My Life and Sleep Apnea

It makes sense that middle aged folks who have a weight problem can suffer from sleep apnea. As a matter of fact it is quite common among that group. Senior citizens can have it too along with teenagers who are overweight. But what about infants can they have sleep apnea ? It is considered normal for babies to have pauses in their breathing. But sleep apnea can occur with babies’ just adults and older children. The reasons are basically the same, some type of blockage in the back of the throat. Infants snore and that might be a sign of obstructive sleep apnea, where there is blockage in the airway causing infant to stop breathing. Enlarged tonsils may also be a factor. A couple of the common signs of infants having sleep apnea are mouth breathing and restlessness, Along with a change in behavior. Premature babies are also considered at risk for sleep apnea. This can lead to the serious condition of SIDs Sudden Infant Death syndrome. Respirator monitors are being used on infants ...

Sleep apnea and the way it affects your breathing causes more trouble than just keeping you awake at night. It causes problems that you may not have even considered such as GI tract conditions . What are the GI tract conditions? Here are just a few of them… Acid reflux is common among those who have sleep apnea. The acid in your stomach comes up on you while you are lying down. Luckily there is medication to take to help with acid reflux. I have had it for years and it can be miserable.   There are different types of hiatal hernias. A hiatal hernia is when part of the stomach goes up through the hole in the diaphragm and this can be very painful. In my case it feels like my stomach is shifting to one side. Hiatal hernias are quite common and they can be controlled by changing your eating habits and the way you exercise and the position that you sleep in.  GERD is Gastroesophageal reflux disorder where the lining of the esophagus is irritated by acid reflux. If...

I read something interesting on one of the sleep apnea forums the other day. Someone wrote about how much better they slept when sleeping in a recliner. It seems that there may be some connection between sleep apnea and positional therapy. Positional sleep apnea can sometimes be cured by sleeping on your side. If you find that it relieves your apnea then you probably didn’t have that severe a case of OSA. Another possible consideration for positional sleep apnea is having a foam pillow made specifically for sleep apnea patients. Once again I don’t know how effective that would be with severe sleep apnea. It seems when you are sleeping in a recliner you are bend forward from your waist up which supposedly helps keep the airway open. I might give it a try but sleeping in a recliner all night doesn’t sound appealing. As I have written before I used to sleep on my stomach until a back injury forced me to sleep on my back. I don’t think that was the only reason that I started to h...

If you are like me you have tried many things to help with your sleep apnea. Throat exercises , losing weight, cpap masks are among the few things that I have tried, although I haven’t tried to play the didgeridoo (maybe some day). I am now wondering if my sleep apnea would be better if I changed pillows. Like most people who have sleep apnea and acid reflux I sleep with 2, sometimes 3 pillows stacked behind my head. That seems to help relieve the acid reflux more than the sleep apnea because with my head pushed forward my throat becomes even more blocked. If I don’t have the pillows my head leans back and my throat does seem more open but the acid reflux would really be worse. Years ago I slept on my stomach, it was bad on my back but I got a lot more rest. Unfortunately my back problems put an end to that. And I have also tried sleeping my side but with Meniere’s disease that sometimes throw off my balance. I am thinking about changing pillows. Does anyone have any suggest...

If you have read any of my past posts then you know that my father also had sleep apnea . His snoring would be loud one minute and then it would abruptly cut off. My snoring is similar. But one thing that Dad did that I don’t do that much of is cough , especially in the morning. As I can remember my Father didn’t have asthma, or any other type of illness that would make him cough. He didn’t smoke or drink. He did have heart disease and his blood circulation was weak but I don’t think that had anything to do with his coughing. Of course back then no one ever spoke of sleep apnea, so that wasn’t considered a reason for his coughing. From what I have read others have experienced coughing and choking along with their sleep apnea. I can certainly understand that when you are trying to gasp for air in the middle of the night! One possible reason for the coughing is that the throat is sore which makes sense because after a particularly bad night of trying to sleep my throat is very sore...

Have you ever gotten up in the morning to find that you are soaking wet with sweat. You have experienced night sweats. There could be many reasons why this is happening and there may be a correlation between sleep apnea and night sweats . Night sweats or Sleep hyperhidrosis can be caused by many things such as: Migraines Illnesses where you have a fever Epilepsy Head injury Due to waking up frequently sleep apnea is a cause of night sweats Menopause Acid reflux Here are few tips to keep you cool at night: Keep the room cool with a fan or air conditioning Don’t eat much before you go to bed Forget about caffeine, booze or cigarettes before going to sleep It goes without saying that if you have a fever take your doctor prescribed medication or an aspirin Don’t exercise too close to bedtime ( actually this is a good sleeping tip as well) The only time that I have had night sweats is when I have been sick with a fever. My sleep apnea doesn’t cause me to sweat that mu...

I used to sleep on my stomach before I had my back problems back in the 80’s. I know that I slept better; at least that's how I remembered it. Then I flattened a disc in my lower back and I found that the only way I could sleep was on my back. It was strange at first because my neck was strained in the morning. I guess it was because my neck was used to laying a certain way at night. Of course this wasn't very good for my sleep apnea. A few years later I was diagnosed with acid reflux. I have written a post on acid reflux earlier. Having this condition really affected the way I slept. I used to have just one pillow under my head but with the acid reflux my head and neck had to be elevated to keep the acid coming up into my throat. Even with the pillows and medication for the acid reflux it is still a problem. Of course with sleep apnea the best way to sleep with sleep apnea is to tilt your head back and your chin should be pointing upward. This presents a problem because w...

Many researchers believe that there is a connection between sleep apnea and acid reflux . I don’t doubt there is because of so many people who have both conditions. Check any sleep apnea forum and you will find many posts on acid reflux. I’ve had both for years and it makes it miserable trying to sleep. What happens to increase the acid reflux in sleep apnea patients? Sleep apnea sufferers breathe harder than most people when they sleep. This hard breathing increases the air pressure in the throat which in turn brings up the acid in the esophagus. The problems that occur, if this continues, can be serious. Besides damaging the lining of the esophagus, it can also lead to esophageal cancer among other things. It is bad enough to have to wake up with the taste of vomit in your throat but add the fact that serious consequences can occur makes this quite a problem. I take medications each evening before I go to bed to stop the acid reflux but sometimes even that isn’t enough to stop ...

I have read on sleep apnea forums that many people with sleep apnea also gasp for air during the day. Not a lot of time but a few times a day. I find myself doing this also. It sounds like a burst of air is coming out of my mouth as if I was trying to hold my breath. Some people suggest that it has something to do with acid reflux but I usually only get acid reflux when I am in bed. It is also suggested that food goes down the windpipe instead of the esophagus. It might also be laryngospasm, which is a spasm in your vocal cords. But that usually lasts for 30 to 60 seconds; my attacks only last a few seconds so I don’t think that is it. It could also be related to an anxiety attack which makes sense. I know that when I have had anxiety attacks I struggled at times to catch my breath. As always it is best to consult a doctor if you have sleep apnea or any other breathing disorder. Feel free to comment and please subscribe to my RSS Feed thanks