Insomnia is a common symptom of multiple sclerosis, or MS. MS is an inflammatory disease that can become quite debilitating, including messing up sleep. Sleep deprivation can lead to daytime fatigue and low energy. Many experts believe that sleep-related disorders are direct consequences of the physical and emotional burden of MS. Continue reading to find out more about about MS and its impact on sleep, and how you can overcome these sleep issues.
Excessive daytime sleepiness is a hallmark sign of sleep deprivation. As adults, we should be getting at least 7 hours of sleep every day. When you don’t get enough sleep, you become sleep deprived.
Being tired all the time usually (though not always) means you are suffering from sleep deprivation. Sleep deprivation simply means you are not getting enough sleep (at least 7 hours a day) resulting in a “sleep debt.” A sleep debt means that you will need to compensate by getting more and more consistent sleep in the future in order to relieve your sleep deprivation.
There are two kinds of sleep, and the question you need to ask yourself is: which kind are you getting? One kind of sleep involves closing your eyes at night, maybe rolling around at night, waking up in the morning, and feeling like you could have slept another 3 hours. Another kind of sleep involves falling asleep, sleeping deeply, and waking up feeling mostly or completely refreshed. Which one sounds familiar to you?
Chronic fatigue tends to zap your enjoyment out of life. Small chores become a big headache, functioning at school and work becomes increasingly more difficult, and you lose the drive to spend time with your loved ones. Essentially, chronic fatigue makes you less like yourself.
Fortunately, there are usually identifiable causes for chronic fatigue including:
We explore all of the various reasons that may be causing your fatigue. There may be a single identifiable reason, or a combination of factors. Below are some common causes of chronic fatigue!
Do you ever feel like you are getting the recommended amount of sleep, but still feel exhausted throughout the day? This is known as excessive daytime sleepiness, and it is the process of having some sort of nighttime disruption that reduces your sleep quality and quantity. Just because you are lying down with your eyes closed does not mean that you are getting the amount of deep sleep required to feel well-rested. If you continuously wake up feeling exhausted, and can't seem to garner any type of energy throughout the day, you may have an underlying sleep disorder of which you are unaware. Continue reading for common causes of sleep deprivation to determine if you need to speak with a doctor and get help.
Do you feel moody or irritable around your family, children, and loved ones? Do you have trouble performing at school at work? Have you lost your drive to spend time with friends? Have you been struggling with erectile dysfunction (for men) and/or reduced sex drive? Do small tasks feel like a big deal? If these sound familiar, you might be struggling with chronic fatigue.
Each of the above issues can be caused by chronic fatigue - and though it looks rather bleak and obvious put in those terms, it's a lot hard to identify these issues in real life. Especially if you are getting 8 hours of sleep, you might not identify that sleep is the underlying cause. There are a number of sleep conditions where your clock might tell you that you received 8 hours of sleep, but your body is telling a different story.
In this article we will focus on common sleep conditions that give the illusion that you are receiving a full night's rest when in actuality you aren't, which may help you start to evaluate causes of your fatigue.
Experiencing extreme tiredness during the day is a clear indication that you are lacking sufficient sleep. It is widely recommended that adults aim for at least 7 hours of sleep per night, as numerous studies have confirmed its importance. When you consistently fall short of this sleep goal, you enter a state of sleep deprivation.
Probably the biggest sign of sleep deprivation is excessive daytime sleepiness. Other common signs of sleep deprivation include:
Living with sleep deprivation is often compared to being intoxicated, as both intoxicated and sleep deprived individuals perform similarly on cognitive tests.
Feeling constantly tired is often a sign of sleep deprivation, although it doesn't apply to everyone. Sleep deprivation occurs when you don't get enough sleep, which for adults should be a minimum of 7 hours per day. This lack of sleep accumulates as a "sleep debt," which means you'll need to make up for it by consistently getting more sleep in the future.
When you wake up in the mornings, you should feel rested and full of energy. However, if there are times that you wake up feeling tired, even after 8 hours of sleep, then you may not be getting restful sleep. Closing your eyes and lying in bed is not enough. There are other aspects of sleep that determine the amount of rest that you feel upon waking.
If you wake up feeling like you hardly slept, even if you slept all night, it’s going to impact your life because you'll be tired all the time. When you are tired all the time, you may find that you experience more mood swings, have trouble performing well at work or school, lose motivation to do fun things for yourself, and struggle in your interpersonal relationships. Life is simply more challenging when you have chronic fatigue.
It can be especially frustrating when you feel like you're trying to get enough sleep, and therefore, should be rested and happy. If you struggle with chronic fatigue, even after getting adequate sleep, some factors that may influence that are:
Let’s look at these in more detail.