If you are spending enough time in bed and still wake up tired or feel very sleepy during the day, you may be one of the estimated 40 million Americans with a sleep disorder.

The most common sleep disorders are insomnia, sleep apnea (sleep-disordered breathing), restless legs syndrome, and narcolepsy. Although sleep disorders can significantly affect your health, safety, and well-being, they can be treated.

Talk to your doctor if you have any of these signs of a sleep disorder:

• You consistently take more than 30 minutes each night to fall asleep.

• You consistently awaken several times each night and then have trouble falling back to sleep, or you awaken too early in the morning.

• You often feel sleepy during the day, you take frequent naps, or you fall asleep at inappropriate times during the day.

• Your bed partner says that when you sleep, you snore loudly, snort, gasp, make choking sounds, or stop breathing for short periods.

• You have creeping, tingling, or crawling feelings in your legs or arms that are relieved by moving or massaging them, especially in the evening and when trying to fall alseep.

• Your bed partner notices that your legs or arms jerk often during sleep.

• You have vivid, dreamlike experiences while falling asleep or dozing.

• You have episodes of sudden muscle weakness when you are angry or fearful, or when you laugh.

• You feel as though you cannot move when you first wake up.

Keep in mind that children can have some of these same signs when they have a sleep disorder, but they often do not show signs of excessive daytime sleepiness. Instead they may seem overactive and have difficulty focusing or doing their best in school.

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