The Sleep Problems That You Should Never Ignore

There are few things more important than getting a good night’s sleep. It can make or break your work performance and your ability to enjoy life. Most people have occasional sleep issues, like occasional insomnia. But if you have the following problems consistently, you might have a bigger problem at hand.

• Trouble falling asleep. This is the most common issue people face when it comes to their sleep patterns. Trouble staying asleep. Insomnia can manifest itself in a few different ways. You might wake up at night and not be able to fall back asleep, or you might wake up in the morning and not be able to fall back asleep at night. Either way, it’s disruptive and can leave you feeling exhausted during the day. A change in your sleep pattern or schedule. Maybe you can’t fall asleep until 5am on weekdays but sleep like a rock on weekends, or maybe you used to get 10 hours of sleep every night but now only get 6 hours or less per night.
• Nightmares or strange dreams that keep waking you up. These dreams aren’t always that frightening — they might just be weird or confusing enough that they bring you out of your slumber.
• Snoring. Loud snoring can be caused by obstructive sleep apnea, a potentially serious disorder that affects about one in every 20 middle-aged men and one in every 50 middle-aged women. People who are overweight tend to have more severe obstructive sleep apnea than thinner people do, although anyone is at risk for this condition if their throat muscles and soft tissue relax enough to block their airway. Snoring can also be caused by narrowed nasal passages, which may indicate a deviated septum or other structural problem; this type of snoring is not considered as serious as obstructive sleep apnea.