Class 4 Flashcards
stage 3 and 4 is
the restorative sleep, at the beginning of the night
NREM Sleep
NREM stages 1 and 2 are the light sleep
stages, whereas stage 3 is deep sleep (there
used to be 4 stages, stages 3 & 4 were combined in 2007)
Dreaming is rare during NREM and muscles
are not paralyzed.
REM Sleep
REM sleep follows NREM sleep and occurs 4-5
times during a normal 8-hour sleep period.
The first REM period of the night may be less than
10 minutes in duration, while the last may exceed 60
minutes.
Body is paralysed
The NREM-REM cycles timing
vary in length from 70-100 minutes initially to 90-120 minutes later in the night.
Sleep and memory
more activity in hippocampus when you’re sleeping
Insomnia prevalance
6 – 10% of adults meet criteria for an
insomnia disorder.
Twice as prevalent in women as in men.
Complaints increase with age.
Insomnia – Comorbidity
Insomniacs are 5 times as likely to present
with anxiety or depression.
Twice as likely to present with CHF
Insomnia Definition
Patient is dissatisfied with sleep quality or quantity
Difficulty initiating or maintaining sleep or nonrestorative sleep.
Sleep complaint is accompanied by distress or
impairment in daytime function
At least 3 nights per week, at least 3 months.
Occurs despite adequate opportunity for sleep.
Sleep latency
how long it takes to fall asleep, should not take more than 30 mins
Total sleep time
at least 6,5 h
Primary Insomnia Differential Diagnosis
Substance Use
Stimulants, alcohol, some medications
GMC
Pain disorder, LBD, etc.
Secondary to Psychiatric Disorder
Sleep Apnea: daytime drowsiness snoring, witnessed apneas morning headaches Common with obesity
Restless legs
Subjective sensation that occurs at rest, worse at night
Circadian Rhythm Disorders
Can sleep normally at other times
Common with shift work
Narcolepsy
A. Irresistible attacks of refreshing sleep that occur daily over at least 3 months.
B. The presence of one or both of the following:
1. cataplexy (i.e., brief episodes of sudden bilateral loss of
muscle tone, most often in association with intense emotion).
2. recurrent intrusions of elements of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep into the transition between sleep and wakefulness, as manifested by either hypnopompic or hypnagogic hallucinations or sleep paralysis at the beginning or end of sleep episodes.
C. The disturbance is not due to the direct physiological effects of a substance (e.g., a drug of abuse, a medication) or another general medical condition.
NREM sleep arousal disorder
sleep terror and sleep walking
nightmare disorder ddx:
PTSD, MDD, effexor/pristiq make dreams vivid
rapid eye movement behavior disorder
body is not paralysed during REM sleep, so body acts out your dreams,
Sleep Hygiene
Avoid stimulants for several hours before bed time
Avoid alcohol around bed time
Exercise regularly
Do not watch the clock
Keep the bedroom environment dark, quiet and
comfortable
Sleep Restriction Therapy
Limits the time spent in bed as close as possible to actual sleep time, producing mild sleep deprivation.
The sleep window is gradually increased throughout a few days or weeks until optimum sleep duration is achieved.
Benzodiazepines Long Acting
Diazepam = Valium (1/2 life: 20 - 50 hrs)
Flurazepam (1/2 life: 20 – 100 hrs)
Chlordiazepoxide (1/2 life: 8 – 33 hrs)
Less rebound insomnia
Less likely to cause withdrawal
More likely to accumulate to toxic levels
Benzodiazepines Intermediate Acting
? Clonazepam (1/2 life: 30 – 40 hrs)
Lorazepam = Ativan (1/2 life: 10 – 20 hrs)
Oxazepam (1/2 life: 3 – 21 hours)
Temazepam
BenzodiazepinesShort Acting
not good for treating insomnia
? Alprazolam = Xanax (1/2 life: 9 hours)
Triazolam = Halcion (1/2 life 1.5 – 5.5 hours)
Xanax has a fast onset of action.
Shorter half-life means:
Withdrawal more likely
More rebound insomnia
Benzos s/e
dependency, falls, memory
Benzos and Memory
Benzodiazepines possess anterograde amnesic properties, disrupting both short-term and long-term memory function. forget what happened after you
took the benzo
The amount of amnesia is systematically related to dose effects and half-life differences
among the benzodiazepines.
Memory deficits are found for episodic, semantic, and iconic memory function.
The deficits in long-term memory are probably the result of a disruption of consolidation of information in memory and not retrieval from memory. The disruption is produced by rapid sleep onset.
Thus the long-term amnesia is really a retrograde effect of sleep and not the anterograde effect of the drug.
Drug variables for increased intensity of Benzodiazepines withdrawal
higher dose, longer duration of trx, shorter half life, more rapid taper
Clinical variables for increased intensity of Benzodiazepines withdrawal
higher pre taper anxiety or depression, more personality pathology, panic disorder, history of recreational drug/ roh abuse