• (Complex Sleep Apnea) Both obstruction and “short circuits”

Obstructive sleep apnea is the most common form. Each time you stop breathing is considered an “apnea” or “apnea event”. Sleep apnea can be considered mild, moderate, or severe.