Are sleep problems after stroke common?
A fellow caregiver asked...
Are sleep problems after stroke common? I am doing an assignment on a service user called John who suffered from a stroke which caused him to crash he's car, in what ways will it cause him to have sleep deprivation?
Expert Answer
James Castle, M.D. is a neurologist at NorthShore University HealthSystem (affiliated with The University of Chicago) and an expert on strokes.
Stroke can cause sleep deprivation by a multitude of different ways. Those include, but are not limited to, 1) Post stroke anxiety, 2) Post stroke depression, 3) Medication effect, 4) Post stroke sleep apnea, 5) Uncomfortable body positioning due to weakness/stiffness, 6) Alteration of sleep/wake cycle. The full list would quite long. Without knowing more specific information, it would be hard to pinpoint an exact cause. However, it would certainly not be unexpected for a stroke victim to suffer from sleep deprivation.