Insomnia
Insomnia is the inability to fall asleep, remain asleep, or feel refreshed by sleep. Acute and transient during periods of stress, insomnia may become chronic, causing constant fatigue, extreme anxiety as bedtime approaches, and psychiatric disorders. This common complaint is experienced occasionally by about 25% of Americans and chronically by another 10%.
Physiologic causes of insomnia include jet lag, arguing, and lack of exercise. Pathophysiologic causes range from medical and psychiatric disorders to pain, adverse effects of a drug, and idiopathic factors. Complaints of insomnia are subjective and require close investigation.
History
Take a thorough sleep and health history. Find out when the patient’s insomnia began and the circumstances surrounding it. Is the patient trying to stop using a sedative? Does he take a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant, such as an amphetamine, pseudoephedrine, a theophylline derivative, phenylpropanolamine, cocaine, or a drug that contains caffeine, or does he drink caffeinated beverages?
Find out if the patient has a chronic or acute condition, the effects of which may be disturbing his sleep, particularly cardiac or respiratory disease or painful or pruritic conditions. Ask if he has an endocrine or neurologic disorder or a history of drug or alcohol abuse. Is he a frequent traveler who suffers from jet lag? Does he use his legs a lot during the day and then feel restless at night? Ask about daytime fatigue and regular exercise. Also ask if he often finds himself gasping for air, experiencing apnea, or frequently repositioning his body. If possible, consult the patient’s spouse or sleep partner because the patient may be unaware of his own behavior. Ask how many pillows the patient uses to sleep.
Assess the patient’s emotional status, and try to estimate his level of self-esteem. Ask about personal and professional problems and psychological stress. Also ask if he experiences hallucinations, and note behavior that may indicate alcohol withdrawal.
Physical assessment
To detect an underlying disorder that may affect sleep, perform a complete physical assessment. Pay close attention to findings that suggest a neurologic, cardiac, respiratory, or endocrine disorder.
Medical causes
Alcohol withdrawal syndrome
Abrupt cessation of alcohol intake after long-term use causes insomnia that may persist for up to 2 years. Other early effects of this acute syndrome include excessive diaphoresis, tachycardia, hypertension, tremors, restlessness, irritability, headache, nausea, flushing, and nightmares. Progression to delirium tremens produces confusion, disorientation, paranoia, delusions, hallucinations, and seizures.
Depression
Depression commonly causes chronic insomnia with difficulty falling asleep, waking and being unable to fall back to sleep, or waking early in the morning. Related findings include dysphoria (a primary symptom), decreased appetite with weight loss or increased appetite with weight gain, and psychomotor agitation or retardation. The patient experiences loss of interest in his usual activities, feelings of worthlessness and guilt, fatigue, difficulty concentrating, indecisiveness, and recurrent thoughts of death.
Generalized anxiety disorder
Anxiety can cause chronic insomnia as well as symptoms of tension, such as fatigue and restlessness; signs of autonomic hyperactivity, such as diaphoresis, dyspepsia, and high resting pulse and respiratory rates; and signs of apprehension.
Nocturnal myoclonus
With nocturnal myoclonus, a seizure disorder, involuntary and fleeting muscle jerks of the legs occur every 20 to 40 seconds, disturbing sleep. The patient typically reports poor sleep and daytime somnolescence.
Pain
Almost any condition that causes pain can also cause insomnia. Related findings reflect the specific cause. Behavioral responses that may accompany pain include altered body position, moaning, grimacing, withdrawal, crying, restlessness, muscle twitching, and immobility. With mild or moderate pain the patient may have pallor, elevated blood pressure, dilated pupils, skeletal muscle tension, dyspnea, tachycardia, and diaphoresis. Severe, deep pain may produce pallor, decreased blood pressure, bradycardia, nausea and vomiting, weakness, dizziness, and loss of consciousness.
Pruritus
Localized skin infections and systemic disorders, such as liver failure, can cause pruritus, resulting in insomnia. The patient may report scratching as a way to relieve the itching.
Sleep apnea syndrome
Apneic periods begin with the onset of sleep, continue for 10 to 90 seconds, and end with a series of gasps and arousal. With central sleep apnea, respiratory movement ceases for the apneic period; with obstructive sleep apnea, upper airway obstruction blocks incoming air, although breathing movements continue. Repeated possibly hundreds of times during the night, this cycle alternates with bradycardia and tachycardia. Associated findings include morning headache, daytime fatigue, hypertension, ankle edema, and personality changes, such as hostility, paranoia, and agitated depression.
Thyrotoxicosis
Difficulty falling asleep and then sleeping for only a brief period is one of the characteristic symptoms of thyrotoxicosis. Cardiopulmonary features include dyspnea, tachycardia, palpitations, and atrial or ventricular gallop. Other findings include weight loss despite increased appetite, diarrhea, tremors, nervousness, diaphoresis, hypersensitivity to heat, an enlarged thyroid, and exophthalmos.
Other causes
Drugs
Use of, abuse of, or withdrawal from sedatives or hypnotics may produce insomnia. CNS stimulants—including amphetamines, theophylline derivatives, pseudoephedrine, phenylpropanolamine, cocaine, and caffeinated beverages—may also produce insomnia.
Special considerations
Prepare the patient for tests to evaluate his insomnia, such as blood and urine studies for 17-hydroxycorticosteroids and catecholamines, polysomnography (including an EEG, electro-oculography, and electrocardiography), and sleep EEG.
Pediatric pointers
Insomnia in early childhood may develop along with separation anxiety at ages 2 to 3, after a stressful or tiring day, or during illness or teething. In children ages 6 to 11, insomnia usually reflects residual excitement from the day’s activities; a few children continue to have bedtime fears. Sleep problems are common in foster children.
Geriatric pointers
Older people who are deprived of sleep may become forgetful, disoriented, or confused. Those who are cognitively impaired exhibit increased restlessness, wandering behavior, and “sundowner syndrome” (confusion, agitation, and disruptive behavior during late afternoon and early evening hours).
Sleep patterns of older people are marked by frequent awakenings, diminished stage III and stage IV non-rapid eye movement time, increased time spent awake at night, and more frequent daytime naps. Most healthy older adults report no symptoms related to these changes other than not getting enough sleep or sleeping poorly.
Patient counseling
Teach the patient comfort and relaxation techniques to promote natural sleep. (See Tips for relieving insomnia.) Advise him to awaken and retire at the same time each day and to exercise regularly. When he can’t sleep, advise him to get up but remain inactive. Urge him to use his bed only for sleeping, not for relaxation or watching TV.
Advise the patient to use tranquilizers or sedatives for acute insomnia only when relaxation techniques fail. If appropriate, refer him for counseling or to a sleep disorder clinic for biofeedback training or other interventions.
Pictures
Book Source Details
- Book Title: Signs & Symptoms: A 2-in-1 Reference for Nurses
- Author(s): Springhouse
- Year of Publication: 2007
- Copyright Details: Signs & Symptoms: A 2-in-1 Reference for Nurses, Copyright © 2007 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
Other Book Chapters Related to Drowsiness
Read excerpts from these other book chapters related to Drowsiness:
Copyright Details: Signs & Symptoms: A 2-in-1 Reference for Nurses, Copyright © 2008 Williams & Wilkins.
More About Causes of Drowsiness
» Next page: Level of consciousness, decreased (Signs & Symptoms: A 2-in-1 Reference for Nurses)
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