At least one-third of the population suffers from sleeping difficulties. The sleep experts at St. Mary's of Michigan Towne Centre offer a series of tests that help evaluate what your body does during sleep. If you have any of the following sleep disorder symptoms, we can help: • I have been told that I snore.
• I have been told that I hold my breath while I sleep.
• I wish I had more energy.
• I get morning headaches.
• I often wake up gasping for breath.
• I am overweight.
• I often feel sleepy and struggle to remain alert during the day.
• I frequently wake with a dry mouth.
• I have difficulty falling asleep.
• Thoughts race through my mind and prevent me from getting to sleep.
• I often wake up and have trouble going back to sleep.
• I wake up earlier in the morning than I would like to.
• I lie awake for half an hour or more before I fall asleep.
• I have trouble concentrating at work or school.
• I have fallen asleep while driving.
• I often feel like I am in a daze.
• I have fallen asleep in social settings such as movies or at a party.
• I have "sleep attacks" during the day no matter how hard I try to stay awake.
• I can't keep my legs still at night, I have to move them to feel comfortable.
• Even though I slept during the night, I feel sleepy during the day.   Sleep studies are done to diagnose sleep disorders, which typically include:
• Sleep disordered breathing, which may be caused by certain obstructive or central nervous system disorders.
• Problems staying awake from conditions such as narcolepsy.
• Problems with sleep-disruptive behaviors (such as sleepwalking, night terrors, or bed-wetting).
• Problems with daytime sleepiness or insomnia from conditions such as sleep apnea or restless leg syndrome.   Sleep studies are also done to determine whether a sleep disorder is caused by a problem with your stages of sleep. The two stages of sleep are non-rapid eye movement (NREM) and rapid eye movement (REM). Normally, NREM and REM alternate 4 to 5 times during a night's sleep. A change in this cycle may interfere with your ability to sleep soundly.

Common Sleep Disorders

Insomnia is the perception or complaint of inadequate or poor-quality sleep because of one or more of the following: difficulty falling asleep; waking up frequently during the night with difficulty returning to sleep; waking up too early in the morning; and unrefreshing sleep.
Sleep apnea is a serious, potentially life-threatening condition that is far more common than generally understood. First described in 1965, sleep apnea is a breathing disorder characterized by brief interruptions of breathing during sleep. It owes its name to a Greek word, apnea, meaning "want of breath."
Narcolepsy is a chronic sleep disorder with no known cause. The main characteristic of narcolepsy is excessive and overwhelming daytime sleepiness, even after adequate nighttime sleep. A person with narcolepsy is likely to become drowsy or to fall asleep, often at inappropriate times and places. Daytime sleep attacks may occur with or without warning and may be irresistible. These attacks can occur repeatedly in a single day. Drowsiness may persist for prolonged periods of time. In addition, nighttime sleep may be fragmented with frequent awakenings.
Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a sleep disorder in which a person experiences unpleasant sensations in the legs described as creeping, crawling, tingling, pulling, or painful. These sensations usually occur in the calf area but may be felt anywhere from the thigh to the ankle. One or both legs may be affected; for some people, the sensations are also felt in the arms. These sensations occur when the person with RLS lies down or sits for prolonged periods of time, such as at a desk, riding in a car, or watching a movie. People with RLS describe an irresistible urge to move the legs when the sensations occur.

What to Expect

When undergoing sleep studies, we provide you with  a comfortable, private room where you will spend the night. Your sleep disorder test will be scored and interpreted by a physician and a treatment plan will then be provided to your family physician. A second sleep study may be necessary to assure the treatment has eliminated your symptoms and to assure you can finally get a good nights sleep.
If you are experiencing any sleep disorder symptoms, we encourage you to take one of the following actions: 1. If you don't have a primary care doctor, please search for one now. He or she can refer you for sleep studies at St. Mary's of Michigan.
2. If you have a doctor, talk with him or her about your symptoms and ask for a referral for sleep studies at St. Mary's of Michigan.