Sleep doctors have always thought of insomnia as a behavioral or stress aggravated issue, and the standard ways of treating this all-too-common condition is to either give sleeping pills or have the patient undergo cognitive behavioral therapy. However,
a recent study directed by Dr. Barry Krakow at the Sleep and Human Health Institute is looking at the possibility that insomnia may actually be caused by a sleep-breathing problem, such as obstructive sleep apnea.
If you’ve read my book,
Sleep, Interrupted: A physician reveals the #1 reason why so many of us are sick and tired, I stated my opinion that in my experience, almost all people with insomnia have narrowed upper air passageways, especially behind the tongue. Some will have undiagnosed sleep apnea, but many will have instead something called upper airway resistance syndrome. This is a variation or precursor to sleep apnea where the length of time of each breathing pause is not long enough to be called an apnea. Because of the multiple pauses in breathing in deep sleep, a low-grade stress response is created which causes the insomniac’s mind to race or think about stress-related issues before going to bed. Their nervous systems are edgy and en garde all the time. No wonder it’s hard to fall asleep, especially if you’ve had a stressful day.
I’ve also experienced multiple instances where treating an underlying sleep-breathing problem also significantly improves insomnia symptoms as well.
You may be asking by now, "why do sleeping pills or cognitive behavioral therapy work?" The older type sleep aids were generally tranquilizers and only helped to numb the nervous system so that you can fall asleep faster. But these medications did nothing to prevent the sleep-breathing pauses. The newer medications don’t have as much of the sedating properties, but it’s very controversial that they even make any significant difference. Although industry supported studies find significant improvements in sleep scores using sleeping pills, non-industry supported studies show that these same sleeping pills only increase total sleep time by only 5-10 minutes.
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is another underused option that has been shown to work much better than sleeping pills in general. CBT works by re-programming your thinking and behavior about sleep to promote good sleep hygiene and habits.
CBT will work to some degree even if you have an underlying sleep-breathing problem because you’re addressing the physiologic stress-aggravting end result of the breathing problems that occur during sleep. Multiple micro-arousals from deep sleep to light sleep due to tongue muscle relaxation can definitely aggravate stress and anxiety problems.
This process also confirms other recent findings that report increased rates of depression and heart disease later in life in people with insomnia earlier on in life.
The main purpose of Dr. Krakow’s study tries to determine what percent of insomniacs have undiagnosed obstructive sleep apnea. Although not part of the study, it would be interesting to perform upper airway endoscopic exams like what I describe, to confirm what I describe in this post.
Here’s my question to all insomniacs: Do you prefer to sleep on your back, side or stomach? If you prefer your side or stomach, there’s your answer.