There are several other symptoms of sleep apnea besides snoring. If your spouse or another member of your family complains about your loud snoring, you may have sleep apnea. Sleep apnea is dangerous to your health, so it is important to determine if you have this condition.

Ask a family member if they have ever noticed that you stop breathing when you are sleeping. What are the symptoms of sleep apnea? Sometimes a person stops breathing because of obstruction of the airway from excess tissue in the back of the mouth or in the neck. This obstructive sleep apnea can occur in those who snore. But those who do not snore can also stop breathing during sleep. They may have central sleep apnea – a condition experienced when the brain and the muscles responsible for breathing do not communicate when the oxygen level is low. Those persons who have either of these types of sleep apnea often report that they do not sleep well. When the breathing stops, the oxygen level goes down and after a number of seconds, the person snorts or gasps, arouses slightly and begins to breathe again, until the cycle repeats. This scenario occurs many times during the night. As a result, the person with sleep apnea does not experience a stage of sleep that is restful and restorative. If you are a victim of sleep apnea, it is common to feel tired, no matter how many hours of sleep you get each night.
Overwhelming fatigue is a symptom. You may sleep 8 to 10 hours per night and have a nap during the day but still feel tired. In evaluating your fatigue, a health professional will ask you questions about the fatigue: your tendencies to fall asleep during several activities of your daily life.

Do you fall asleep:

• while watching TV or while reading?
• when sitting quietly after lunch?
• during situations requiring some attention, like attending meetings or presentations, or while working at your computer?
• while conversing with someone face to face or on the phone?
• during concerts or movies?

When you lie down to rest in the afternoon, do you fall asleep? Fatigue while you are in a car is significant. The questions include your tendency to be sleepy and/or fall asleep when you are a passenger in a car and when you are the driver. When driving do you doze when stopped at a stop light or stopped in traffic? These are all symptoms of sleep apnea in adults and children. You are asked to rank your sleepiness in the various activities. Sleepiness can cause no difficulty, or mild, moderate or severe impairment in your daily functioning. A thorough evaluation includes questions about all of these activities.

There is a correlation between the presence of sleep apnea and a BMI (Body Mass Index) above 30. If you have high blood pressure that is resistant to treatment by prescribed medication, you may have sleep apnea. Persons who have diabetes, coronary artery disease, heart failure, or a history of stroke may unknowingly have sleep apnea.

If you believe you may have sleep apnea, make an appointment with your health care professional to talk about your concerns. He or she will conduct a similar evaluation as described, will refer you to a sleep specialist, or will order a specific test. This test measures your oxygen level through a probe on your finger during a night of sleep. Based on the results of this test and the evaluation of symptoms, an overnight sleep study may be conducted.
Do not delay getting help for this condition. Your health depends on it. Take action today.