Symptoms Sleep Apnea
From LoveToKnow Sleep
Although this sleep disorder comes with some dramatic symptoms, sleep apnea is a condition people are often not aware they have. Sleep apnea is a disruption of breathing while sleeping. Hundreds of times throughout the night, you may stop breathing for ten seconds or more, choke or gasp for air, but not have any recollection of these events in the morning. Often times it is a partner who notices something is amiss. If left untreated, this sleep disorder can lead to serious complications, and it can even be life threatening.
During an apnea (when breathing stops), the oxygen level in your body drops considerably. At the same time, carbon dioxide levels increase and the heart has to work harder to cope. Eventually, you wake up enough to breathe again. With this same cycle repeating hundreds of times a night, people with sleep apnea never get a good night’s rest and can develop sleep deprivation.
Symptoms: Sleep Apnea
Despite the dramatic symptoms, sleep apnea can be hard to catch. Knowing what to look out for will help you identify whether you should warn your doctor and seek out treatment. The most common symptoms related to sleep apnea are listed below.
Cessation of Breathing during Sleep
People with sleep apnea frequently stop breathing during their sleep. The difficulty with this symptom is that often you cannot recall it in the morning. Your sleep partner on the other hand may start noticing repeated silences from your side of the bed. If your partner is awake while you are sleeping, and notices your breathing stops frequently during the night, the chances are high you could be suffering from sleep apnea.
Choking and Gasping
Cessation of breathing also comes with choking or gasping for air to get some oxygen back into your lungs. This is a point where some sleep apnea patients actually wake up.
The brain is very sophisticated though, and most of the time your level of consciousness wakes up just enough to start breathing again. Most people will not fully wake up, and as a result, you will wake up in the morning believing you slept right through the night.
Loud Snoring
In many cases, sleep apnea is a result of a blocked airway. This can be caused by excessive tissue at the back of the throat. Once your brain wakes you up enough to restart breathing, the large intake of air can vibrate the excess tissue, which results in loud snoring.
Although on its own excessive snoring cannot just be attributed to sleep apnea, in combination with other symptoms, it can help diagnose the disorder. Snoring is generally the first symptom noticed by a bed partner.
Waking Up in a Sweat
After periods of apnea, you might wake up in a sweat. When this happens often during the night, and many nights in a row, think about whether any of the other symptoms also point towards possible sleep apnea.
Daytime Sleepiness
Because you are constantly waking up throughout the night to breathe, you only enjoy fragmented and poor quality sleep. As you are sleeping so lightly during the night, you are still tired in the morning, despite having ‘slept’ all night.
Feeling drowsy in the morning, after a full night’s sleep, is one of the more innocent symptoms. People with sleep apnea frequently have such extreme forms of daytime sleepiness that they fall asleep at inappropriate times, for example when driving or at work.
Other Physical Symptoms
As most symptoms can go unnoticed for some time, the daytime symptoms often hint to sleep apnea first. Together with feeling sleepy in the morning, sleep apnea can cause morning headaches, a dry mouth and sore throat.
Treating Sleep Apnea
There are many strategies to deal with sleep apnea. Most importantly, it is to get a proper diagnosis first to determine what type of sleep apnea you have. The most common treatment is the CPAP machine. Surgery can also be an option, all be it much less common. Don’t hesitate to seek help for your sleep disorder. The benefits of treating a sleep disorder are immense, and a good night’s rest is just the start.
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This page has been accessed 1,999 times. This page was last modified 18:12, 14 March 2009.
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