Drowsiness - Causes, symptoms and treatment. MF.

Sleepiness is a sleep disorder, accompanied by a constant or periodic desire to sleep during a time not intended for sleep.
Drowsiness, like insomnia, is the reckoning of a modern person for the way he lives. A huge amount of information, an increasing daily number of cases not only increase fatigue, but also reduce sleep time.

Causes of drowsiness

Causes of drowsiness in terms of medicine are diverse. This is the main symptom of such diseases as narcolepsy, sleep apnea syndrome, Klein-Levin syndrome. These are severe neuropsychiatric diseases that greatly alter the usual course of life of a person suffering from them.

Sleepiness accompanies other diseases, most often, pathology of the endocrine and cardiovascular system.

Medications , which a person takes about concomitant diseases, may have a side sedative( hypnotic, sedative) effect. If this negatively affects the life of the patient, then such drugs must be canceled, and if this is not possible, then with the help of the attending physician select an analog with minimal side effects.

Another reason that is usually associated with drowsiness is the lack of sunlight .In the spring and summer, drowsiness is less than in the autumn and winter. To compensate for this deficit, try buying fluorescent lights( conventional incandescent lamps are not suitable).Pay attention to the necessary wavelength - 420 nanometers.

Also it is necessary not to mention the most common causes of drowsiness - chronic fatigue, lack of sleep and psychological causes.

A person "runs away" into a dream of boredom, stress and trouble. Therefore, if you get into similar situations, drowsiness appears. In this case, the help is only in solving the problem, and not avoiding it. If this is beyond the power, one should resort to the help of a psychologist.

And if chronic lack of sleep or stressful situations is easily prevented on your own, then more serious diseases should be treated only under the supervision of a doctor. Let's consider the main ones.

Diseases accompanied by drowsiness

Iron deficiency anemia is a condition of iron deficiency in the body, at a late stage manifested by iron deficiency in blood cells. Along with pronounced anemic syndrome( anemia), a latent iron deficiency in the body( sideropenic syndrome) is noted. Iron hemoglobin decreases last, it is a protective reaction of the body from lack of oxygen. At an earlier stage, iron deficiency is revealed when the total iron-binding function of serum and ferritin is determined. Symptoms of iron deficiency anemia are weakness, drowsiness, perversion of taste( desire to eat spicy, spicy dishes, chalk, raw meat, etc.), hair loss and brittle nails, dizziness. It is worth noting that anemia can not be cured by changing food or using other folk remedies. For this, it is necessary to use iron preparations recommended by your doctor.

Hypotension is a reduction in blood pressure below normal, most often caused by low vascular tone. Drowsiness in this disease is due to decreased blood supply to the brain. Also, patients note lethargy and weakness, dizziness, motion sickness in transport, etc. Hypotension can be a sign of such conditions as increased mental and physical stress, intoxication and stress, anemia, beriberi, depressive disorders.

Hypothyroidism is a syndrome caused by a decrease in thyroid function. Specific symptoms in this disease is not, usually it is masked by other diseases. Most often the primary hypothyroidism appears in the outcome of autoimmune thyroiditis or as a result of treatment of thyrotoxicosis. It is also possible to develop hypothyroidism as a side effect of amiodarone therapy in the treatment of cardiac arrhythmias and cytokines in the treatment of infectious hepatitis. Symptoms of this disease, in addition to drowsiness, include fast fatigue, dry skin, speech slowing, swelling of the face and hands, constipation, chilliness, memory loss, depressive conditions, women with menstrual irregularities and infertility.

A separate group of diseases in which drowsiness is noted is associated with obesity and respiratory depression in sleep. This is the "sleep apnea" syndrome and Pickwick syndrome. Most often, these pathologies are inseparable from each other.

Sleep apnea syndrome is a potentially deadly disease, during which multiple stops of respiration occur in sleep of varying duration. In this case, the fragmentation of sleep occurs, the brain has to "wake up each time to give the command to breathe again."A person at this time can not wake up completely, sleep becomes superficial. This explains the lack of satisfaction with sleep and daytime sleepiness. Also, the "sleep apnea" syndrome is accompanied by increased motor activity of the extremities, snoring, nightmarish dreams, headaches in the morning after awakening. During episodes of respiratory arrest, there is an increase in blood pressure. First it comes back to normal after restoring breathing, but then starts to rise constantly. There are also irregular heart rhythms. During episodes of the disease, the blood supply of the brain decreases, down to critical values, which is fraught with a violation of its function.

Pickwick's syndrome includes, in addition to daytime drowsiness, symptoms such as obesity of 3-4 degrees( highest), sluggishness, swelling, cyanosis of the lips and fingers, increased blood viscosity.

Diabetes mellitus is a disease of the endocrine system with a decrease in the production of the hormone insulin by the pancreas or insensitivity of the body tissues to insulin. Insulin is a conductor in glucose cells. This disaccharide is their main source of energy. In diabetes mellitus, there is an imbalance between the intake of glucose and its utilization by the body. Drowsiness can be a sign of both an excess of glucose in the body, and a lack of it. And the progression of drowsiness may indicate a formidable complication of diabetes - to whom. It is worth paying attention to such symptoms as thirst, weakness, increased amount of urine, itching of the skin, lowering of arterial pressure, dizziness, odor of acetone in the inspired air. If you suspect a diabetes, you should consult a therapist or an endocrinologist. Everyone should know their blood sugar level, for this you need to pass a simple analysis in your clinic or any diagnostic center.

Narcolepsy is one of the sleep disorders in which a person without a feeling of fatigue falls asleep for a few minutes. Awakening them is as easy as immersion in the kingdom of Morpheus. Their dream is no different from the usual, with only the difference that a sick person can not predict where, when and how long he will fall asleep next time. Often a harbinger of narcoleptic sleep is catalepsy. This is a state of severe weakness and inability to move arms and legs for a short period before falling asleep, which is completely reversible. Sometimes this condition can take the form of paralysis of hearing, vision or smell. It should be noted that this is an infrequent disease and a fairly effective drug is developed for control, which is prescribed by a doctor as a psychotherapist or somnologist.

Apart from other diseases associated with drowsiness, there is the Klein-Levine syndrome. This is a fairly rare condition in which a person occasionally experiences insuperable( imperative) drowsiness and falls asleep at any time for a period of several hours to several days. Such intervals alternate with a feeling of complete health with a frequency of 3 to 6 months. After exiting from sleep, the patients feel vigorous, they experience a severe hunger, sometimes such symptoms as aggression, hypersexuality, general arousal appear. The cause of the disease is unknown. Most often it is observed in young men from 13 to 19 years, that is, during puberty( puberty).

Brain injury may also be a cause of drowsiness. Headaches, dizziness, bruises under the eyes and an episode of anterior traumatic brain injury should alert the patient and encourage him to seek immediate medical attention.

Examination with sleepiness

For all sleep disorders, which include sleepiness, polysomnography is the most accurate test. The patient spends the night in a hospital or a specialized clinic, where during the sleep the parameters of his brain, respiratory and cardiovascular systems are determined and recorded. After interpretation of the data, treatment is prescribed. Since this survey does not yet belong to the publicly available group, it is carried out only if it is impossible to find out the cause of drowsiness in another way.

If there is a suspicion of the "sleep apnea" syndrome, it is possible to record respiration rates using respiratory monitoring at home using a special device. Pulse oxymetry is used to determine the effectiveness of breathing and oxygen saturation.

To avoid somatic diseases that cause drowsiness, you should undergo an examination with a therapist who, if necessary, will prescribe a laboratory examination or a consultation of a specialist.

Means from drowsiness

And while waiting for a doctor's advice on your own, you can take the following:

• Find out your sleep rate and stick to it. This is best done during the vacation period, when you are not limited by the schedule. Determine how many hours per day you need to take to sleep, to feel cheerful and rested. Try to stick to this data for the rest of the time.
• Stick to sleep and rest. Go to bed and get up at the same time, both on weekdays and on weekends.
• Do not disregard rest, outdoor exercise and exercise.
• Include multivitamins, fresh vegetables and fruits in your diet, drink enough pure water.
• Avoid smoking and drinking alcohol
• Reduce the proportion of carbohydrates in your diet.
• Do not get carried away with coffee. During drowsiness, coffee spurs the brain to hard work, but brain reserves are rapidly depleted. After a short while a person feels even more sleepy. In addition, coffee leads to dehydration of the body and the washing out of calcium ions. Replace coffee with green tea, it also carries a good portion of caffeine, but at the same time saturates the body with vitamins and antioxidants.

As you can see, brushing off sleepiness is not so easy. Pay attention to your health. The danger of the symptom is obvious. In addition to reducing the quality of life due to reduced memory availability and attention, this can lead to injury at work, accidents and disasters.

To which doctor to apply

First and foremost - to the therapist who, depending on the results of the survey, will refer you to a neurologist, endocrinologist, cardiologist, psychotherapist or somnologist.

Moskvina Anna Mikhailovna, physician-therapist