Your healthcare provider should be informed if you experience difficulty sleeping. They may refer you to a sleep specialist or offer ways to treat symptoms at home.
Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) occurs when throat muscles relax and close off the airway, blocking oxygen from reaching your lungs and possibly leading to loud snoring.
Difficulty Sleeping
Even after getting enough restful restful night’s rest, waking up feeling unrefreshed or falling asleep during work or while driving can be telltale signs of sleep apnea. Sleep apnea decreases quality of restful night’s rest and has serious repercussions for overall health, so it is crucial to get tested as early as possible to identify it before it has any lasting ill-effects on health and quality of life.
Difficulty sleeping is often the first symptom of sleep apnea; however, other signs and symptoms include snoring, loud pauses in breathing during sleep and gasping or choking as well as dizziness upon awakening. People suffering from obstructive sleep apnea often snore very loudly and frequently; often enough to wake their bed partner or cause them to move around erratically in their sleep – and if these movements or jerking body movements are followed by gasping or choking then that could be an indicator that an individual may suffers from the disorder.
Breathing interruptions during sleep is known as sleep apnea and it affects both men and women equally, though men are at much greater risk than women. Apnea becomes more prevalent as people age, are overweight or obese, or possess certain physical traits like large tongues, enlarged tonsils and deviated septums; although less prevalent among children it still can occur; having a family history of sleep apnea increases your odds even further.
Frequent Snoring
Sleep apnea’s hallmark symptom is loud and frequent snoring, often interrupted by brief pauses in breathing that last several seconds. You or your bed partner may wake up during the night feeling short of breath or choking; these episodes are known as apneic events; when these occur they’re accompanied by gasping for air as your body desperately attempts to bring oxygen back into its bloodstream.
Sleep apnea leads to snoring because its symptoms involve relaxing of throat muscles during an episode, closing off or narrowing airways and drawing breath through through these narrow openings, producing an audible vibration and buzz. Frequent snoring could be an indication that you have obstructive sleep apnea, the most prevalent form of this serious disorder. Remember that it can have consequences if untreated. You can check out the hyperlink to know how to prevent this.
Sleep apnea doesn’t affect everyone who snores; some might have central sleep apnea instead, a less serious form of the disorder where your brain does not send proper signals to muscles controlling breathing and causes brief pauses in breathing; neither condition should be taken lightly but you should still see a healthcare provider or dentist with expertise in sleep apnea to be sure.
Difficulty Staying Awake
Are you finding it hard to focus during the day, even after getting enough rest? Perhaps you feel drowsy after sleeping a full night’s worth? Do you find yourself needing an afternoon nap, caffeine, Red Bull, or other stimulants in order to stay alert? If this sounds familiar, you could be suffering from sleep apnea.
People suffering from sleep apnea suffer repeated episodes of stopping and starting breathing while asleep, leading to low oxygen levels during restful REM sleep, leaving them fatigued and irritable upon awakening. Sleep apnea also increases risk for cardiovascular disease, stroke and diabetes; an estimated 18 million Americans currently live with undiagnosed sleep apnea.
Most people with sleep apnea suffer from obstructive sleep apnea, in which their throat collapses to block airway passageways, while less commonly seen is central sleep apnea (in which signals from your brain stop reaching breathing muscles), although mixed or complex forms exist as well.
Your healthcare provider may suggest an overnight study known as a polysomnogram to detect sleep apnea. This involves monitoring your heart rate, breathing rate, oxygen levels and brain activity throughout the night. Alcohol, sleeping pills and anti-anxiety medication should all be avoided prior to bedtime as these can interfere with breathing; smoking also has been known to lead to inflammation and fluid retention within your throat and upper airway area, making breathing harder than it needs to be. A Continuous Positive Airway Pressure machine (CPAP) device can open your airway and prevent pauses in breathing throughout the night.
Difficulty Concentrating
People suffering from severe sleep apnea may stop breathing 30-24 times per hour and wake up frequently throughout the night due to low levels of oxygen, leading to daytime fatigue and difficulty in focusing or recalling details.
Sleep apnea is typically caused by physical obstruction of the airway – known as obstructive sleep apnea or OSA. Tissue in the back of your throat relaxes while sleeping, narrowing and collapsing into it as oxygen enters your lungs obstructively and temporarily halting breathing – again and again until breathing resumes naturally – this causes headaches, reduced concentration levels and other symptoms to arise over time.
Central Sleep Apnea (CSA), is less prevalent and typically occurs when the brain fails to send adequate signals to breathing-related muscles. This condition usually appears during Stage 1 or REM sleep cycles and often leads to frequent awakenings from deep sleep with subsequent gasping or choking sensations upon awakening.
People living with certain medical conditions, like high blood pressure or diabetes, are at higher risk for sleep apnea than others. Being overweight increases this risk further, as can having thick necks or large tonsils or adenoids. Men are more likely to develop central sleep apnea; having heart disease, stroke or vascular disease increases that risk further still. Sleep apnea symptoms can impact every aspect of life from work-related issues to overall decreased quality of life – so if these symptoms arise it’s wise to speak with a physician about possible causes and treatments options available for you.
Nausea or Vomiting
If you find yourself dozing off at work or during a movie no matter how much sleep you get, or your bed partner complains of loud snoring that disturbs their nighttime rest, obstructive sleep apnea may be to blame. This condition is common and has serious repercussions such as heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure and diabetes – not to mention mood changes that leave you more irritable than before and reduced productivity; poor quality rest can impair immune response – making you vulnerable against colds and infections that develop as your immune system becomes compromised due to poor quality rest compared with quality restful REM.
People suffering from obstructive sleep apnea can experience short pauses in breathing lasting from 10 seconds to one minute or longer that decrease oxygen levels, prompting them to snort or gasp for air, awakening with feelings of choking or smothering. These episodes occur hundreds of times throughout the night and usually originate due to collapsed airways, tonsil enlargement or weight gain; or blockages in either their upper or lower airway such as tongue, uvula, or palate obstruction.
Snoring or choking during sleep, coupled with feeling unrefreshed upon awakening, may be indicative of either obstructive or central sleep apnea. People suffering from the latter typically awaken 30 or more times per hour while those experiencing central apnea could wake up up 240+ times in one night of restful slumber.
Difficulty Breathing
Sleep Apnea can cause your breathing to stop repeatedly throughout the night, leaving low levels of oxygen levels and leaving you feeling like you’re choking or gasping for air. Breathing stops because throat muscles relax causing collapsed throat tissue blocking airway – commonly known as Obstructive Sleep Apnea; in less common form known as Central Sleep Apnea which means brain doesn’t send signals controlling breathing muscles as scheduled and breathing stops as a result of not receiving these signals from breathing muscles controlled by brain which control muscles that control breathing muscles via nerve pathways in throat muscles that relaxes during sleep apnea resulting in your breathing stopping repeatedly throughout the night, leaving you gasping or even feeling exhausted and gasping for air! Breathing stops as throat muscles relax allowing it collapse resulting in collapsing and blocking off airway blocking tissues at its base creating obstruction, while at its most common form called Obstructive Sleep Apnea airway is blocked due to soft palate tissues in its back throat making breathing difficult while at least less common form known as Central Sleep Apnea breathing ceases because the brain fails to send signals necessary to muscles controlling breathing which ultimately control breath control resulting in its control stopping abruptly throughout its nighttime awakening time due to being trapped awake due to lack of signalling between brain-muscle coupling mechanisms at night time making breathing impossible (choking/gasping out of airway closure due to collapse in your airway being blocked due to collapse caused by soft throat tissues at its back-back being blocked off-tunce blocking airflow being blocked off with tissues blocking this type). Finally there are less common Central Sleep Apnea which breathe when brain doesn’t send signals controlling breathing controls which would sends this form controlling breathing signals being sent. This form does not receive signals sent from controlling breath stopping from brain not sending signal a), brain sending signal not receiving signals sent through between its control sending and your airway closing when sleeping). Breapneaping to breath). Breapnes!) which then collapse/col collapse/block by tissues blocked off, thus restricting or gasping and collapse). Brea
Breathing problems associated with sleep apnea may also contribute to headaches, irritability and other symptoms of restless nights. If these occur to you, be sure to speak with your physician about a possible diagnosis; your physician may refer you for a sleep study conducted overnight in a lab equipped with special equipment to measure heart rate, blood oxygen levels, breathing rate and brain activity.
Sleep Apnea may go undetected by those affected, until family or partners become aware of loud snoring and gasping during sleep. Sleep apnea symptoms can be addressed through lifestyle modifications and medication; surgery may also be considered in severe cases to avoid its complications, including heart disease and high blood pressure.