ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

How to Tell If You Have Sleep Apnea

Updated on September 18, 2012
If you cannot sleep in the night or stay awake in the day, you might have sleep apnea.
If you cannot sleep in the night or stay awake in the day, you might have sleep apnea. | Source

Can you tell the signs of sleep apnea? I couldn't and this is my experience.

I went to a neurologist a few years ago for issues with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. I took a nerve test at one point and during the visit the doctor asked me other questions like “Do you snore?” “What is your neck size?” “Do you have high blood pressure?” My answers seemed to satisfy his curiosity. Yet I thought to myself, What does any of this have to do with my arms and hands?

He told me that he suspected I had sleep apnea and that I should have a sleep study performed. I left his office that day troubled by both the nerve test—three needles stuck straight into my forearm, a tricep, and neck—ouch!—and this man’s crazy advice.

I was sure there was no apnea—period.

Effects of Sleep Apnea

A year later, however, I began to notice that my sleep was no longer restful. In fact, it had become its own nightmare. I woke up throughout the night, sometimes gasping for air; and when I finally awoke in the morning, I often had pounding, daylong headaches, fatigue, and lack of concentration. At work I would yawn constantly. Sitting at my desk I would know what work needed to be done but found myself completely incapable of mentally processing the task.

Something was seriously wrong with me: I couldn’t sleep at night or stay awake in the day. And that is when the doctor popped back in my mind.

I had the sleep study done. It revealed that I stopped breathing about 200 times a night with the longest “event” being about twelve seconds. My blood oxygen level also decreased. It was indeed a moderate sleep apnea.

Do you know anyone with sleep apnea or its symptoms?

See results

What Causes Sleep Apnea?

Sleep apnea occurs for different reasons, like deformities in the nasal passageways to being overweight. (Let me emphasize that apnea is not necessarily resultant of being overweight, but weight and smoking may contribute to the condition.) And everyone—from babies to the elderly—can have apnea.

Thankfully, my apnea isn’t bad. The nurse told me of patients who stop breathing for nearly four minutes an episode, which is unbelievable to me. I have used a CPAP machine since discovering my condition, and my sleep and cognitive functions have become normal again.

Take it from me: If you are told that you snore badly or others wake you because of it; or if you are told that you stop breathing while sleeping; or if you notice some of the symptoms I’ve spoken of, I encourage you to help yourself by having a sleep study done. Catch it early because it can lead to other health issues. Your sleep really is everything. Learn to tell the symptoms of sleep apnea for yourself and your loved ones.

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)