My Life and Sleep Apnea

Before I went to my first sleep study I had no idea if I had sleep apnea or not. My wife thought that something was wrong because my snoring was very loud and strange sounding, more like a grunt than the typical sound of someone snoring. At the time I knew little about sleep apnea other than the fact that it keep you up most of night, and making you feel exhausted during the day. One of the first things that I found out about this sleeping disorder was that the number of times that you wake up from it is a good indicator of how bad your sleep apnea is. At the sleep study you are attached to many wires that record many things regarding your sleep. One of the main issues is how many times that you will awake in a given hour. This is referred to as apneic episodes, which happen after your breathing stops and you gasp for air which triggers you awake. If you have had 5 to 15 apneic episodes than your sleep apnea is considered in the mild range, if the number of episodes 15 to 30 then ...

Sleep apnea can be a trigger for many ailments, such as h eart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes , and other illnesses. It can also have an adverse effect on your cholesterol level . First, there are 2 types of cholesterol, the ‘good’ and ‘bad’ cholesterol. It used to be that you would be given just one number to tell where your cholesterol level was. Not now, you also have to take in consideration that some cholesterol is good. LDL is the bad cholesterol. It clogs up the arteries with plaque, which could eventually lead to complete blockage, which could kill you. HDL is the good cholesterol. It helps send cholesterol and fats back to the liver for recycling. Sleep apnea can reduce the level of good cholesterol . Apnea affects lipid metabolism, which has a direct effect on good and bad cholesterol, according to a German study done in 2006. The same study found that CPAP helped raise HDL cholesterol. Of course, being tired all the time can lead to poor eating habi...

While there are many harmful side effects to sleep apnea such as heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, gout, depression and many more, the most immediate problem is being tired or being sleep deprived.  This is one side effect that you see constantly from early in the morning to late at night. What is sleep deprivation ? Sleep deprivation is simply receiving a lack of sleep regularly or even occasionally. The causes of sleep deprivation are many besides sleep apnea . It could be emotional issues that aren’t dealt with or medications or something simple like eating too late at night. But the consequence of lack of sleep can be very dangerous or even fatal in the case of sleep apnea. One of the things that I have written about is adrenal fatigue which can also be caused by other sleep disorders such insomnia.   Brain damage is also a concern if you don’t have the right amount of rest. But the most damaging and serious side effect of lack of sleep is heart diseas...

Besides sleep apnea, there are other sleep disorders. Like sleep apnea, they can be dangerous if left untreated. Insomnia is a pervasive sleep disorder that affects millions of people. The inability to fall asleep even when you are tired is emotionally draining as well as hazardous to your health. Narcolepsy can cause immense daytime drowsiness to the point of falling asleep at any point of the day and anywhere. Besides being embarrassing, it could be life-threatening if the narcolepsy patient is driving or operating heavy machinery. Night terror, unlike nightmares, usually can’t be recalled after waking up. Nightmares are dreams of frightening events, whereas night terror is the feeling of fear. Restless legs syndrome is the need to move your legs to stop uncomfortable feelings from happening while trying to sleep. Sleepwalking is walking or engaging in wake-time activities while one is still asleep. Stress, fever, and alcoholism are known triggers of sleepwalking.

Ten  things I know about the CPAP mask... My initial encounter with the CPAP machine at a sleep study. It wasn’t a good experience. One of the best devices that now comes with the CPAP machine is a humidifier. The air that blows through the hose tends to become dry,  which in turn dries out your mouth. The humidifier helps with that. Having a  beard  and trying to use the CPAP machine isn’t a good idea. The beard can cause leakage, which is definitely something you don’t want. Make sure to  clean your CPAP machine  if you are able to use it. Germs can build up without proper cleaning. You lose a lot by not being able to sleep. Can you  regain any of it by using a CPAP ? Wearing a mask at night can be uncomfortable, especially during the summer when it is  hot . Learning as much as possible about the CPAP machine before buying it is wise . There are  other things  that can help with your sleep apnea besides using a CPAP. With some folks,...

The most common treatment for sleep apnea is using a CPAP machine where air is pushed through a tube into your throat to keep your airway open. While it sounds rather simple there are quite a few issues that are involved with this process with the biggest being the comfort of wearing a mask at night and having air forced into your throat. Not everyone can get used to the mask but many do. What does get a little tricky is how much air pressure is taken through the mask. This is called titration. If you think that you have sleep apnea your first step should be to your general practitioner who will send you on to a sleep specialist, who are typically ENTs or pulmonologists (respiratory doctors). If the sleep specialist thinks that you may have sleep apnea then they will set up a sleep study which will determine whether you have sleep apnea or not. In my case the first sleep study was just to determine if I had sleep apnea whereas some folks have a split study where the second half...

There are a few well-known treatments for sleep apnea, such as the CPAP machine or the various types of positive air machines, such as bipap and apap. Some find relief with it, but many people just can’t get used to the feeling of wearing a mask in bed, and the noise is irritating, too. Surgeries are usually considered the last option for sleep apnea patients due to the long recovery time and the fact that it isn’t always successful. There are also unconventional treatments, one of which involves seeing a chiropractor . The medical community usually frowns upon chiropractic. But a large proportion of the population has found their services invaluable and couldn’t do without them. I have known people who take their children to them at an early age to start treatments. So, chiropractic does provide an important service to many people. But can they help with sleep apnea? I have read that one person found relief from sleep apnea by having his neck curvature adjusted. Others h...

Energy or the lack of it seems to be a major problem with just about everybody over the age of 50, maybe even 40. This has really become a hot issue due to the fact that the population as a whole is getting older.   As we get older it our vim and vigor don’t last too long, and that is understandable because of natural causes and some things that we bring on our own like not eating right and forgetting about exercising.   Another energy zapper is lack of sleep or lack of quality sleep.   As you probably know, sleep apnea is one of the biggest sleep problems. A night’s sleep can be divided into five stages, each one important. Sleep apnea can interrupt probably the most vital stage of sleep, rapid eye movement (REM). During this stage, the body’s muscles are rejuvenated, and the brain is active,  which helps with memory and other functions. These factors can certainly help drain any energy that you may have. What can you do about a lack of energy due to sleep...

Does the need to use the bathroom wake you up several times each night? If you are like me, you go quite a few times. This can be particularly irritating especially if you have sleep apnea. It seems that there is a connection between sleep apnea and Nocturia . Nocturia is when you wake up to urinate. Bedwetting is called enuresis which is different because you don’t wake up. The vast majority of people can limit their nightly bathroom visits to one time at the most; this is considered normal. Those who have severe Nocturia can go as many as five or six times. Two- or three-bathroom visits are about my average. Of course, since I have sleep apnea, I am usually awake anyway, so it really doesn’t bother my sleep routine. I was always under the impression that the reason you had to go to the bathroom so many times each night was a full bladder caused by drinking too many fluids before going to bed. Apparently, there is another reason, and it has to do with sleep apnea....

There are many reasons for bad breath , such as diet, bacteria, medication, and alcohol, among other things. But did you know that sleep apnea can also cause bad breath ? Bad breath (halitosis) can be very embarrassing and often difficult to get rid of. No matter how much mouthwash you use or how many times you floss each day, your breath still has a distinct odor. You try to get to the root of the problem but can’t understand why you have bad breath. It could be sleep apnea. It is understandable why eating garlic and other foods gives you bad breath. It is also very believable that alcohol, in large quantities, can make your breath reek. But why sleep apnea? If you have sleep apnea and you breathe through your mouth, your throat becomes very dry at night. All that air coming in and all that gasping dries out the throat. Saliva controls the bacteria in the mouth, the same bacteria that can cause bad breath. When saliva production is affected by breathing through the mo...

Sleep apnea has many side effects like day time drowsiness, potential risk of heart disease, diabetes among other things. The lack of sleep makes your tired and less alert; your overall mood is probably down also. Well there is also something called adrenal fatigue that causes much the same symptoms. What is adrenal fatigue syndrome ? At the top of our kidneys sit the adrenal glands. They produce hormones and adrenal that is needed by the body for stressful time and for infection. Needless to say they are very important. The adrenal glands also produce something called cortisol which helps fight infection and stress, but too much cortisol can cause Cushing syndrome. The symptoms of this disorder are excess weight gain, high blood pressure, skin problems, feeling weak, and many other symptoms. However if you don’t get enough cortisol your problems will be even be worse, they could be fatal. So it is very important to have the right amount of cortisol produced. Sleep apnea cert...

When we go to sleep each night our bodies are supposed to go through 5 stages of sleep . The most important stage is the Rapid Eye Movement stage or REM . At this stage there are a lot of things going on that are beneficial to the body and mind. It helps learning development and it also helps with your memory. Dreaming is also done at this stage of sleeping and of course sleep apnea disrupts this stage. Nightmares also occur during this stage . Everyone has had a nightmare at one time or the other while they were sleeping. While nightmares in general aren’t harmful they can certainly give you quite a scare. They aren’t to be confused with night terrors, where the dream that you are having is terrifying and you seem to have an inability of waking up. According to Wikipedi a, nightmares“are not common in children under 5, but they are more common in young children (25% experiencing a nightmare at least once per week), most common in adolescents, and less common in adults (dropping ...

Of all the sleep disorders obstructive sleep apnea has to be one of the worst to correct. A blockage in the back of throat causes you to stop breathing many, many times each night and when you find out that you have sleep apnea you are then told by your doctors how to eliminate it. Which is usually by CPAP machine or surgery , the choices really aren’t that good.   Of course that’s not to say that it is easy to cure insomnia, excessive snoring, restless leg syndrome and others. But with sleep apnea not “fixing it” could lead to serious health problems such as diabetes and heart disease. and to make it really bad if you have sleep apnea you may also have other sleep disorders like insomnia where being able to rest is nearly impossible. Luckily there are things that you can do to alleviate the other sleeping problems, mostly through behavioral therapy. Behavioral therapy in this type of situation doesn’t have much to do with a therapist mostly it is changing your bad sleeping ha...

Most folks take the opportunity to sleep late on the weekends in an attempt to catch up on rest that they lost during the week. Taking a little nap on Saturday or Sunday also is great way to rest up for the upcoming week. Of course if you have sleep apnea or some other sleep disorder your sleeping in or napping might go a little overboard which is probably an indication that you need to receive more rest during the week. What besides sleep apnea causes us to oversleep? According to webmd 2 of the biggest reasons for oversleeping (hypersomnia) are socioeconomic reasons and depression as well as alcohol and certain prescription drugs. They also state that oversleeping can lead to big health problems like heart disease, obesity and diabetes. What prevents oversleeping? Going to bed at the same time each night as well as getting out of bed the same time every morning, even on the weekends. Relax or meditate before going to bed. Don’t eat before you go to bed. Everybody...

Headaches are bad at any time of the day, but when you wake up with one that can be particularly irritating. What causes the headaches?  Drinking way too much the night before is definitely one way to have your head splitting open in the morning. The need for caffeine when you wake up will also give you a pretty good headache, especially if you are a big coffee drinker. Sleep apnea can also cause headaches in the morning . According to WebMd.com , “ Because breathing stops so often, the person does not receive sufficient oxygen, causing carbon dioxide to build in the blood. This affects the nervous system as well as blood flow to the brain, causing headache as well as memory and mood changes” In a study cited by Webmd 35 percent of complained of morning headaches. In many cases the headaches go away when the sleep apnea is treated.   Of course the thing to remember is that just because you have headaches in the morning doesn’t necessarily mean that you ha...

As many of you already know sleep apnea isn’t just for middle-aged people who are overweight.   Potential victims of sleep apnea cover a much wider range than that, young adults and children may also experience the dangerous effects of sleep apnea. We don’t hear much about children having sleep apnea ; usually you read about how older folks try to cope with it by using the CPAP machine or a dental device or maybe even surgery.   But some children do suffer from it. What is really surprising is something that I read the other day that a lot of pediatricians aren’t being trained to handle sleep apnea. Sleep apnea isn’t the only sleep disorder that children, including infants, can have. Bedwetting is something that a lot of parents have to deal with as well as night terrors where the child will wake up terrified.   Snoring can also be a problem. According to an article in Medscape “ The vast majority of pediatricians believe it is their role to advise parents or guardi...

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...

 If you are familiar with sleep apnea then you know that the problem that you have is waking up during the night due to a blockage of the airway in the back of the throat. The brain senses that the intake of oxygen has stopped and you are immediately awaken to breathe again. This could occur hundreds of times each night depending on how bad your blockage is. But how do you know how bad your sleep apnea is? The way to find out the severity of your sleep apnea is by having a sleep study where your sleep or lack of it is monitored closely. By the end of the night your AHI or apnea-hypopnea index determines your level of sleep apnea. What is Apnea-hypopnea Index ? AHI is the number of times that your sleep and breathing is interrupted during the night. During the sleep study you are hooked up to many wires that monitor your sleep. A sleep technician in another room watches you sleep and also watches the AHI and other indexes. The AHI is actually the addition of the number ...

With the New Year upon us many are thinking about their excess weight and how to lose it. They realize that a new year is a great time to start a exercise program and a diet. if you have sleep apnea becoming more healthy is even more important because if you lose the weight than the sleep interruptions during the night will be cut down (at least they should) if you aren't that ambitious and find that you don't have will power to diet and exercise, there is one thing that you should at least try and that's to cut out late night eating . Late night eating can cause you to gain weight and it certainly can affect how you sleep. This is a bad habit of mine that I have had for years. Right before I go to bed I eat snack food. I know it is a bad habit especially if you have sleep apnea. With all the problems that you face with waking up constantly you don't want to add anymore problems. But what can you do? Probably the best way to wean yourself off late night snacking is ...

If you have ever kept a diary or a journal of your life it can be rather illuminating. It can open your eyes up to certain patterns in life and how you deal with them. Although it would be another daily task that you have to keep up with, the rewards can be great. So if you can start keeping track of your daily life why not track how much sleep you get . Not only how much sleep but also how rested you were the next day. Now if you have sleep apnea you would think that your diary would be repetitive but that isn’t necessarily so. It is true that your sleep apnea would affect you every night. But there may be nights that are better than others.     Tips for keeping a sleep diary :   Buy a notebook and only use it for sleep diary and not a miscellaneous note pad.  Be consistent and write every day. This can be difficult but it will be worthwhile in the long run.  Write down anything that happened during the day that might have affected your sleep....