253-517-8905

There are a few different signs that indicate you should schedule a sleep test. It’s more than just struggling with getting a good night’s rest. Sleep disorders can have a handful of other symptoms that affect your everyday activities. 

Polysomnography, or a sleep study, is a test that measures and records your body’s activities during sleep. It will evaluate your sleep and give a diagnosis of what sleep disorder you have and what treatments you can begin.

A sleep study is prescribed by a doctor, so speak with your medical provider about any issues with your sleep, or if you experience any sleep-related symptoms like feeling fatigued and drowsy during the day or noticing depression. There are different types of sleep studies that your doctor can recommend based on what your symptoms are.

Reasons to Get a Sleep Study

Some may be anxious about scheduling a sleep test. It may feel uncomfortable to sleep away from home or you may even feel nervous about what exactly has been impacting your sleep. Even if it may feel easier to ignore the issue since you cannot directly see or know what is happening, there are health risks to be aware of when it comes to sleep disorders. 

Sleep apnea is a disorder more than 25 million people suffer from in the U.S. When left untreated, it can contribute to a number of different health issues like diabetes, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, heart attacks, and strokes. This is why pinpointing your sleep disorder is so important and can significantly improve your health when treated.

Sleep apnea is easy to diagnose and can easily be treated. You just need to take the first step with an overnight sleep study to get more productive rest. Here are some ways to know you should schedule a sleep test.

Experiencing Sleeping Problems

It may not seem like sleep struggles are worth checking in with a doctor about, but there are some reasons to inquire about a sleep test:

  • Symptoms of insomnia: If you struggle falling asleep, staying asleep, or waking up too early. You don’t always need an overnight sleep test, but this symptom can suggest that you need to rule out other sleep disorders that tend to have insomnia-like symptoms.
  • Regularly waking up during the night: If you don’t have a bladder or prostate problem, waking up frequently every night to go to the restroom can actually be a sign of sleep apnea.
  • Sleep paralysis: If you have moments of sleep paralysis right before or after you have fallen asleep, or hearing and seeing anything unusual before or after sleeping that gives you hesitation or pause.
  • Recurring nightmares: Encountering unpleasant nightmares that make it difficult for you to want to go to bed at night. You may even try to medicate yourself so these nightmares won’t happen.

Feeling Tired All the Time

Humans are meant to sleep at night and then remain alert all day. Daytime sleepiness can indicate there are underlying sleep issues even if you think you have slept well the night prior.

  • Still feeling tired after sleeping more than 10 hours
  • Needing a nap in the afternoon, even after drinking multiple cups of coffee in the morning
  • Feeling a “sleep attack” where you have the irresistible urge to sleep during the day
  • Having a hard time summoning the energy to do ordinary tasks during the day
  • If you easily can fall asleep or feel excessively sleepy during quiet or mellow periods of the day

Chronic Health Issues

Difficulties sleeping and fatigue are both symptoms of many chronic health issues, and it’s easy to forget that we are able to have more than one health problem that causes symptoms. Sleep disorders can exist with the following health issues:

  • Chronic illnesses can cause you to struggle with sleeplessness at night or fatigue during the day.
  • Obstructive sleep apnea can be the culprit of raised blood pressure or hypertension
  • Morning headaches are not normal, and letting them go unaddressed can cause more significant issues later.
  • Not all people with sleep apnea are obese, but obesity does occasionally take part in snoring and major upper airway resistance. There have also been links between diabetes, obesity, and sleep apnea.
  • If you are scheduled for a major surgery, your physician may require a sleep study to determine your breathing ability without any disruptions for the procedure. This is useful for catching any sleep breathing disorders that could also be the result of any current health problems you might have.
  • Any unexplainable and negative changes in cardiovascular function can be caused by sleep apnea or other sleep disorders. Sleep deprivation can lead to problems with the cardiac and vascular systems over long periods of time.
  • Poor sleep can impair daytime functioning with your focus, attention, reactivity, and alertness. Getting into accidents due to inattentiveness or what is seen as clumsiness can actually be a serious concern and may affect your ability to drive or operate heavy machinery.

Mental Health Concerns

There is a correlation between mood changes and poor sleep. Sleep deprivation and mood disorders can lead to one another.

  • Intense mood swings that are inexplainable, as sleep deprivation can lead to neurochemical imbalances that affect mood.
  • Ongoing issues with anxiety and depression that medication and therapy are not helping. An underlying sleep disorder could be making your condition worse, so treating a sleep disorder can help your mental health as well.
  • Learning or memory issues can be the negative result of poor sleep, impacting the ability to learn or hold on to memories.
  • Suicidal thoughts from time to time can come from insomnia or sleep deprivation. Unfortunately, there are links between insomnia and sleep deprivation, and suicide.

Sleep Tests With DreamZz Sleep Center

How we sleep and how much we sleep both have direct impacts on our health and the quality of our everyday life. If you are experiencing any of the symptoms from above, talk to your doctor about your concerns to schedule a sleep study.

At DreamZz Sleep Center, we strive to get you back to a healthy, good night of sleep. We start treatment as soon as possible, giving a consultation and sleep study within one or two weeks of your initial inquiry.

Contact us today to book an appointment.