Adults with ADHD require between 7 to 9 hours of restful sleep each night in order to function optimally throughout their days, yet many struggle to fall and stay asleep.
Scientists have examined the relationship between ADHD and sleep disorders, finding that structural changes to subcortical brain regions facilitate such relationships.
Restless Legs Syndrome
RLS (Reflexive Leg Syndrome) is a nervous system disorder characterized by an irresistible urge to move your legs. You cannot control this urge, which prevents you from sleeping soundly at night and disrupts daytime functioning; symptoms may include feeling irritable or tired as well as difficulty at work or school. RLS symptoms tend to worsen during restful or sitting periods such as flying in an airplane or watching television for long stretches.
No one knows for certain what causes RLS, though genes may play a part. People who have family members with this condition are more likely to contract it themselves, while several chronic diseases, including diabetes and kidney failure, can trigger it as well as certain medications like sedatives and antidepressants which worsen it further.
While you cannot control the sensations associated with RLS, there are steps you can take to increase your sleep quality. Some find relief in taking a hot bath or using a heating pad; others find light exercise like walking or pacing the floor provides relief from symptoms. Maintaining a regular sleeping schedule and limiting caffeine and alcohol consumption also help; consider joining a support group as well.
Symptoms typically start in the evening or nighttime and increase with age, becoming more frequent over time. They occur more often among women than men and usually with greater severity; unpleasant sensations are commonly felt in calves or feet but may spread to other areas as well; symptoms include muscle cramping, soreness or tingling sensations as well as creeping feelings, like being shot with darts of electricity.
Your doctor can test for RLS if you suspect it might be present. They’ll start by gathering some basic health history details about you and when any symptoms first appeared. They may then perform physical exams or blood work in order to detect disorders; in addition to keeping a sleep diary. Doing this can help them diagnose RLS more accurately as well as check if another illness might be at play.
Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome
Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome (DSPS) occurs when an individual’s internal clock cannot keep pace with their usual sleeping schedule, leading to difficulty falling asleep and waking up, difficulty staying awake during the daytime and feeling tired even though they slept through the night. DSPS affects work, school and daily activities and most often occurs among teenagers and young adults; it can occur at any age however and sometimes as a result of puberty–when their circadian rhythm shifts – while rare genetic disorders like Smith-Magenis syndrome affect the body’s ability to produce melatonin.
Circadian rhythm sleep-wake disorders (CRSWDs), most frequently DSPS, involve any disruption to a person’s natural sleeping-wake cycle and lead to delayed REM sleep cycles; its cause remains unknown, although its thought to stem from inadequate morning sunlight exposure and overexposure to bright evening lighting, which both alter one’s natural sleep-wake cycle. Other possible triggers could include medications or health conditions like ADHD; it could even be the result of depression or anxiety symptoms.
Informing a physician of any sleep issues is vitally important as they can diagnose these disorders. Maintaining a sleep diary will allow your physician to gain an idea of your sleeping patterns and habits; additionally they may suggest conducting a sleep study as a potential solution.
Sleep studies, or polysomnography, involve sleeping in a lab under close observation by a technician and being monitored by a computer that records various aspects of your sleep such as brain activity and breathing patterns. The results from such a study can help your physician diagnose a sleep disorder more accurately.
There are multiple treatment options for DSPS, such as altering your environment and taking melatonin supplements. Making sure the room you sleep in is dark and cool may help, as well as making sure your mattress and bedding are comfortable. A melatonin supplement taken an hour and a half prior to bedtime may help the natural melatonin production align with a regular sleep-wake cycle; be sure to continue this regimen on weekends or holidays or else your sleeping patterns could return to their dysfunctional ways.
Sleep Apnea
People suffering from sleep apnea experience repeated episodes of reduced or stopped breathing during their rest, drastically diminishing sleep quality and possibly leading to serious, even deadly complications if left untreated.
Sleep Apnea can be divided into two primary forms, obstructive sleep apnea and central sleep apnea. Obstructive Sleep Apnea occurs when airways in your throat become narrow or completely blocked during sleep, leading to snoring and heart conditions. Central Sleep Apnea differs because its symptoms occur when the brain fails to send signals necessary for breathing-related muscles to function correctly; its most notable symptoms being intermittent breathing interruptions while sleeping that feel like you are being choked on by your pillow!
Your family or friends may notice you have difficulty breathing during sleep, awakening feeling groggy or tired with headaches, mood changes or irritability. Being sleep-deprived makes concentrating at work or school difficult as well as increasing risk for car accidents or injuries.
Central Sleep Apnea (CSA) symptoms usually involve awakening feeling breathless multiple times during the night, often multiple times in succession. You may also exhibit Cheyne-Stokes respiration; an irregular pattern of breathing whereby in rapid bursts you breath in quickly then out again quickly.
Sleep Apnea can lead to high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, strokes and liver damage over time. In addition, it may increase seizure risk in those living with epilepsy; arrhythmias that stop their heart are at greater risk than sudden cardiac death and arrhythmic deaths are even possible in these people! Sleep Apnea also results in weight gain, sore muscles numbness numbness and can make concentration difficult or lead to mood swings; regular physical exercise such as walking running yoga strength training may help breathe easier at night resulting in restful and restful restful restful restful restful restful restful sleep as well as weight loss while simultaneously decreasing chances of Obstructive Sleep Apnea developing.
Circadian Rhythm Disorder
As humans, we all possess a natural sleep-wake cycle which occurs every day and is affected by many different factors, including light exposure, meal times, exercise intensity, body temperature fluctuations, hormone release cycles, etc. When these rhythms become disturbed they may cause insomnia to excessive daytime sleepiness – in severe cases these disorders could even disrupt daily activities significantly and should be evaluated to see if you could be suffering from circadian rhythm sleep disorder.
Circadian rhythm sleep disorders arise when there is an internal clock mismatch with external factors that influence when people go to bed and wake up, as well as mild cases like jet lag to more serious disorders like delayed sleep phase syndrome, free-running disorder or irregular sleep-wake rhythm.
Step one in diagnosing a circadian rhythm sleep disorder involves keeping a journal or using an actigraph device to track your sleeping and wake pattern over days to weeks, with full night’s sleep studies also possible. From these records, a physician can then use them to determine whether you have a disorder and which treatments might work best.
Most individuals with circadian rhythm sleep disorders are able to synchronize their internal clocks with the light-dark cycles in the environment and achieve normal sleeping patterns; however, some do not manage this feat. Depression, lack of energy and increased accidents and injuries at work or school can all contribute to this disorder; common treatments for this include light therapy and certain medications such as lithium. Studies have demonstrated the efficacy of medications to slow the molecular clock, thus alleviating symptoms and maintaining circadian rhythmicity. Furthermore, research indicates that when improving sleep rhythmicity you can also enhance both mood and performance; research shows this occurs because an effective circadian rhythm has many key roles such as memory consolidation and metabolic regulation that require its presence for proper function of our bodies – hence it is imperative that every effort be taken towards bettering one’s sleeping habits.
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