My Life and Sleep Apnea

If you have sleep apnea, then you know that you don’t get enough sleep at night. It is difficult to get any rest if you are waking up every few minutes gasping for air. But if you finally find a way to correct your sleep apnea, maybe by surgery or using a cpap, then you can get all the sleep that you need. But how much sleep is enough ? In the past, the general rule was that eight hours of sleep is about right for an adult, more than that for children. But now, studies show that the number of hours needed for sleep depends on the person, whether it is 6 or 8 or 10 hours. Some have even suggested that the amount of sleep needed is somehow genetically coded, meaning you are born with it. If you have sleep apnea you certainly aren’t meeting the required amount of sleep every night, what you are doing is building up a sleep debt , which also has an effect on the time you spend in bed. Your body is always trying to pay back that amount, but if you are suffering from sleep apnea the de...

As the years go by and you struggle with the lack of rest you get because of the sleep apnea, you have to wonder if you will ever recover the sleep that you lost . I know I do. On a past post I have written about sleep debt and how your body’s loss of sleep builds up over the years. You have to wonder if that debt can ever really be paid off, especially if you are getting older. I’m 51 and it is something that I consider. I know of all the terrible things that sleep apnea; can do to your body like heart disease , high blood pressure, addiction and other health issues. The question is can you catch up on the sleep that you have been losing? Usually when sleep debt is mentioned it is referred to someone not sleeping very well for a few days or weeks. When compared to the loss of someone who has sleep apnea the number of sleeping hours lost isn’t that great. If you have cut back on sleep for a week, a few good nights sleep can usually get you back on track. Of cours...

This shouldn’t be a difficult question to answer especially for someone who has sleep apnea. After days, weeks and years of losing sleep due to sleep apnea your body has been seriously shorted of sleep. But what are the consequences of this sleep debt ? First of all, an explanation of sleep debt is in order. There are two types of sleep debt: 1. Partial sleep deprivation, which is when someone sleeps too little for days or even weeks. 2. Total sleep deprivation is when there is a total lack of sleep for the same period of time. So you lose sleep every night just like most of us with sleep apnea do, can you make it up later? That would be quite a few hours of sleep to make up especially if you have had sleep apnea for years. It would seem impossible to catch up if your sleep debt is what amounts to months of sleep deprivation. If you get your sleep disorder, like sleep apnea, cured the best possible way to make up for sleep debt is to try to sleep a little longer each night ...