‘Wide Awake: A Memoire of Insomnia’ promises to be a humorous romp about the sleep industry

A self-described fourth generation insomniac, three years ago Patricia Morrisroe set out on a personal journey to conquer her lifelong sleep disorder. From traditional medicine to new age healing, she would sample everything the sleep industry had to offer. She talked to sleep doctors and drug makers, and magicians and hypnotherapists, all in an effort to become a sleep expert.

This week, her colorful journey hits book store shelves. Amazon.com describes ‘Wide Awake: A Memoire of Insomnia’ as a memoire that “blends science, culture, and business to tell the story of why she—and forty million other Americans—can’t sleep at night.”

According to the book’s description, she also took part in a sleep study, and learned about many of the treatments recommended by the AASM.

In her interview on NPR’s Talk of the Nation earlier this week made mention of cognitive behavioral therapy, CPAP and oral appliances for sleep apnea, and drugs like Ambien and Trazadone.

Morrisroe says she was inspired when she was almost hit by a taxi while walking the New York City streets in a sleep deprived haze.

She wondered if a change of scenery would do the trick. In the book she moves from the 'city that never sleeps', to a supposedly serene countryside. She even tries to slumber north of the Arctic Circle, on an ice bed at the world-famous Icehotel.

Morrisroe interviews doctors and other credible experts. She also talked to a magician, an astronaut and a reindeer herder. And she attended a costumed Dream Ball in California, dressed up as her “dream self.

The premise of the book sounds intriguing. It will be interesting to see what kind of conclusions she came away with after her globetrotting journey. Look for a review of ‘Wide Awake’ in the coming weeks.

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CBS 2’s "Sleep Wreckers" are a few of the common-sense insomnia culprits

On day 2 of WCBS New York City’s “Sleep Week,” health reporter introduced viewers to their so-called “Sleep Wreckers.”

Most elements in their list should be familiar for regular blog readers.

- Pets in bed
-Alcohol before bedtime
-Supplements like B6, B12 or Ginseng in the evening
-Sleep disorders like sleep apnea or restless leg syndrome
-Pain or discomfort while sleeping
-Stress

The report only scratches the surface for behaviors that contribute to sleeplessness. Some are more obvious than others.

-Caffeine after lunch
-Eating before bed
-Exposure to bright light before bedtime
-Heavy evening exercise
-Nicotine before bedtime
-Lengthy naps
-Irregular sleeping patterns
-Using your bed for activities other than sleep
-Uncomfortable sleeping environment

The author of the WCBS article recommends prescription sleep drugs for treating short-term insomnia. The AASM recognizes medications such as Ambien or Lunesta as an effective temporary fix. However, we first suggest improving sleep hygiene and eliminating these “Sleep Wreckers.” Some people may need the assistance of a sleep professional. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is the treatment of choice for insomnia. Patients work with behavioral sleep experts to change the thoughts and actions that contributed to difficulty sleeping.

Learn more about Cognitive Behavioral Therapy on Sleepeducation.com.

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Sleep week at New York’s WCBS

Springs sweeps is here again, and broadcast outlets across the country are pulling out all the stops to draw viewers. In New York City WCBS hopes to get a ratings boost by airing the feature series “Sleep Week.”

In the first special report, which aired last night, health correspondent Dr. Holly Phillips profiled REM Sleep Behavior Disorder.

The story focused on the Oregon case we previously mentioned. The husband faces criminal charges because he began punching his wife while he was asleep.

He had RBD, which caused him to unconsciously act out his vivid, action-packed dreams.

The reporter also interviewed another man with a strange case of REM Sleep Behavior Disorder. The French immigrant would get up and dance during his dreams. The next morning he’d wake up with mysterious cuts and bruises from apparently falling over or bumping into objects.

You can go to CBS-2’s website to view the entire report.

Tonight, Sleep Week continues at the New York news station with a feature on “The Six Sleep Wreckers”, things that guarantee you a bad night’s sleep. We’ll be sure to post the link after it airs.

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Study links women’s waistlines with sleep habits

Swedish researchers have further proof that your sleep habits contribute to obesity. They found women who sleep less tended to have bigger bellies and waistlines.

Past studies have linked short sleep duration to higher body mass index (BMI) scores. In a study published in the May 1st issue of SLEEP, researchers wanted to learn the relationship between sleep length and quality and central obesity, a key risk factor associated with heart disease, diabetes and mortality.

Central obesity is measured by combining a person’s waist circumference with belly size.

The study took place in two phases. First more than 7,000 randomly selected women in Uppsala, Sweden answered questionnaires about their sleep disorders.

Researchers then randomly picked 400 of those women to take tests and answered another questionnaire about their lifestyle. More than half of those women were snorers.

Each subject underwent an extensive overnight sleep study in their own homes. They were free to choose when they would go to sleep and wake up. Researchers measured the women’s total sleep and length of time spent in REM and short wave sleep. They also assessed their sleep for episodes of sleep apnea.

The following morning, a nurse measured their waist circumference, sagittal abdominal diameter and BMI.

The researchers found centrally obese women were less active and had higher BMI scores. They slept less overall. The centrally obese women had less slow wave sleep and REM sleep.

The study noted the link between sleep and central obesity was stronger in younger people.

While these findings are further evidence there is a relationship between short sleep and obesity, the study has its limitations. It did not account for external factors like emotional stress.

Because researchers examined an existing population of centrally obese women, they could not pin down a causal relationship.

Read more about sleep and obesity on the Sleep Education blog.

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New movie “In My Sleep” a sleepwalking murder mystery

It’s a classic setup that hails back to Alfred Hitchcock. A man waking up in bed, covered in blood next to a knife. He doesn’t know how he got there, or if he killed anyone.

The protagonist of the new film “In My Sleep” knows he sleepwalks. But was he capable of murder or was it all a setup?

Opening in limited theaters in New York City last weekend, the film so far has inspired a tepid response from critics. In its early goings “In My Sleep” only has a 33 percent score on metacritic.

Since last month when we previewed the film, a real-life case mirroring the plot has drawn national attention.

An otherwise loving husband was arrested when he hit his wife in the face three times. He had REM Behavioral Disorder, a sleep disorder that causes people to act out their dreams, sometimes violently. The husband was charged with assault, and barred from seeing his family.

“In My Sleep” doesn’t reference REM Behavioral Disorder specifically. The doctor in the preview calls the main character’s sleepwalking “parasomnia”, which is actually a broader classification of sleep disorders.

Nightmare disorder, Sleepwalking, Sleep terrors, Confusional arousals, Sleep paralysis, Hallucinations and Sleep-related eating disorder are all parasomnias.

Read our preview for “In My Sleep”

Or learn treatments for REM Behavioral Disorder and other parasomnias.

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Running on empty: marathon runner Tera Moody's struggle with insomnia

Without sleep even the simplest everyday tasks, like driving or writing emails prove to be a challenge.

The normally challenging physical tasks we do to stay in shape are nothing short of herculean. 30 minutes on the Stairmaster can feel like a hike up the summit of K2.

So what’s it like to run marathons with no sleep?

U.S. Olympic hopeful Tera Moody knows the feeling all too well. She’s had insomnia since she started running as a child.

As a guest writer in the New York Times “All Nighters” series, she describes her frustrations with waking up at 3 a.m., unable to get back to sleep.

Moody says you can find her at the 24 hour gym, running 20 miles on a treadmill while most people are deep in sleep. She compensated for the lack of sleep by loading up on caffeine before races.

The lifestyle has taken its toll.

“Not sleeping made me unproductive in my work and affected my relationships. I was pretty depressed during that time and even died my hair black to fit my mood,” Moody wrote.
Fitness went downhill, and injuries crept up.

Still she says her marathon times have improved.

Moody’s progress is a bit of an aberration. Her injuries are more typical. Sleeping less can add to inflammation, a huge concern for athletes. It can cause muscle and skeletal problems including soreness and tendinitis.

Researchers have tied extra sleep to athletic performance.

Trainers are taking note. Moody says most of her peers log 8-10 hours per night with a long nap in between workouts.Some NBA teams are changing their practice schedules so players can sleep in. The San Antonio Spurs eliminated morning practice altogether. They now report to the gym at 4 p.m. The Boston Celtics, Portland Trail Blazers, New York Knicks and Denver Nuggets are also experimenting with untraditional schedules.Tera Moody admits as long as she runs she’ll never be able to sleep that long.

Moody has improved her sleep hygiene and is seeing some of the benefits. She cut out caffeine and eating before bedtime. She’s replaced time with the TV and computer in the evening with a pile of books.

Learn how you can improve your sleep hygiene at Sleepeducation.com.

Image by Dave Delay

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Fighting Freddy Krueger, “Nightmare on Elm Street” and nightmare disorder

In the newly released remake of “Nightmare on Elm Street” the protagonists try to stay awake to avoid dreaming of the demonic Freddy Krueger. As evident by the high kill-counts in each of the horror film in the series, it turns out they were doing it all wrong.

In real life, people who have recurring nightmares about a menacing figure like Freddy should instead see a psychologist or behavioral sleep specialist. They likely have nightmare disorder, a type of parasomnia.

Nightmares can occur at any age. Children most frequently get nightmares. Only a small fraction of people who get nightmares have the disorder.

Nightmare disorder happens when the horrifying dreams are so frequent it causes you to fear going to sleep. Those who manage to fall asleep end up waking up in the middle of the night terrified. And the nightmares only get more intense as the sleep deprivation adds up.

The problems the teenagers in “Nightmare on Elm Street” face fit this description. Only in their dreams they can die.

Nightmare disorder tends to run in families. In other cases the nightmares are a side-effect of medications.

There are several treatment options available. Counseling is most often recommended. A therapist helps look and confront the thoughts and feelings that are the root cause of the nightmares. Relaxing training may be part of the therapy.

Image rehearsal therapy is another option. It’s a form of cognitive behavioral therapy. Patients record their dreams in a journal, and relive them during the daytime. Through practice, the aim is to confront and disarm the unpleasant elements of the nightmare.

Coincidently, this is how the protagonists of “Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors” defeated Freddy Krueger. They used lucid dreaming to give themselves magic powers to do battle with the ghoul.

Medications are not normally used to treat nightmares. Some researchers believe the drug prazosin can effectively reduce nightmares. The drug treatment would have to be ongoing; nightmares may return after drug withdrawal.

If you think you have nightmare disorder avoid watching scary movies, especially any of the “Nightmare on Elm Street” films. Instead find help at an AASM-accredited sleep center or behavioral sleep specialist near you.

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