My Life and Sleep Apnea

If you do a search of sleep disorders on the web then you will probably find that sleep apnea is at the top of the list. While insomnia has been talked about for some time, sleep apnea or obstructive sleep apnea is something that quite a few folks want to learn about. Thirty or forty years ago not many spoke about sleep apnea even though the term had been created by the Canadian Doctor William Osler.   Now it is being pretty much accepted that a great deal of the country has some form or degree of sleep apnea. The reason for the increase in sleep apnea probably has a lot to do with the general health of the population. As a society we have become sedentary and overweight, which is cause of sleep apnea. Excess weight around the neck increases the amount of blockage in the throat. Granted, sleep apnea can be caused by other things such as the shape of your face or maybe enlarged tongues but being overweight is definitely a major cause. If you or your doctor feels that you have s...

Sleep apnea is just one of many sleeping disorders that affect millions of people every night. Other disorders broken into two categories Parasomnia and Dyssomnias might not lead to such serious sleep apnea side effects such as heart disease and diabetes but they can cause great psychological problems. One of those disorders that fall in the Dyssomnias group is insomnia , a sleep disorder that can be a problem anywhere from a few days to years. There are lots of reasons for insomnias such as medication, long term illnesses and stress but oddly enough it can also be caused by using a device that helps with sleep apnea, the CPAP. I have written many times about how difficult it was for me to use the CPAP mask and machine. Wearing the mask at night was cumbersome for me and the feeling the air blowing down my throat was something I couldn’t get used to. I tried on two different occasions with two different types of machines, CPAP and BIPAP and neither worked. I hated that it didn’t wo...

We all know that sleep apnea can be dangerous. Lack of sleep can be problematic for the body and the mind. Lack of sleep can also cause accidents on the road due to a low energy level. Your productivity level  greatly drops due to sleep apnea which can be damaging to your career. Mood changes and even depression can be brought on by sleep apnea. It is also well know the heart can be adversely affected by the lack of oxygen in your blood system. This can really be scary if you or your partner has sleep apnea. Oddly enough an incident occurred at a sleep study where a young man died of a heart attack during a sleep study. According to WSBtv.dot com “Brandon Harris, 25, died in January 2010 after his mother enrolled him at the Emory Sleep Center to see if he suffered from sleep apnea. Harris was overweight, mentally challenged and had congestive heart failure.” This is a terrible tragedy that you hate to hear about. Right now there is a lawsuit pending by the young man’s fami...