When a person is experiencing a condition which interferes with the ability to sleep, it can be quite tricky to find out what it is and how to treat it. Two of the most common conditions which disrupt sleep are insomnia and sleep apnea. If you thought that these two are the same, you couldn’t be more wrong! These two disorders aren’t only different conditions but have different causes and symptoms associated with them. The main problem appears when sleep apnea symptoms include insomnia, and insomnia symptoms include sleep apnea. That’s when it’s quite difficult to find and treat the culprit of the issue.
Insomnia is a medical condition which refers to the inability or difficulty to fall or stay asleep. On the other hand, sleep apnea belongs to a group of nighttime breathing disorders, including:
- Obstructive Sleep Apnea
- Central Sleep Apnea
- Nocturnal hypoventilation
- Cheyne-Stokes respiration
One of the most common types of sleep apnea is obstructive sleep apnea, which causes pauses in the breathing process many times throughout the night. This condition occurs when the soft tissue in the throat collapses.
Sleep Apnea
When there is a blockage in the airways during sleep and a restriction to the airflow when a person is sleeping, it indicates that a person might be dealing with obstructive sleep apnea. As a result of such episodes, a person might experience morning headaches, sore throat, snoring, excessive daytime sleepiness, and night walking. What’s more, sleep apnea might also trigger other medical issues, such as diabetes, hypertension, depression, obesity, and insomnia.
Insomnia
If a person is having trouble falling or staying asleep, it is a clear sign of insomnia. Some of the usual symptoms of insomnia are mood disturbances, fatigue, difficulty concentrating, decreased work performance, and low energy. There are two types of insomnia, acute insomnia (occurs briefly) and chronic insomnia (happens at least three nights a week for at least three months). This condition might also cause other medical conditions, including anxiety, PTSP, diabetes, congestive heart failure, depression, arthritis, Parkinson’s, obstructive sleep apnea, and fibromyalgia.
The Difference Between Insomnia and Sleep Apnea
Understanding why a person is dealing with sleep difficulties can be quite tricky. There are numerous differences between the two most common culprits for sleep difficulties, insomnia and sleep apnea. The main difference is the fact that sleep apnea is easier to diagnose and treat. Whereas, insomnia is often a result of underlying causes and thus, harder to diagnose. One of the best ways to diagnose any sleep disorder begins with a sleep study.
The Treatments
Many people opt for home remedies when dealing with sleep apnea. However, they can only reduce the symptoms, not cure it. Hence, in order to treat sleep apnea, you need CPAP therapy. On the other hand, managing insomnia isn’t so straightforward and there isn’t one definitive treatment. Thus, some of the most common treatments of insomnia include sleeping pills, stimulus control, alternative medicine or Cognitive Behaviour Therapy. The best way to treat insomnia is to discover the underlying cause, and believe it or not, that cause is often sleep apnea.
Online Insomnia Testing
VirtuOx offers a quick online test which will give you a preliminary assessment of determining insomnia risk factors. The test will help you discover the symptoms. So, if you need, it offers a treatment plan as well as suitable products and services by VirtuOx. What’s more, VirtuOx offers the convenience of a home insomnia test as an initial course of therapy for patients suffering from sleep apnea. Simply by measuring the percentage of time that the patient remains in each sleep stage to determine how efficient their sleep cycle is, it offers a valuable testing in the comfort of your own home.