Sleep Disorder Clinic

When a patient has tried every other remedy for a sleep disorder a doctor will often send the patient to a sleep disorder clinic. Several conditions can be observed and then treated at the sleep disorder clinic. Some of these are sleep apnea, insomnia and narcolepsy.

Sleep apnea causes a patients’ breathing to be interrupted for ten second intervals up to hundreds of times per night. Some of the most common symptoms of sleep apnea include loud snoring that stops and starts suddenly, irritability, and forgetfulness.

Insomnia has affected over half of American adults at some point. Insomnia can last for a few nights and then stop or can come and go. Chronic insomnia happens almost every night and can last for months. Some common causes include stress, depression and medication. Symptoms range from having difficulty falling and staying asleep to waking too early while still feeling tired.

Narcolepsy can be much more dangerous than the other two disorders. If untreated a person could fall asleep at anytime, even while driving. Most people with narcolepsy do not produce enough of a chemical that normally regulates sleep. This can cause the body to get mixed up about when to sleep and when to go to sleep. The most common symptom is excessive daytime sleeping and falling asleep when one wishes to remain awake. Other symptoms can include brief sleep paralysis and not fully remembering doing routine tasks.

An overnight evaluation at a sleep disorder clinic can help diagnose all of these disorders. Before the study the patient should avoid sleeping medication, alcohol and caffeine. Once at the sleep disorder clinic the patients’ vital signs will be monitored closely by trained staff in order to detect unusual sleep patterns. In addition the time taken to fall asleep and the time it takes to enter REM sleep are also recorded.