Sleep Disturbances

Anyone who has cancer is at risk for having sleep disturbances. Sleep disturbances, particularly insomnia, are among the most common side effects reported by patients with cancer.

Your sleep cycle is an example of a circadian rhythm. Under normal circumstances, changes in light, temperature, and hormones tell your body when to sleep and help you "gear down" for it. Having cancer-and getting cancer treatments-can disrupt this rhythm, which can alter sleep patterns.

Sleep disturbances can include any or all of the following.

  • Difficulty falling asleep
  • Difficulty remaining asleep
  • Sleep that doesn't restore, even after enough time in bed
  • Sleep-related breathing disorders
  • Sleep-related movement disorders (such as restless leg syndrome)

If your nighttime sleep is inadequate, you can experience daytime sleepiness as well as decreases in functional ability, immune function, and quality of life.

Because many cancer treatments can make you tired, you may think that sleeping problems are a natural part of having cancer and you simply need to tolerate them. Not true!

 

Circadian rhythm

Diverse yet predictable changes in physiologic variables, including sleep, appetite, temperature, and hormone secretion, over a 24-hour period

 
 

Restless leg syndrome

An uncomfortable creeping, crawling, tingling, pulling, twitching, tearing, aching, throbbing, prickling, or grabbing sensation in the calves that occurs while sitting or lying down. The result is an uncontrollable urge to relieve the feeling by moving the legs. Symptoms worsen in the early evening or later at night, which often leads to insomnia.