Sleep Apnea Symptoms

Sleep Apnea Basics

We've all heard about it on some radio ad or late night TV commercial, "Do you wake up tired and drained, even after sleeping more than eight hours?, Then you may be a VICTIM (scary music in the background) of SLEEP APNEA (echo, echo, echo)." You may have even called some 800 number to find out if you have it or not only to be hit with a serious sales pitch from an 18 year kid, reading from some bland sales script trying to sell you a bunch of stuff you really don't need. OK so I called too, and I digress. . .My hopes are by the time you finish this article you walk away with a better understanding of sleep apnea symptoms so you can make an educated decision on what treatment would be best for you. Before we begin let's first clearly define what the heck sleep apnea is.

Sleep apnea is a sleeping disorder (a specific form of insomnia) that is characterized by pauses in breathing during sleep, and is most often associated with snoring. This can be caused by a combination of a floppy uvula and soft palate and the issue of the tongue falling back to shut off the postnatal space.(See image below)

Sleep apnea is probably the most critical cause of snoring, in that it literally takes your breath away. When you sleep, you breath as you normally do throughout the day, however there are times throughout the night when you skip a breath and these skipped breaths can occur repeatedly all night long. This can cause the level of carbon dioxide to increase which triggers a reflex to wake up and take a breath.As a matter of fact apnea literally means "without breath."

Sleep Apnea Symptoms

So what are some common symptoms of sleep apnea. . .waking up often in the middle of night (but not quite sure why), dry mouth, sore throat, continuous fatigue, loud snoring, headaches, falling asleep throughout the day (sometimes misdiagnosed as narcolepsy) and more than likely, a grumpy spouse. Even though most people can attest to having some of these symptoms, they won't have any idea of the seriousness of the problem, they'll just feel tired during the day.So, now that you know what sleep apnea is, wouldn't you think you'd know when you stopped breathing??. . .um actually no, sleep apnea is usually recognized by otherswho are witness to your symphony of rhythmic snores, of course, most often recognized by your significant other.

Here is the common exchange:

Spouse 1: "I'm sooooo tired, I didn't get any sleep last night. . "

Spouse 2: "really, cuz it sounded to me like you were hibernating"

Spouse 1: "Why would you say that?"

Spouse 2: "Because you were SNORING like a BEAR!!"

Spouse 1: "Huh, that's surprising, I never snored before we were married?"

Spouse 2: "Yeah, and if a tree falls and no one is around to hear it, does it mean there was no sound?"

Of course, that's not the exact conversation, and maybe that only occurred in my household, but you get the idea.

So, How Do You Treat Sleep Apnea Symptoms?

There a many procedures to treating sleep apnea and the many debilitating symptoms that come with having it, Some will involve surgery and there are others treatments that use non medical procedures. Now there are risks and complications which can occur from these types of surgeries, such as accidental damage to surrounding blood vessels and tissues, and complications you may experience after surgery include: sleepiness and periods of not breathing (umm isn't that what we're trying to prevent?) related to medications used to relieve pain,help you sleep, reduce swelling, or reduce the chance of infection. Other potential complications are bleeding, speech problems, and a narrowing of the airway in the nose and throat. Some of the non medical treatments include, wearing a breathing apparatus to sleep, as well as using certain types of pillows that help to alleviate some of the pressure points in the head and neck area that can severly hinder your breathing patterns while sleeping.

So what is it that you need to do? Well, the first part you're doing right now, getting educated, but remember that I cannot do justice to the topic of sleep apnea with a few paragraphs of text, so I would encourage you to get some additional education, either online, or through some good books. One such book called "Sleep Apnea-The Phantom of the Night: Overcome Sleep Apnea Syndrome and Win Your Hidden Struggle to Breathe, Sleep, and Live" yeah, nice short title huh? This is a very good book written by experts in the area of sleeping disorders which can be found through Amazon (by clicking the title above), but you can also go to your local bookstore and skim it for free (but if you're like me and want the facts, then it wouldn't hurt to just buy the book, especially when it can save you hundreds and possibly thousands in improper treatments). This book can give you the information you need to not only understand sleep apnea better, but it will help you find the appropriate treatment to cure this unhealthy disease.

Again my hopes are that this article will help better educate you on sleep apnea symptoms and what sleep apnea is. I've been a victim of sleep apnea for over 22 years, and I know how difficult it can be to live with, but you'll be happy to know that it is a treatable disorder and once you do, like me (and definitely my wife), you'll be so very thankful and happy that you can once again sleep like a baby. Best wishes!