I Think I Have a Sleep Disorder: Should I Get an EEG?

While sleeping is not something that is entirely understood, we do know that everyone needs to do it to conserve energy, self-repair, reorganize and catalog memories, and recuperate as we rest. The amount of sleep varies over your lifetime, but you should get no less than seven and no more than nine hours unless you’re very young. And when you have problems getting the rest you need, it can mean problems that not only affect your waking life, but become harmful to your long-term health.

There are many types of sleep disorders, and diagnostic methods like electroencephalograms (EEGs) can make detecting them easier to manage treatment. To find out if you should get one, let’s look at the types of disorders that can prevent quality rest, their causes and symptoms, and the advantages EEGs can offer.

With offices in Norwood, Anderson, and Westside, Ohio, and Crestview Hills, Kentucky, the team of specialists at Riverhills Neuroscience can help if you’re having problems getting or staying asleep. 

Types of sleep disorders

There are a variety of sleep disorders that fall into several categories:

• Lack of sleep: Having issues getting to sleep or maintaining enough sleep is a form of insomnia, and up to 50% of adults deal with some form of it.

• Too much sleep: Oversleeping, or hypersomnia, leads to feeling groggy even after more than 10 hours of sleep and also causes hallucinations and sleep attacks. 

• Snoring/apnea: Snoring is a common issue that is often a sign of sleep apnea, which affects breathing while you're trying to rest and can cause cardiovascular problems.

• Circadian rhythm: We all have a body clock that determines when we’re active and when we sleep, and things like jet lag and shift work sleep disorder (SWSD) can affect that clock.

• Movement: This type affects your muscles and nervous system, with the most common type being restless leg syndrome, which can cause unpleasant sensations in your legs.
• Parasomnia: These are uncontrollable actions you perform when sleeping, like sleepwalking, sleep talking, night terrors, sleep paralysis, and hallucinations.

These conditions can be brought on by a number of factors, which we’ll explore.

Causes and symptoms

As mentioned earlier, problems getting asleep and staying at rest are common signs of sleep disorders, but other signs include daytime sleepiness, irritability, mood changes, inability to focus (making school and work more difficult), and frequent naps. The drowsiness during the day can also lead to accidents and falls.

Possible causes can include side effects of medications, alcohol or caffeine just before bedtime, chemical imbalances in the brain, genetic factors, or it could be a symptom of several medical and mental health conditions. According to research, women are more likely to struggle with sleeping problems, and 50% of adults over 65 have at least one form of these conditions.

Reasons an EEG might help

Electroencephalograms are devices used to examine electrical brain activity and are used for determining several conditions like epilepsy through seizures, and problems due to head injuries, infections (encephalitis), stroke, sleep disorders, and brain tumors. When used to test for sleeping problems, an EEG helps in a few different ways: it can show activity during abnormal movements when you’re sleeping, rule out seizures, and can be used with polysomnograms (PSGs) to monitor your sleep cycle.

There are several conditions that affect your sleep, and many ways EEGs work to confirm these issues to help direct treatment. If you need help managing sleep problems, make an appointment with the team at Riverhills Neuroscience today to find out what’s wrong and get the right treatment.