Why do some people sleep only while sitting? Sleeping positions change due to illness, what is the correct sleeping position? Sleeping while sitting, what?

I even fell several times. Well, at least not into the inspection hole. One day he was asked to drive a car out of the garage after repairs. He left. But the door does not open, the engine is running. The men came up - he was sleeping! I fell asleep in a few seconds! But there's more to come. Over the last 2 weeks, he fell asleep at the wheel 4 times. The first time I was taking my husband's partner home. He, sitting next to him, grabbed the steering wheel and kicked him in the side with his elbow. Thanks to this, we didn’t drive off the road. However, later he himself, being alone in the car, fell asleep 3 times. He was lucky twice. I just drove off and got stuck on the side of the road. But the third time I didn’t leave the truck driver. The car is like an accordion - he doesn't have a scratch. Probably, if I hadn’t slept, I would have killed myself to hell. A Belarusian truck driver was shocked by the severity of local drivers. Now it doesn't drive. Apparently God saved. He won’t kill himself while driving and won’t kill anyone. Only one thing is clear - he can’t drive. But he intends to restore the car.

That’s the real question - what’s wrong with him? What kind of disease is it and what is it called? How to treat this, and how to live with it?

I had such a problem (at a weight of 120), it was associated with sudden changes in blood sugar, most likely a person with that weight already has diabetes, also happens due to hormonal (age and weight) failure, for example, testosterone. But you can’t joke with your health; it’s difficult to establish the cause of such a problem on your own, so without a proper examination of the body, a person not only risks, he also shortens his allotted age for a long time.

With the development of obesity, night sleep becomes restless, with periods of respiratory arrest, snoring, and muscle twitching. Daytime sleepiness is compensatory in nature. In addition, in obese people body fat compress the vessels in the neck that supply the brain. When there is a lack of oxygen, the brain prefers to work with minimal costs. This condition is called Pickwick's syndrome and differs from narcolepsy in the absence of catalepsy (no falls) and hallucinations.

All signs will disappear when weight normalizes.

My relative (former traffic police officer) after a drunk driver dragged him along the highway for one and a half kilometers (the tablet caught on the driver’s seat while he was filling out a report, the driver hit the gas and rushed forward, and the traffic cop was pulled after him. It was a miracle that he was not dragged under the wheels and thrown into the oncoming traffic) - after this incident, I also began to fall asleep right on the move. I could fall asleep while standing in line, in the bathroom, and even fell asleep while eating!

He was treated for a long time. It’s good that his experience had already been completed (25 years), and he was able to retire. In general, spontaneous drowsiness is often observed in older people.

Grandparents always fall asleep in front of the TV, for example, but their sleep is superficial. shallow.

But in in this case, the person clearly has something wrong with their vessels. It is necessary to do an ultrasound scan of the vessels of the head and neck, check the blood for cholesterol, consult a neurologist, cardiologist and somnologist.

With narcolepsy, people often go into a phase deep sleep straight from wakefulness. It often happens genetic predisposition to such a disease, this symptom also occurs with mental illnesses. It is necessary to be examined, because the condition is very life-threatening.

Excess weight makes a person slow. It is difficult for him to bend, squat and even walk. So he looks for a way out in the elevator or in the car. He wants to sleep due to heavy workload. He gets tired quickly and needs sleep to regain his strength. And the car needs to be taken away from him, out of harm’s way. Once you were lucky, the second time, and the third time not. Will walk more, will lose weight overweight. His joy in life will return. In general, only one positive thing.

There is also such a disease (not only in “obese” people) called “Narcolepsy”, in which a person can fall asleep anywhere and anytime. A very scary thing. But it’s hard to say what’s wrong with your friend; you need the help of a qualified specialist.

Most likely he has high blood pressure, and he does not take medications. At high blood pressure many people experience constant drowsiness. A excess weight just helps to increase blood pressure.

What kind of disease is this? A person only has to sit down, and even though he constantly falls asleep, even though his neck falls off

Another manifestation of the disease is cataplexy: a person suddenly falls silent in the middle of a conversation, things fall out of his hands, and his legs give way. Consciousness does not leave him, but he is unable to utter a word or move his hand - his muscles relax. The attack lasts several seconds, sometimes minutes. Often patients do not even have time to fall, but having dropped the object from their hands, they pick it up. The most surprising thing is that attacks of cataplexy most often occur against the background of a joyful, happy mood, and their most reliable provocateur is sincere laughter. For some, pain attacks occur especially persistently when they themselves tell something funny. However, it is not possible to provoke an attack of arbitrariness with “artificial laughter”. “Polite” laughter is also safe for the sake of decency - but laughter from the heart very quickly ends in a fit!

Another form of the disease - periodic hibernation - has been known to doctors since time immemorial. A medical work from 1672 describes the poet Epiminides of Crete, who allegedly slept in a cave for 57 years. It is hardly worth fully believing this period, but cases of hibernation that lasted two decades are completely reliable. True, they are very rare and are the consequences of severe mental illness. A week-long or even three-week hibernation is not such a rare occurrence. Probably, the roots of this disease go very deep: it has much in common with the condition that, for example, bears and gophers fall into in winter, when there is little food, and some amphibians - in summer, when water bodies dry up. Human body temperature is reduced during hibernation, blood pressure Same. They do not eat or drink for several days - as a result, tissue dehydration occurs, and patients suddenly lose weight. The muscles completely relax, reflexes sometimes completely disappear. It is impossible to wake up such patients.

Hypersomnia (excessive daytime sleepiness)

Excessive daytime sleepiness and a pathological increase in sleep duration are called hypersomnia in medicine. Hypersomnia is not an independent disease, but a symptom accompanying various diseases and condition. There are about 30 reasons for excess nap liveliness.

In medical practice, the most common and dangerous cause severe daytime sleepiness is a syndrome of obstructive sleep apnea. This disease is manifested, in addition to severe daytime sleepiness, by loud intermittent snoring, pauses in breathing during sleep, restless and unrefreshing sleep, frequent urination at night, nausea and increased blood pressure in the morning. Patients may suddenly fall asleep while watching TV, reading a newspaper, or even while talking. Patients with sleep apnea have a 3- to 7-fold increase in the incidence of motor vehicle accidents due to falling asleep while driving compared to the general population. You can read more about the problem of road accidents in patients with sleep apnea here.

Other causes of excessive daytime sleepiness:

• narcolepsy
• periodic limb movement syndrome in sleep
• hypotension (low blood pressure)
• astheno-neurotic and depressive states
• reception medicines causing daytime sleepiness
• organic diseases and brain injuries
• jet lag syndrome
• chronic sleep deficiency, etc.

The severity of excessive daytime sleepiness can be assessed using a special test.

In some cases, self-testing to identify diseases that most often cause excessive daytime sleepiness (obstructive sleep apnea syndrome, narcolepsy, periodic limb movement syndrome during sleep) helps to clarify the cause of hypersomnia.

Making an accurate diagnosis is only possible based on special research night sleep - polysomnography, as well as a number of other studies (encephalography, magnetic resonance imaging of the brain and a number of others).

If you are concerned about chronic daytime sleepiness, consult the Sleep Medicine Center of the Barvikha Clinical Sanatorium.

Health and Living Healthy with Elena Malysheva

Not the official website of the Health and Live Healthy programs, Elena Malysheva

Why do people sleep sitting up

What diseases prevent people from sleeping lying down?

The happiness of sleeping while lying down is not available to many people. Today we will tell you why. People who have heart disease are forced to sleep sitting up. In a horizontal position, blood flow to the heart increases, the heart cannot cope, and the blood remains in the lungs.

The lungs swell, gas exchange is disrupted, pulmonary edema occurs, and breathing is difficult. This condition occurs when coronary disease or valvular pathology, coronary disease heart, heart defects, after a heart attack, drinking people. If you find it difficult to sleep lying down, you need to see a cardiologist.

The volume of fluid in the brain is constant. When additional fluid begins to form inside the brain, it occurs. headache. This could be due to a brain tumor. If you experience this symptom, you need to get an MRI.

We remind you that the summary is only a brief summary of information on this topic from a specific program; the full video release can be viewed here Live Healthy: Issue dated July 18, 2013

Why do some people only sleep while sitting?

Some people cannot sleep lying down. They spin and turn, but they can’t get into the position they need to fall asleep. But as soon as they sit down in a chair with a book or in bed, sleep immediately sets in. In this position, people get enough sleep.

If a person has some kind of unpleasant association of falling asleep lying down or has experienced a strong fright while falling asleep in bed, then in this position he begins to become stressed, adrenaline is released into the blood and he cannot fall asleep.

People who have heart disease are forced to sleep sitting up. In a horizontal position, blood flow to the heart increases, the heart cannot cope, and the blood remains in the lungs. Therefore, a person instinctively takes a position that makes it easier for him to fall asleep and sleep, in this case - semi-vertical. As the disease progresses, the patient needs more and more pillows.

Contact a cardiologist and get an ECG and ultrasound of the heart.

A person cannot sleep lying down if he has pathological condition stomach. People who suffer from heartburn sleep half-sitting. If a person lies down, reflux, heartburn occurs, and the contents of the stomach are thrown into the esophagus.

Most often this occurs with a hiatal hernia. If the hole in the diaphragm through which the esophagus enters is too large, a hernia occurs. The person often coughs because he is irritated. gastric juice esophagus.

Do X-ray examination esophagus.

It happens that a person has a headache when lying down. This alarming symptom. Which indicates that fluid is not leaking from the brain. There are cavities in the brain that are filled with fluid, this fluid constantly leaks out.

Sleeping while sitting can be a consequence of headaches that occur when lying down.

See a doctor and have a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan of the brain.

There may be another reason, more typical for fat people- sleep apnea or breath holding. Apnea attack It happens more often at night when a person is lying on his back. If the patient is very impressionable, under the influence of stress he may begin to be afraid to fall asleep while lying down.

The situation for children is slightly different from for adults. Why does a child prefer to sleep sitting up? Very often, babies take this position due to night terrors that disrupt the process of falling asleep in bed.

When a child or adult sleeps sitting up for a long period of time (more than one month), it can lead to certain consequences:

An uncomfortable posture leads to compression of the spinal arteries that supply blood to the brain. This leads to ischemia and disrupts night rest, causing drowsiness and a feeling of exhaustion after a night's rest;

Significant pressure on the vertebrae as a result long stay in an awkward position can lead to changes in spinal column and cause exacerbations of a number of diseases, including osteochondrosis;

Similar consequences that occur in older people can cause ischemic stroke.

Sleep disorder: narcolepsy, symptoms

The narcoleptic falls asleep several times a day a short time in any circumstances under the influence of irresistible sleep.

Neurologists around the world have been studying the disease, first described in 1877 by the German neurologist Westphal, for more than a century.

Its name comes from the Greek words “stupor” and “attack”. The disease is quite rare, however total There are quite a lot of people with narcolepsy in the world; in the USA alone there are more than 100 thousand of them.

Experts note the close relationship of the disease with genetic predisposition.

People susceptible to this disease and those around them often do not take it seriously.

Consider one of the cases described by Peter Hauri, an American somnologist:

Farmer Robertson, 36, experiences three daytime attack sleep from 17 years old, lasting up to 15 minutes each. Friends regard him strange behavior as a manifestation of laziness.

But the farmer himself is worried about another feature of his: when he has to get angry with his children, scold them or punish them, he is seized by severe weakness in the knees, which simply knocks him down on a chair or the floor.

After seeking help from a psychotherapist, the patient was examined at a sleep clinic, where his daytime sleep was recorded. The examination showed that Robertson falls into the phase of paradoxical sleep directly from wakefulness, which is abnormal for healthy people. He was diagnosed with narcolepsy and treated successfully.

Narcolepsy attacks can affect the patient's relationships with others and their quality of life. Therefore, it is very important to recognize this disease early stages development.

Symptoms of Narcolepsy

• Sudden and inevitable attacks of drowsiness

This is the most disturbing symptom and is the most characteristic. A narcoleptic attack occurs unexpectedly: during eating, sexual intercourse, driving a car or other transport, while swimming, which creates unpleasant or dangerous situations not only for the patient.

• A loss muscle tone V striated muscles(cataplexy)

Let's remember the case of the farmer - muscle weakness, which doctors call cataplexy, manifested itself in moments of strong emotions and anger. Cataplexy can even be triggered by unpleasant memories.

Healthy people may also experience a “weak-kneed” feeling when they are scared or receive bad news. This is the body's natural reaction to a stressful situation.

In narcoleptics it is pathologically enhanced and can manifest itself in a weak form or complete collapse (fall). A person may fall silent in the middle of a conversation, drop a cigarette from his mouth, drop a fork from his hands, his body does not obey him: his arms hang like whips, his head droops, his legs give way, his jaw hangs, his tongue does not move.

The attack of immobility can stop instantly and the patient who has dropped the book manages to pick it up. It is interesting that at this time the narcoleptic is aware of what is happening, and his attention sharpens.

Cataplexy may not develop immediately after the onset of drowsiness, but some time later (months or years).

• Sleep paralysis

Another manifestation of narcolepsy is sleep paralysis. In a weak form it is expressed in a healthy person, in patients it is extremely strong. Patients feel immobilized for a short time, measured in seconds or a few minutes, and experience a feeling of severe anxiety.

Sleep paralysis occurs when falling asleep or waking up and can disappear with external touch. This condition can frighten the patient: he is in varying degrees is aware of the situation, but cannot move.

• Hypnagogic hallucinations (visual and auditory hallucinations falling asleep)

Vivid dream-like experiences in a state of active wakefulness, often unpleasant and scary. A person may imagine various monsters and all sorts of evil spirits crawling on him, but he can neither scream nor move.

The patient, being in a state of partial wakefulness and sleep at the same time, has no control over what is happening, which often frightens him.

A narcoleptic person performs ordinary everyday actions without conscious awareness. He may even fall asleep for a short time and continue to fall asleep, but after a while he will not remember what, how and when he did it.

The manifestation of this symptom can pose a potential threat to others.

In narcoleptics, not only daytime wakefulness is disrupted, interrupted by short episodes of uncontrollable sleep. Night sleep also proceeds abnormally and is characterized by high physical activity caused by frequent awakenings. Sleep may be interrupted for just a couple of seconds and the patient may not notice it.

In the morning he is completely exhausted and broken and cannot understand the reason, which is that frequent awakenings do not allow you to plunge into full-fledged fast or deep slow-wave sleep and get the necessary rest. There are no boundaries separating the phases of rest and activity.

Narcoleptics do not have full daytime activity and are deprived of normal night sleep.

• Associated symptoms of narcolepsy include double vision, poor concentration, headaches, and memory loss.

Children susceptible to this disease often lag behind in their development. Adults may have problems performing professional duties.

Symptoms of the disease may develop gradually over time or occur all at once.

In healthy people, paradoxical sleep begins 60–90 minutes after falling asleep, muscle tone gradually disappears.

The narcoleptic falls into paradoxical sleep instantly and can also quickly lose muscle control. Sudden attacks daytime sleep occurs with characteristic features: loss of muscle tone, sleep paralysis, vivid hallucinations - dreams.

Patients do not have a clear separation of wakefulness and paradoxical sleep.

Vogel, an American scientist, believes that healthy man dreams in order to sleep, and the narcoleptic sleeps in order to dream. With the help of an unexpected transition to sleep, they escape from reality and from conflict situations.

Narcoleptics remember their dreams well and talk about them with pleasure. The proportion of REM sleep in the patient is increased, and slow sleep is decreased.

Causes of drug forest

There is no exact answer about the causes of narcolepsy yet. Genetic predisposition is noted by experts as one of the most important prerequisites for this disease.

The sleep of people suffering from narcolepsy is similar in many ways to the sleep of newborns: overly active and uncoordinated - without stages of drowsiness and sleep spindles.

In both infants and narcoleptics, the thalamohemispheric system of the brain, which is responsible for organizing slow sleep, is weakened, and the hemispheric-trunk, responsible for REM sleep, on the contrary, is strengthened. By continuously producing REM sleep (in fragments or completely), it prevents the narcoleptic from either sleeping or staying awake normally.

What factors or causes lead to disruption of the sleep-wake cycle? Biochemists and geneticists will have to answer this question. In the meantime, narcolepsy is entirely under the control of neurologists, who offer patients medication and psychotherapeutic treatment.

Treatment for this disease should include proper organization wakefulness-sleep regime: go to bed and get up in the morning, preferably at the same time.

Repeated short naps during the day are useful, 20-30 minutes each episode, which will provide the necessary level of activity.

• You should be careful when performing potentially dangerous actions: driving a car and other vehicles, working with electrical appliances. Plan your day so that someone can be with you at this time.
• Assigned drug treatment Perform carefully and report any changes in your health to your doctor.
• Ask your doctor to have an explanatory conversation with your family members if they underestimate the seriousness of the disease and attribute its manifestations to laziness and other things. Family support is very important.
• It is not recommended to hide from your employer that you suffer from narcolepsy. The employer will provide the necessary conditions labor if you are a valuable employee.
• Getting to know people who are susceptible to this disease will help moral support– Find or create a support group for narcoleptics in your city.
• Pay special attention to your child if he also has narcolepsy. Teachers and coaches should know about this in order to help and protect in difficult or dangerous situations.

An interesting fact: not only people, but also dog breeds such as Labradors, Dachshunds and Dobermans are susceptible to this disease. They exhibit the same symptoms as humans: sudden daytime sleep, cataplexy, etc.

I wish you and your pets health and suggest you watch a short and funny video about a pug who reacts vividly to a TV show.

Elena Valve for the project Sleepy Cantata.

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Hello, I am 21 years old and I suffer from lack of sleep. It all started in the army, when I was put on duty in a company, and within 24 hours I went on duty. I often didn’t sleep for days and then it started happening to me. I fell asleep all the time during the day, standing, sitting, and once I even fell asleep while walking, without even realizing it. Also, sometimes when I talk to a person I have attacks of paralysis for a second, and it often happens when I laugh. Many people say that I laugh in my sleep. But they became so colorful, rich as in reality and became so long that this has never happened before. I also fall asleep while driving, but I feel myself falling asleep and immediately look for a place to stop. I consulted with a doctor, she told me to drink glycine, I’ve been drinking for a month now and there haven’t been any significant changes, I just noticed that I’m not starting to lose power so sharply. During the day I can sleep all day, but at night I am alert and seem to not need sleep. Well, now after the army it’s all the same, and glycine has become easier, but I’m still tired of it, I want a normal life.

Yes. I also had to face this problem. Tell me which specialists I need to contact. what is it connected with? could it be a heart problem?

Victoria, the cause of narcolepsy has not been established; scientists suggest that the main prerequisite for the occurrence of the disease is genetic predisposition. See neurologists or specialists who diagnose and treat complex sleep disorders.

I wrote a higher post here (I’m 30, and I’ve been nodding off for about 10 years now.). I forgot to say that when it “cuts” (an attack of such drowsiness occurs), it does not look like just falling asleep, at that moment it “knocks out” with such force that it looks like a horse dose of sleeping pills or anesthesia. And at the same time there is a feeling that you yourself want to relax and... It is possible that this even looks like a drug “high” (although I have never tried drugs myself and cannot say for sure), but the sensations when falling asleep are so pleasant that if you relax, you immediately forget not only where you are, but even your name and who you are. It is very difficult to overcome this when you work at a computer. Although small physical activity(got up, walked around, stretched.) temporarily helps.

Although who knows, maybe this is normal? I work at a computer, my work is monotonous, with numbers, graphs, technical documentation (most often these are kilometers of columns with numbers/data that I have to parse). Maybe it’s just monotony that affects me this way, because sitting in the twilight in an empty room and reading interesting book for 4-6 hours, it doesn’t “cut” me! And even when stuck in a traffic jam for a long time, it still doesn’t “cut” with such force as at work.

thank you very much for detailed explanations. It’s very bad that I found out about this disease so late. I've had this problem for a long time, since school. But I just didn’t suspect that it could get worse.

Now I can switch off when I’m talking to someone.

I have already explained my condition to doctors and psychiatrists and neurologists, but they blame everything on depression and chronic diseases which I still have besides everything else.

But I still understood something from your statements, and took note.

Forget-me-not, doctors, unfortunately, cannot always help. Fortunately, each of us has a remedy that is effective, but most importantly, safe. This is our self-hypnosis, our connection with our “I”, with our subconscious. The cause of the disease may lie in your fear of life; affirmations can help:

“I completely trust the very process of life and move freely in it,”

“Life was created for me, I move freely in it and trust the very process of life.”

Control all your thoughts, think that you are able to control every moment of your life and fall asleep only at your own discretion.

Go to church, pray to the icons for the illness to go away, order a prayer service for your health.

Dear Forget-Me-Not, believe in your healing, it will definitely come. All the best.

I'm 17 years old, and it's been bugging me for 2 years. At first I thought it was because I didn’t sleep much at night, although it seemed like I always went to bed and woke up at the same time. At first I fell asleep at school at my desk, but then all hell broke loose: I began to fall asleep wherever possible, in the cinema, at the computer, while studying and even walking down the street. I try not to go out and walk with people, because I’m afraid that it will start to “knock out” again. I can’t communicate normally with new people, because they are scared that I fall asleep like that, they think I’m some kind of drug addict or crazy. This is simply unbearable, I don’t know how to live further with this disease, because I really want to learn, develop and explore the world, but this is not possible for me because of sleep. My memory has deteriorated, I stopped understanding a lot of things, I can no longer do things on the spot like I used to. I'm afraid to go study for my license, in case I fall asleep and crash. And after all this, I decided to undergo an examination, they did a sleep analysis and the diagnosis of narcolepsy was confirmed. They prescribed some pills, but I need to take them constantly and I’m afraid that I’ll get used to them and become like a drug addict. What should I do?

Vlad, accept reality as it is, but don’t lose heart. The pills will support your health for now. After all, they are better than falling asleep in unexpected situations. Continue treatment and look alternative methods. Find and study the necessary literature, you are unlikely to find it on the Internet true advice. Contact To higher powers asking for help to overcome this disease, the answer will definitely come. Books that can help include Sinelnikov’s “Love Your Illness,” Louise Hay’s “Heal Your Body,” and many other psychologists. Many diseases, if not caused by heredity, are acquired due to an incorrect worldview. Try to understand yourself. Sleep is an escape from reality. How long ago did you experience symptoms of uncontrollable falling asleep? Is it related to this period? unpleasant situation? This may reveal the cause of the disease and the path to cure.

I'm 30, and I've been nodding off for about 10 years now. I always want to sleep, which makes it difficult to concentrate. When I perform some active actions, it somehow drives the blood and then I may not notice my drowsiness. But not much active actions It’s the dream that’s starting to bother me. Even with a slow-moving traffic jam (I turn on heavy metal so as not to sleep). Now I work in an office and drink liters of coffee. I’m training my will, it’s gotten to the point where when I had kidney surgery, they gave me general anesthesia intravenously and could not “knock me out” in any way. Attacks of drowsiness occur several times a day (3-4), it knocks me out so much that I begin to see double. I hold on to my consciousness with all my strength and let it go, but my head begins to pound. The tone usually appears after 16 hours, productivity at work immediately increases, etc. By the evening, if I slept at least 7-8 hours last night, I do not experience any drowsiness, I feel a surge of energy and a thirst for activity. If I don’t go to bed, I’m in good shape until 4 am. But usually I go to bed at 11, usually 12 at night and get up at 7-7:30. Once I conducted an experiment on myself - I just wanted to get some sleep and slept from 15:00 on Friday to 12:00 on Monday with breaks for the toilet and still did not get enough sleep. When I fall asleep, dreams (with sound and color) come instantly, I just have to close my eyes, but at this moment I can still control my body while conscious and even describe what I see and hear, while hearing what is happening around me.

What is this? Narcolepsy or am I just a night owl out of my cycle?

Sergey, it is quite possible that you are an owl “in a cycle that is not yours.” In this case, changing your job to another with a more suitable schedule can help.

If you exhibit symptoms of narcolepsy, you need to go to specialists who can identify the disease.

I think we need to start with an examination. Searching for answers on the Internet will not guarantee that you will diagnose yourself correctly.

I can't control my sleep junior classes schools. Now I am already 22 years old. I constantly fell asleep in class, even when I was interested, and sometimes my brain simply turned off due to monotony. At the same time, it was necessary not to fight in front of anyone, because the teachers cursed, and the peers joked and then teased me as soon as this happened again. Then my body began to recover on its own as the tone weakened. because of this, you seem to be sleeping and at the same time aware of what is happening around and with you. and at night the same. You hear something when you say something in your sleep, you move your arms and legs. to my young man sometimes it is difficult to sleep with me, and sometimes he becomes afraid. The last time he said that in a dream I had a cramp and my hand clenched as if it were my heart. my fingers did not open, I did not wake up and stopped breathing for 30 seconds. Of course, over all this long time I have learned to live with this feature. But in the last 2-3 weeks everything became somehow different. worse. Just like when I was a distant child, literally yesterday I fell asleep while walking and couldn’t control it. In the underground. Trying to move away from the edge of the platform and not being able to really do it, I realized that I was starting to fall asleep and that I would start falling onto the rails. and today. Previously, visuals came at moments when I was completely exhausted, but I couldn’t sleep and you were holding on with all your might. Today.. it’s a strange state.. I haven’t been involved with substances for a very long time. but in an absolutely normal state, I looked at photographs of my friends and acquaintances and they seemed to be in reality in space. there was a feeling that they were continuing the movement that they were performing in the photo. move and become three-dimensional in real space. like in 3D or something.

In general, this is not a healthy topic.

Thank you for the article! I will definitely visit a neurologist.

Emotional and mental fatigue interferes with my ability to remember information. Problems in my personal life and being stuck at work have exhausted my body. The employee persuaded me to take Biotredin (thought it was an antidepressant). It really improved my condition, and there is no dependence on it.

I've been suffering for ten years now similar disease. I am 65. About 35 years ago I was in a car accident in Moscow. Strong shaking brain, sewed a torn out eye in Sklif. Vision was preserved. The family laughed at first, but then they began to take it more seriously. I can suddenly fall asleep in the toilet, during lunch, rub my face into a hot cup of tea, into a computer keyboard, on the corner of a table, etc. The most unpleasant thing is that this happens at concerts, in cinemas, when watching action films, listening to loud music. By profession I am a film director. He has made many documentaries and feature films. Now, having a pacemaker and second-degree diabetes, he is forced to lead a secluded life in a remote Smolensk village. I have undergone many examinations, but there are no prescriptions for today, or are there? The article is good, but without hope. Vitaly.

When traditional medicine I have made diagnoses and are unable to help, it’s time to take up self-healing. Vitaly, don’t give up and don’t lose heart. I advise you to get acquainted with the health systems of Shatalova, Boyarshinov (AGGS), Norbekov, read Sinelnikov, Louise Hay. Any disease is a consequence of our wrong mental attitudes, and, of course, nutrition and lifestyle.

All the best to you!

So how to treat this disease, are there any ways and which doctor should I contact if necessary?

Like any disease, narcolepsy is best treated in the early stages. You, Andrey, should contact a neurologist or a specialist who diagnoses and treats complex sleep disorders.

I had periods when I literally fell asleep on the go.

But it seems that overwork played such a role.

Now, I definitely need to get at least 8 hours of sleep to feel full of energy.

Otherwise, again, how boiled chicken will. 🙂

I also remember such a period when I was studying at the institute, I fell asleep during sessions on the go. At night he also worked part-time at sabbaths. Thank God that these are temporary manifestations of drowsiness, and not permanent, as described in the article.

Yes, this disease occurs not only in people - I recently saw a program on Discovery about a dog that falls asleep from loud sound, for example, clapping your hands.

Never heard of this insidious disease like narcolepsy. Thank you!

Saw documentary about this disease, strange and terrible, because the life of not only this person, but also the people around him is in danger.

When my driving experience was just beginning, I very often felt drowsy while driving, apparently under the influence of the monotony of the road. A couple of times I just fell asleep, but both times everything ended well, thank God. Now even if I didn’t get enough sleep while driving, this doesn’t happen.

I forgot about it as soon as I left the night shift.

I even watched a program about such people. a very dangerous disease.

It turns out that a person cannot control himself. It's very scary. And it turns out there are so many of them, I didn’t know.

Yes, it’s unpleasant, especially while driving or if such attacks make a person dependent on carrying out his or her duties. functional responsibilities, such as a doctor, a teacher, and it’s simply difficult for a person with a disease to live.

My dad sleeps all the time, even while driving. This can hardly be called narcolepsy. He has no other signs, but who knows.

Yeah! If it's simple chronic lack of sleep, then the matter is fixable, but the symptoms are different! But in the case of narcolepsy, a completely different approach is required. Well, at least they highlighted it in separate disease, and not attributed to laziness or carelessness. Such people need to be seriously treated, otherwise grief will befall them, those around them and their relatives. Interesting article, is laid out in detail, it’s absolutely terrifying, as you can imagine.

There are so many diseases! This is the first time I’ve read about such a pathology. I really sympathize with people who suffer from this disease.

Probably, before making such a diagnosis, you need to look at whether it is just a simple chronic lack of sleep. And if it’s lack of sleep, then the situation can be easily corrected. When I chronically didn’t get enough sleep, I fell asleep standing on the bus.

How many tragedies happen on the roads if a driver falls asleep at the wheel. Unfortunately, almost no one pays attention to this disease, citing the fact that they are simply tired and have not slept much. It's a pity.

You are absolutely right, Evgeniy. A friend of mine often falls asleep in any circumstances, but chalks it up to fatigue and lack of sleep.

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Be sure to consult with a specialist so as not to harm your health!

• there is no way to lie down, but I really want to sleep;
• where he lost his sleep, there the man fell asleep because of severe fatigue;
• doctor's recommendations for certain diseases;
• previously received stress in the process of falling asleep while lying down.

Some people don't sleep for a long time in a comfortable bed. But on the other hand, each of us sometimes fell asleep sweetly to the murmur of the TV or with a book in our hands in our favorite chair, in an extremely uncomfortable position. Students and schoolchildren fall asleep at the table in class, deputies in their work chairs. But sleep while sitting is rarely deep and complete. A forced posture makes you wake up when you change it or if parts of your body become numb. A person will be able to rest a little, but there will be a feeling of lethargy, weakness, and a possible headache. If the reason for falling asleep while sitting is extreme fatigue or the inability to take a horizontal position, then it can be eliminated. It is much worse if the reason is psychological, related to stressful situation. Then you have to contact a psychologist or engage in auto-training in order to return to a physiologically normal sleeping position - lying down.

Some people cannot sleep lying down. They spin and turn, but they can’t get into the position they need to fall asleep. But as soon as they sit down in a chair with a book or in bed, sleep immediately sets in. In this position, people get enough sleep. So why does a person sometimes sleep while sitting?

If a person has some kind of unpleasant association of falling asleep lying down or has experienced a strong fright while falling asleep in bed, then in this position he begins to become stressed, adrenaline is released into the blood and he cannot fall asleep.

Man sleeps sitting due to heart problems

People who have heart disease are forced to sleep sitting up. In a horizontal position, blood flow to the heart increases, the heart cannot cope, and the blood remains in the lungs. Therefore, a person instinctively takes a position that makes it easier for him to fall asleep and sleep, in this case - semi-vertical. As the disease progresses, the patient needs more and more pillows.

What to do?

Contact a cardiologist and get an ECG and ultrasound of the heart.

Man sleeps sitting due to stomach problems

Sometimes a person sleeps sitting up if he has a pathological condition of the stomach. People who suffer from heartburn sleep half-sitting. If a person lies down, reflux, heartburn occurs, and the contents of the stomach are thrown into the esophagus.

Most often this occurs with a hiatal hernia. If the hole in the diaphragm through which the esophagus enters is too large, a hernia occurs. At the same time, a person often coughs because the esophagus is irritated by gastric juice.

What to do?

Perform an X-ray examination of the esophagus.

Man sleeps sitting due to headaches

It happens that a person has a headache when lying down. This is an alarming symptom. Which indicates that fluid is not leaking from the brain. There are cavities in the brain that are filled with fluid, this fluid constantly leaks out.

Brain cancer

Sleeping while sitting can be a consequence of headaches that occur when lying down.

What to do?

See a doctor and have a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan of the brain.

Apnea as a cause of sedentary sleep

There may be another reason, more typical for obese people - or holding your breath while sleeping. Sleep apnea occurs more often at night when a person is lying on his back. If the patient is very impressionable, under the influence of stress he may begin to be afraid to fall asleep while lying down.

Sleep while sitting in children

The situation for children is slightly different from for adults. Why does a child prefer to sleep sitting up? Very often, babies take this position due to night terrors that disrupt the process of falling asleep in bed.

Consequences of sedentary sleep

When a child or adult sleeps sitting up for a long period of time (more than one month), it can lead to certain consequences:

1. An uncomfortable posture leads to compression of the spinal arteries that supply blood to the brain. This leads to ischemia and disrupts night rest, causing drowsiness and a feeling of weakness after a night's rest.
2. Significant pressure on the vertebrae as a result of prolonged stay in an uncomfortable position can lead to changes in the spinal column and cause exacerbations of a number of diseases, including osteochondrosis.
3. Similar consequences that occur in older people can cause ischemic stroke.

IN modern medicine The search continues for answers to why some people used to sleep sitting up, and what benefits this could bring. A similar situation occurs today. Many adults and children note that when lying down, their level of drowsiness begins to decrease, and they cannot fall asleep for a long time. However, as soon as they sit down, read a book or watch TV, they immediately fall asleep sound sleep. Is it possible to rest in this way or is sleeping in a sitting position harmful to health?

Historical reference

In the 19th century, sleeping while sitting was quite common

Historical sources say that in some European countries, including in Russia, sleeping in a semi-sitting position was quite common. In this case, people do not use ordinary armchairs or sofas, but shortened sleeping wardrobes. Some of them have survived to this day. For example, in the Netherlands there is a closet in which Peter the Great rested at night, having a dream while sitting in Europe.

The prevalence of nightly rest in a sitting position in the past does not indicate its benefits to human health.

Why did people sleep sitting up in the 16th to 18th centuries? There is no reliable data explaining the reasons for this phenomenon. The most plausible hypothesis is associated with frequent feasts, when people ate fatty and rich in proteins food that takes a long time to digest. IN similar situation people felt better sitting than lying down. The second theory suggests that the main benefit of such a night's rest is simply the preservation of fancy hairstyles for the fair sex.

Why does a person prefer to sleep in a sitting position?

When a person chooses to sleep while sitting, the reasons this state can be very different. Most often, the desire to sit at night is associated with psychological characteristics. For example, such deviations are very often observed in people who have traumatic memories from the past - they were either very scared of something in the past while lying in bed, or they have unpleasant associations with a similar situation. All this leads to the fact that when a child or adult goes to bed, he experiences a strong surge of adrenaline, which does not allow him to fall asleep. When such a person moves to a chair, the feeling of discomfort goes away, allowing him to fall asleep peacefully.

There are different reasons for sleeping while sitting

Why can’t a psychologically healthy person fall asleep? This can be caused by various diseases. Very often, people suffering from gastroesophageal reflux disease, in which the contents of the stomach are thrown into the esophagus, prefer to sleep half-sitting. This position prevents such casts and significantly reduces the level of discomfort. However, such a situation requires, first of all, treatment of the underlying disease, and not just a change in place to sleep.

Second common medical problem, which explains why people slept and sleep sitting down, is sleep apnea, representing periods of cessation of breathing during sleep. Similar phenomenon It is more common in the supine position, and is usually noticed by the person's husband or wife, who reports the disorder to the patient. As a result, the person gets scared and prefers not to fall asleep in bed anymore.

The situation for children is slightly different from for adults. Why does a child prefer to sleep sitting up? Very often, babies take this position due to night terrors that disrupt the process of falling asleep in bed.

Diseases of the cardiovascular system

Sleeping in a sitting position also occurs in patients with cardiovascular diseases. In this case, such patients sleep with pillows placed under the lower back, which relieve the load on the heart.

If a person is in a horizontal position, then flow to his heart a large number of blood by venous vessels. This situation can cause discomfort, shortness of breath and breathing problems in patients with heart failure of any severity. Therefore, such people receive certain benefits from sleeping semi-sitting.

Possible harm

When a child or adult sleeps sitting up for a long period of time (more than one month), it can lead to certain consequences:

• An uncomfortable posture leads to compression of the spinal arteries that supply blood to the brain. This leads to ischemia and disrupts night rest, causing drowsiness and a feeling of weakness after a night's rest;
• significant pressure on the vertebrae as a result of prolonged stay in an uncomfortable position can lead to changes in the spinal column and cause exacerbations of a number of diseases, including osteochondrosis;

Sleeping in an uncomfortable position threatens the development of spinal diseases

• similar consequences that occur in older people can cause ischemic stroke.

To restore the quality of night's rest, it is necessary to contact doctors who can select recommendations and treatment for a person.

In this regard, many doctors talk about the dangers of sleeping in a sitting position, both for adults and children.

Doctors who insist that you should not sleep while sitting give the following recommendations to people with sleep position disorders.

• If the problem is psychological in nature, then the person should contact a psychotherapist who can help in such a situation. Learning to sleep in a new position is also of certain importance, for which there are a number of special techniques. You can get acquainted with them from your attending physician or a somnologist.

If the reason for sleeping in a sitting position is caused by psychological problems, then you need to seek help from a psychotherapist

• It is necessary to ventilate the room before going to bed, use a comfortable mattress, do not overeat in the evening and do not engage in activities that excite the central nervous system.
• If you have diseases that interfere with the process of falling asleep in a lying position, you should contact medical institution for their treatment. Early detection diseases allows you to quickly cure them, without developing negative consequences for good health.

Sleeping in a sitting position in a child or adult is associated with the psychological characteristics of a person or with certain diseases. Identifying the causes of this condition allows you to draw up a plan for developing the habit of sleeping while lying down and select recommendations for organizing night rest.

“Elena, if you find information about how you can identify incipient diseases by postures in your sleep, be sure to share with us. I think such information will be interesting not only to me, but to other readers too!” (From comments)

Our body is an unusually harmonious and intelligent system. Any mental or physical condition finds its own body positions in sleep long before the onset of the disease. To alleviate physical discomfort, a person often takes a forced position that is uncomfortable for him.

When the pain goes away (under the influence of painkillers or as a result of treatment), we happily return to our favorite position. This clearly demonstrates the close relationship between a person’s individuality and the sleeping position in which he spends most of the night.

I welcome you, friends, to the pages of the site about the phenomenon of sleep and quality of life. In this article: how our postures change during sleep due to illness, which posture during sleep is the most correct , the influence of habitual postures on health.

How body position changes as a result of illness

The disease begins with unpleasant pain. Moreover, in the bustle of the day, for a long time we may not attach importance to the tingling under the shoulder blade, tired legs or numbness of the hands, explaining these symptoms with anything: physical activity, nervous tension, stress, and so on. However, our body, unlike busy us, is sensitive to any disruption in the body and responds by changing the position of the body during sleep, easing the pressure in the area where the diseased organ is located.

Depression, low blood pressure, neuroses, stomach ulcers. With these diseases, a person intuitively takes the most gentle “fetal” position (position on his side, knees drawn up to the body).

Cervical osteochondrosis, tonsillitis, rhinitis, sinusitis, sinusitis- position on the side, hands placed under the cheek or pillow.

Heart diseases- on your back with your arms thrown up or half-sitting on high pillows.

If you wake up in the morning in a royal pose, and your hands are thrown behind your head, and this position was not typical for you before, it will not hurt to contact a cardiologist.

When we assume a horizontal position, the flow to the heart venous blood increases. The heart, in the case of heart failure, is not able to cope with a large influx of blood, it stagnates in the lungs and, as a result, shortness of breath and difficulty breathing, which disappear with vertical position. This forces a person to take a position close to vertical in his sleep, placing high pillows under his back and head.

As the disease progresses, a person needs an increasing number of pillows. Heart patients feel helpless before the world of sleep and horizontal position bodies, difficulties with blood circulation force them to look for support for their existence, at least with the help of pillows.

High blood pressure- supine position.

Diseases of the spine and gastrointestinal tract- poses in the “fetal position” and on the stomach, which reduce pressure on the spinal discs and relieve the load on the back.

Poor circulation in the legs,- a person sleeps on his back, legs bent at the knees. This pose is also taken if the legs are very tired. It facilitates blood circulation, heart function, and allows you to relieve veins.

Liver diseases, right kidney, diabetes- sleep on the left side.

Asthmatic bronchitis- a person lies on his back with his head thrown back. This position promotes better ventilation of the lungs, which means better access of oxygen to the body.

Diseases auditory nerve - the “ostrich” pose, when a person covers his head with a pillow while sleeping.

One lady who underwent surgery to remove a tumor on the right auditory nerve and completely lost her hearing shared details of the development of the disease.

Previously, the woman always slept on her left side in the “half-fetal” position, and over the past ten years she began to cover her head with a pillow so that it was located directly on the right ear. As the tumor grew, the lady developed constant noise in the ears (tinnitus), which she tried to get rid of by covering her ear with a pillow in her sleep.

The neurosurgeon who performed the operation suggested that the disease developed over a dozen years. It turns out that the early stage of the disease coincided with the transition from the “half-fetal” position in sleep to. If medicine were able to unravel the body’s signals transmitted by sleep positions, it would be possible to detect the development of a tumor at an early stage and save a woman’s hearing.

This case from the practice of the American psychiatrist S. Dunkell clearly confirms that sleep position can warn of illness in advance.

If you begin to wake up in a position that is not typical for you, I advise you to listen to your health.

Why you need to sleep in the right position

Let's start with anatomy

The human brain is quite small in size (only 2% of the total body weight), but it consumes enormous resources. When we sleep, the brain continues to work, “taking” 15% of the blood from the total blood flow and 20% of the oxygen that we receive when breathing.

The brain is supplied with blood and oxygen through two carotid and two vertebral arteries. The vertebral arteries pass through the canal that forms the transverse processes of the cervical vertebrae and provide nutrition mainly to the posterior parts of the brain (cerebellum, pons, medulla oblongata).

If the blood supply to these sections is insufficient, then their corresponding functions in the body suffer: the cerebellum - coordination and accuracy of movements, the pons oblongata and the Varoliev bridge - digestion, respiration, vascular tone and heart function.

What are the dangers of incorrect postures?

Compression of both or one vertebral artery during sleep is very dangerous. Even if one artery is pinched, the other may not be able to handle the increased blood flow - it may turn out to be too narrow to work for two (the diameter of the arteries sometimes differs from each other by 2 times) or will be blocked by an atherosclerotic plaque.

When the blood supply through two paired arteries supplying the brain is disrupted, hypoxia or oxygen starvation brain cells that are sensitive to lack of oxygen. For example, the kidneys or liver can be without oxygen for several hours, the brain can only last about 5-10 minutes. Moreover, in the areas of the brain responsible for intelligence and memory, irreversible processes begin within a minute.

Thus, We needprotect and cherish our vertebral arteries, which provide us with a full life. When you go to bed, make sure that these arteries are not compressed during your sleep.

It is important to choose a pillow that provides support. cervical vertebrae, keep the head position natural, as in a standing position. It is better to choose a medium-height or orthopedic pillow. The shoulders should not be on the pillow, but on the mattress. More details in the video at the end of the article and.

How to sleep is harmful

Let's consider poses that can provoke the sad consequences described above.

Sleeping on high pillows or on your stomach may lead to the development cervical osteochondrosis and cause stroke (in older people). Strokes most often occur in the early morning hours, when a person has spent most of the night in an incorrect position.

Sleeping on a high pillow on your side has the same dangerous consequences. One vertebral artery is compressed, and the second may not cope.

In the prone position a twisted neck compresses the throat, carotid artery in the area of ​​the clavicle, one of the paired vertebral arteries, the second may not work well due to atherosclerosis. All this makes breathing, blood flow and oxygen supply to the brain difficult.

In addition, the sleeping person is compressed rib cage, which in the normal state should have a large amplitude so that the diaphragm can expand and the lungs fill with air. When the lungs are compressed, the renewal of air in them is incomplete. IN at a young age This is not very scary, but in the elderly it can lead to death.

Sleep on your stomach with your arms extended above your head. A person sleeping in this position exposes himself dangerous disease- brachioplexus syndrome. Nerve endings And blood vessels shrink due to strong voltage muscles of the forearm, causing the hands to hurt and go numb.

Moreover, a head turned to one side pinches the carotid artery in the collarbone area, compresses the muscles of the throat and neck, which impedes blood circulation, breathing, and oxygen supply to the brain.

Sleep while sitting stretches intervertebral discs, resulting in pain and swelling in the neck area. We are talking about a pose when sitting strongly on public transport or at a table.

Sleeping on a very hard bed can lead to straightening of the physiological curves of the spine in the neck and lower back. As a result, it falls on the intervertebral discs high load, painful and local swelling, over time the discs become deformed and the pain becomes constant, osteochondrosis develops.

Sleeping without a pillow straightens the physiological cervical curve and leads to deformation of the cervical discs and osteochondrosis.

Sleeping on your back disrupts the breathing rhythm (if the muscles of the palate and throat are weakened or have a congenital defect), which leads. This is why the royal pose is called the “sudden death pose.”

The most correct pose

Sleeping on your side is considered most comfortable under the following conditions:

However, sleeping on the right side can put additional stress on the liver and also lead to the formation of wrinkles.

Sleeping on your back Many doctors consider it quite physiological: the vertebral discs are maximally unloaded, blood circulates normally. This position is most recommended for hypertensive patients, people susceptible to heart disease, and heartburn.

It is very difficult to accustom yourself to an unusual position in sleep, because sleep positions reflect the nature of our personality and correspond to the nature and type of psychological defense.

I hope, friends, the article was useful and you found the answer to your questions, how illnesses affect sleep positions, what is the correct sleeping position.

Smile! Sleeping on your back is dangerous if you snore; sleeping on your stomach is dangerous if you snore. vascular diseases, sleeping on the left side is dangerous for the heart, sleeping on the right side is dangerous for the liver. Health magazine wishes you pleasant dreams! :-D