By Robert Rosenberg, DO
One sleep doctor with 30 years of experience diagnosing sleep problems weighs in on what people most often do wrong when it comes to sleep.
Sleeping in on Saturday is tempting, but bad for the rest of the week.
Robert Rosenberg
Wednesday, March 05, 2014
Robert Rosenberg, DO, is no stranger to poor sleep — he runs a sleep clinic and blogs about sleep for Everyday Health. Here, he shares the five most common sleep mistakes he hears from patients.1.) “I only sleep five hours a day, but I catch up on the weekends.”
This is a common mistake made by people, and I see this all the time in my practice. They are irritable, fatigued and are having trouble staying focused at work. Sleeping extra hours on the weekend will not help. In fact, doing so may disrupt you normal sleep-wake schedule so severely that going to bed on time on Sunday night may be impossible. Adults need to get a minimum of seven hours a night to function properly, and your Saturday morning snooze does not count.
2.) Treating children with psychostimulants for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) before checking to see if they have a sleep disorder.
Too many children are put on these medications without a sleep history being obtained. Over the years, I have seen numerous children with sleep apnea and/or restless legs syndrome who were unfortunately misdiagnosed as having ADHD. We now know that either of these sleep disorders can present symptoms that can be indistinguishable from ADHD. One study of kids diagnosed with ADHD found that after performing an adenotonsillectomy to rectify their sleep apnea, 50 percent of the participants were off ADHD medications within one year.
If you suspect your child may have ADHD, make sure to ask your doctor if a sleep problem could actually be the cause of the symptoms.
3.) Doubts about having sleep apnea, or how to treat it.
“How would he know I snore? He falls asleep as soon as he lies down.”
I hear this from both men and women when brought to see me by a concerned spouse who has noted loud snoring and prolonged pauses in breathing. They are convinced they do not snore and certain they do not stop breathing. Usually the bed partner is correct, and frequently their loved one has sleep apnea.
“I’m not tired.”
Another barrier to getting a sleep apnea diagnosis is from people who have had a heart attack of stroke. Even if they’re snoring loudly, they often doubt they have sleep apnea because they’re not sleepy during the day. The cause of their alertness is that people with cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases tend to have overactive sympathetic (fight or flight) nervous systems. As a result, even if they have sleep apnea, they won’t feel tired due to the increased adrenalin. This is especially problematic if they live alone with no one to observe their snoring and obstructed breathing. It can take all of my powers of persuasion to get them to agree to a sleep study. The good news is that, once diagnosed and treated, the chances of a recurrence or death drops threefold.
“I would never wear one of those CPAP masks, so why bother? Everyone I know who has one said they can’t stand it.”
This is one I hear almost daily. There are two mistakes here. The first is not realizing there are excellent alternative treatments, such as oral appliances, for sleep apnea. The second is listening to the exaggerated negative descriptions of others. Unfortunately, those who gave up are usually the loudest. There are so many different types of masks, as well as desensitization techniques and support groups now available that in our center, and others, the success rate of getting patients compliant with therapy is over 80 percent.
If you have to have a drink to fall asleep, there may be an underlying problem.
I had one very pleasant elderly lady who not only drank before bedtime to fall asleep, but would have a couple more shots of whiskey during the night to help her get back to sleep. She was brought to see me by her concerned daughter after she fell down and broke her hip in the middle of the night. Her daughter, who was visiting from out of town, noted that she was drunk in the middle of the night.
Remember, you might feel that drinking alcohol helps you fall asleep faster, but it often makes it more difficult to stay asleep. Even if you don’t wake up, you won’t sleep as well while your body is processing alcohol.
You may feel like you can’t fall asleep without it, but several studies have shown that if you do this, you’re more likely to have problems falling asleep and staying asleep.
Parents often come to me wondering why their teenage son or daughter cannot get up in the morning for school. Usually after some gentle prodding, I get the kid to admit he’s watching TV until the early morning hours. TVs should stay out of the bedroom so everyone can resist the temptation.
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