When to see a doctor

This site is about habits for healthy sleepers. Habits can’t fix a sleep disorder. If any of these apply to you, talk to a doctor.

Signs to get checked

• Loud snoring with daytime sleepiness. Frequent loud snoring and daytime sleepiness are both symptoms of sleep apnea, where breathing repeatedly stops and starts during sleep. A sleep study may be needed to diagnose it [1].
• Gasping, choking or pauses in breathing. If a partner notices your breathing stopping and starting, or you wake gasping for air, that also points to sleep apnea [1].
• Insomnia lasting more than 3 months. Trouble sleeping on 3 or more nights a week for more than 3 months is chronic insomnia [3]. See a GP if changing your habits hasn’t helped or it’s making daily life hard to cope with. The usual treatment is cognitive behavioural therapy, in person or online [4].
• Restless legs. A strong urge to move your legs, with tingling, throbbing or itching, that gets worse when you rest at night. It’s linked to iron deficiency anaemia, pregnancy and kidney disease, and treatment can help. See a doctor if it stops you sleeping [5].
• Falling asleep while driving. In a CDC survey of 147,076 US adults, 4.2% said they had fallen asleep at the wheel in the past month. Snoring and sleeping 6 hours or less were each linked to drowsy driving [2].
• Acting out your dreams. Shouting, punching or kicking in your sleep can be REM sleep behaviour disorder. People often first seek help after injuring themselves or a bed partner, and it can be an early sign of conditions such as Parkinson’s disease, so tell your doctor [6].
• Sleepy all day despite enough sleep. Feeling tired all the time for no reason or falling asleep suddenly during the day are reasons to see a doctor; they can be signs of narcolepsy [7].

What to tell your doctor

Bring a 2-week sleep diary: when you went to bed, roughly when you fell asleep, wake-ups in the night, when you got up, naps, and caffeine and alcohol. The sleep diary tool records these (except the exact time you fell asleep; it asks how long you slept) and exports a CSV you can print. Sleep clinicians use diaries to plan insomnia treatment [3].

Also tell them what a bed partner has noticed (snoring, gasping, movements), how sleepy you feel in the day, and any medicines you take. Don’t stop any prescribed medicine on your own.

If you’re falling asleep while driving

Stop driving until you’ve seen a doctor. The CDC advises that the only safe thing to do when you feel tired at the wheel is to get off the road and rest [2].