Welcome To St. Vincent's Sleep Disorders Center

Overview

Sleep apnea is a potentially serious sleep disorder in which breathing repeatedly stops and starts. If you snore loudly and feel tired even after a full night’s sleep, you might have sleep apnea.

The main types of sleep apnea are:

• Obstructive sleep apnea, the more common form that occurs when throat muscles relax
• Central sleep apnea, which occurs when your brain doesn’t send proper signals to the muscles that control breathing
• Complex sleep apnea syndrome, also known as treatment-emergent central sleep apnea, which occurs when someone has both obstructive sleep apnea and central sleep apnea

If you think you might have sleep apnea, see your doctor. Treatment can ease your symptoms and might help prevent heart problems and other complications.

Overview

Snoring is the hoarse or harsh sound that occurs when air flows past relaxed tissues in your throat, causing the tissues to vibrate as you breathe. Nearly everyone snores now and then, but for some people it can be a chronic problem. Sometimes it may also indicate a serious health condition. In addition, snoring can be a nuisance to your partner.

Lifestyle changes, such as losing weight, avoiding alcohol close to bedtime or sleeping on your side, can help stop snoring.

See your doctor if you have any of the above symptoms.

Overview

Insomnia is a common sleep disorder that can make it hard to fall asleep, hard to stay asleep, or cause you to wake up too early and not be able to get back to sleep. You may still feel tired when you wake up. Insomnia can sap not only your energy level and mood but also your health, work performance and quality of life.

Symptoms

Insomnia symptoms may include:

• Difficulty falling asleep at night
• Waking up during the night
• Waking up too early
• Not feeling well-rested after a night’s sleep
• Daytime tiredness or sleepiness
• Irritability, depression or anxiety
• Difficulty paying attention, focusing on tasks or remembering
• Increased errors or accidents
• Ongoing worries about sleep

If insomnia makes it hard for you to function during the day, see your doctor to identify the cause of your sleep problem and how it can be treated. If your doctor thinks you could have a sleep disorder, you might be referred to a sleep center for special testing.

Overview

Narcolepsy is a chronic sleep disorder characterized by overwhelming daytime drowsiness and sudden attacks of sleep. People with narcolepsy often find it difficult to stay awake for long periods of time, regardless of the circumstances. Narcolepsy can cause serious disruptions in your daily routine.

Narcolepsy is a chronic condition for which there’s no cure. However, medications and lifestyle changes can help you manage the symptoms. Support from others — family, friends, employers, teachers — can help you cope with narcolepsy.

Symptoms

The signs and symptoms of narcolepsy may worsen for the first few years and then continue for life. They include:

• Excessive daytime sleepiness. People with narcolepsy fall asleep without warning, anywhere, anytime. For example, you may be working or talking with friends and suddenly you nod off, sleeping for a few minutes up to a half-hour. When you awaken, you feel refreshed, but eventually you get sleepy again.

  You may also experience decreased alertness and focus throughout the day. Excessive daytime sleepiness usually is the first symptom to appear and is often the most troublesome, making it difficult for you to concentrate and fully function.

• Sudden loss of muscle tone. This condition, called cataplexy (KAT-uh-plek-see), can cause a number of physical changes, from slurred speech to complete weakness of most muscles, and may last up to a few minutes.

  Cataplexy is uncontrollable and is triggered by intense emotions, usually positive ones such as laughter or excitement, but sometimes fear, surprise or anger. For example, when you laugh, your head may droop uncontrollably or your knees may suddenly buckle.

  Some people with narcolepsy experience only one or two episodes of cataplexy a year, while others have numerous episodes daily. Not everyone with narcolepsy experiences cataplexy.

• Sleep paralysis. People with narcolepsy often experience a temporary inability to move or speak while falling asleep or upon waking. These episodes are usually brief — lasting a few seconds or minutes — but can be frightening. You may be aware of the condition and have no difficulty recalling it afterward, even if you had no control over what was happening to you.

  This sleep paralysis mimics the type of temporary paralysis that normally occurs during a period of sleep called rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. This temporary immobility during REM sleep may prevent your body from acting out dream activity.

  Not everyone with sleep paralysis has narcolepsy, however. Many people without narcolepsy experience some episodes of sleep paralysis.

• Changes in rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. REM sleep is typically when most dreaming happens. REM sleep can occur at any time of the day in people with narcolepsy. People with narcolepsy often transition quickly to REM sleep, usually within 15 minutes of falling asleep.
• Hallucinations. These hallucinations are called hypnagogic hallucinations if they happen as you fall asleep and hypnopompic hallucinations if they occur upon waking. An example is feeling as if there is a stranger in your bedroom. These hallucinations may be particularly vivid and frightening because you may not be fully asleep when you begin dreaming and you experience your dreams as reality.

See your doctor if you experience excessive daytime sleepiness that disrupts your personal or professional life.

Overview

“Parasomnia” is a catchall term for unusual behaviors¹ that people experience prior to falling asleep, while asleep, or during the arousal period between sleep and wakefulness. These behaviors vary considerably in terms of characteristics, severity, and frequency.

Types of Parasomnia

• Confusional arousals: The sleeper exhibits mental confusion or confused behavior in bed. Most people who experience confusional arousals display very little autonomic arousal in the form of mydriasis (dilated pupils), tachycardia (accelerated heartbeat), tachypnea (accelerated breathing), or perspiration. Confusional arousals are also known as Elpenor syndrome.
• Sleepwalking: Also known as somnambulism, sleepwalking occurs when people get out of bed while still asleep but exhibit limited awareness or responsiveness to their surroundings. They may exhibit other complex behaviors such as sorting clothes. Sleepwalking can also lead to injuries if the individual loses their balance or collides with other objects.
• Night terrors (or sleep terrors): People who experience night terrors often scream in their sleep, though most are not responsive to outside stimuli and will have no recollection of the source for their terror upon waking. Most night terror episodes last between 30 seconds and three minutes.
• Sleep Enuresis: Known throughout the world as “bedwetting,” sleep enuresis refers to involuntary urination during sleep. Bedwetting is quite common in young children. To be considered a parasomnia, it must occur in people ages five and older and occur at least twice per week for at least three months. Primary sleep enuresis refers to people who never wake up feeling dry, while secondary sleep enuresis occurs in individuals who have not previously experienced bedwetting episodes for at least six months before the first episode occurs.

If you think you might have any of these or other parasomnia behaviors , see your doctor.

Overview

Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a condition that causes an uncontrollable urge to move your legs, usually because of an uncomfortable sensation. It typically happens in the evening or nighttime hours when you’re sitting or lying down. Moving eases the unpleasant feeling temporarily.

Restless legs syndrome, also known as Willis-Ekbom disease, can begin at any age and generally worsens as you age. It can disrupt sleep, which interferes with daily activities.

Simple self-care steps and lifestyle changes may help relieve symptoms. Medications also help many people with RLS.

Symptoms

The chief symptom is an urge to move the legs. Common accompanying characteristics of RLS include:

• Sensations that begin after rest. The sensation typically begins after you’ve been lying down or sitting for an extended time, such as in a car, airplane or movie theater.
• Relief with movement. The sensation of RLS lessens with movement, such as stretching, jiggling your legs, pacing or walking.
• Worsening of symptoms in the evening. Symptoms occur mainly at night.
• Nighttime leg twitching. RLS may be associated with another, more common condition called periodic limb movement of sleep, which causes your legs to twitch and kick, possibly throughout the night, while you sleep.