Margaret Mike

Night Terrors are not something that you can stop by yourself. What your daughter is experiencing may not actually be a Night Terror. Does she have other sleep issues? Is she sleepier that other kids her age? She may need to see a pediatric neurologist or sleep specialist.

Sincerely,

Margaret Mike, M.D. FAASM

In order for a therapy to be effective for a sleep issue, or any issue, it needs to be addressing the cause of the problem, not simply a symptom.
Is your son a night owl, and isn’t sleepy at bedtime. Does he have a similar bedtime every night? Is his sleep environment quiet, cool and feel safe?
Is he busy with activating activities prior to bed, including video games? Caffeine?

Melatonin is not nature’s sleeping pill. It is a hormone that is secreted at night, during darkness and it’s release is inhibited by light. That’s why it’s been termed the hormone of darkness. It is present in high levels during darkness in nocturnal animals that are fully awake.
Some people feel sleepy with it, others have bad dreams or grogginess the next day. The quality of the product and the actual amount of melatonin can vary as much as 10 fold from one “serving” to another in the same bottle. Dietary supplements are not monitored and can be a Pandora’s Box when it comes to actual contents.
The effects of melatonin on kids with developing brains, especially around puberty is unclear. The sensitivity to melatonin is increased at puberty when the body clock has more impact on the sleep wake timing, which is why teenagers often become more of a night owl and don’t get sleepy until a later time and then sleep much longer in the mornings.
During puberty sleep requirements can increase to 9 or 10 hours at night, so 8 hours is actually insufficient at that age.

There can be other sleep disorders that make it hard to sleep, such as Restless Legs which is often present in a parent also, but can be hard to recognize especially if they have had it for years but don’t realize other people don’t experience it.
Allergies and snoring, possibly with sleep apnea are causes that melatonin will not treat.
Start with good sleep hygeine(habits), regular schedule avoid video games within 1-2 hrs of bedtime and if that doesn’t help, talk to the pediatrician.
Hope this helps.

Lack of sleep will not cause blurred vision. If there is an underlying vision problem then fatigue may make it harder for the eye muscles to maintain visual alignment and vision to appear less focused.

Dr. Mike

Ears hurting? If there is a pressure feeling in your ears, it could be related to congestion if you have allergies. Pain can be referred, meaning where we perceive a pain may not be where it is actually coming from. If you grind your teeth during the night, or clench them tightly, you might feel pain that seems like it is coming from the ears. It can be coming from the tempo-mandibular joint (TMJ) also. Does your jaw “click” when you open it or while eating?
I would suggest you ask your dentist if there are signs of teeth grinding. If so, a bite guard may help.
This is not something that is typical with a sleep disorder, rather it is probably something that is occurring during the night for other reasons.

Sleep apnea definitely has a genetic tendency. Two important factors are body build - anatomy of the throat, and obesity. OSA usually gets worse with weight gain, and weight has both genetic behavioral and environmental influences. Some people can be thin and have OSA, but as weight increases, especially size of the neck, the apnea usually becomes more severe. Weight control is the best defense!

Sincerely,

Margaret E. Mike, M. D., FAASM

Do you snore? Have you gained weight? Do you get up and urinate at night? Is it often at a similar time? Are you sometimes aware of waking from a dream during the night? These are all common symptoms in people with Obstructive Sleep Apnea. Over time, blood pressure may start to go up, and/or blood sugar levels (diabetes), reflux during sleep is another symptom. If you have trouble getting hour legs comfortable or have an urge to move them, or wake with leg cramps, you may have Restless Legs and/or Periodic Limb movements - nobody knows they have that without a sleep study, sometimes a bed partner will say the person looks like they are riding a bike in their sleep. People can have one or both OSA and RLS PLMD. A sleep study is the best way to figure it out, in the sleep center if possible. Home screening studies tend to under estimate apnea and can’t detect the periodic limb movements or what is happening either the sleep stages - not good for evaluating insomnia. Meds won’t control your problem if the cause of the problem hasn’t been identified, so the correct treatment can be chosen.
I hope this helps.

The severe anemia, if associated with low ferritin levels, including levels in the lower normal range, can be associated with Restless Legs Syndrome and/or Periodic Limb Movement Disorder. RLS is an uncomfortable sensation usually in the legs worse at night or if confined like in a plane or long car ride. There is an urge to move them, which briefly brings relief, but the uncomfortable antsy feeling returns. PLMs occur during light and deeper sleep. People have no awareness of THR rhythmic movement of the big toe and ankle every 20 to 40 seconds. Some people often actually have a bicycling movement. They may wake with a tired feeling in their legs or wake with a foot or leg cramp during the night. They both have the same triggers, especially caffeine and Benadryl type agents often found in over-the-counter sleep aids! I don’t know if you are describing hypersensitivity to light, like people with migraines might occur before or during the headache. Those symptoms may all represent something not caused by a sleep disorder, but they might aggravate it and poor sleep aggravates everything else! An evaluation by a neurologist and/or ophthalmologist should be considered, as well as a sleep study, an in-lab study, not just the home ones that are very limited and can’t diagnose PlMD and tend to underestimate sleep apnea, which can be present with little or no snoring, especially in women. It usually gets worse with weight gain. I suspect there is more than one thing going on. To help sort it out requires putting the symptoms in chronological order to put the pieces together including changes in weight and medications.