Which sleep disorders can a sleep study detect?

This question was asked in Santa Ana, California on 05/14/2013.
I am currently sleeping 4 hours a night and some night only 2 or 3 hours. I fall asleep at a regular time each night. But any sleep after midnight is rare. I work 45 hours a week and am feeling very stressed and cranky lightheaded and having trouble with memory do to lack of sleep. I often suffer with restless legs and I grind my teeth at night. I wake up startled and anxious and then I can not return to sleep. It is currently affecting my job, my home life and life's pleasures due to being exhausted all the time. I also had experiences of night terrors.

Doctors Answers (2)

Jeannine Louise Gingras, MD
Answered on: 5/16/2013

You are suffering from insomnia. Often a complete history and evaluation by a sleep specialist may find a diagnosis and you may not need a sleep study. Another reason to see a sleep specialist is for treatment of your Restless Legs Syndrome.

J. Douglas Hudson, MD, DABSM
Answered on: 5/16/2013

A sleep study can detect many disorders including sleep apnea, periodic limb movements, patterns of sleep staging often associated with narcolepsy, heart rhythm related issues either caused by or causing sleep disruption, seizures, many parasomnias such as sleep walking and talking, fragmented sleep architecture and non restorative sleep. You would be a candidate for a sleep study to see if the cause for your awakening can be eliminated, possibly secondary to leg movements or even sleep apnea (bruxism is common with sleep apnea as is awakening with anxiety).