My Life and Sleep Apnea

Lack of sleep can be a problem for anyone. Feeling tired and lacking energy can make any day long and challenging. You might be able to get by with an overload of coffee but when that runs out you are through. There are many reasons why folks don’t sleep such as insomnia which might be a temporary situation or it could be something worse like sleep apnea, which can be life threatening. Unfortunately there are many people who don’t even know that they have sleep apnea. A sleep study ordered from your doctor would quickly determine whether you have sleep apnea or not. If you do have it then you with help from your doctor have to find a treatment for your sleep apnea . The most common treatment for sleep apnea is using a CPAP machine, which pushes air into your throat continuously preventing your airway from being blocked. If you have done any research on the net then you know that not everyone is a fan of the CPAP. In my own case I tried two different machines and didn’t have any luck...

Lack of oxygen from sleep apnea can be the cause of many ailments such as high blood pressure, heart disease and vascular disease which could be life threatening. The constant interruption of breathing due to blockage in the back of throat is the culprit, slows down the intake of oxygen. There is also a condition called hypoxic tumors that are caused by the lack of oxygen. According to an article in the San Francisco Gate Dr. Jin Zhou “believes that both hypoxic tumor and sleep apnea may possibly share the same causes, thus need same solutions.”   What is hypoxia ?   The condition of hypoxia is when there is a shortage of oxygen going to parts of the body or the whole body itself. (Anoxia is when there isn’t any oxygen). The symptoms of hypoxia are light headedness, nausea, headaches and fatigue among other things. If you are climbing a mountain or doing anything to increase your elevation than you will probably experience some hypoxia. If the ascend is gradual tha...

It is no surprise that folks with sleep apnea have less energy due to the lack of quality sleep time. If you wake up hundreds of times each night it is impossible to feel refreshed and ready to go in the morning. Lack of energy can have a profound negative effect on your life. But sleep apnea isn’t the only thing that causes this lack of energy. There are other illnesses that zap your energy and there is one that has a connection with obstructive sleep apnea and that is hypothyroidism . What is hypothyroidism ? According to WebMd.com hypothyroidism “means your thyroid is not making enough thyroid hormone. The thyroid is a butterfly-shaped gland in the front of your neck. It makes hormones that control the way your body uses energy.” Another consequence of hypothyroidism is high cholesterol which is bad for your heart. Common symptoms of this disease are lack of energy, skin irritation, memory problems and not being able to be in the cold. Thankfully, hypothyroidism is tr...

If you have sleep apnea then you know that the number one way to eliminate it is by using a CPAP mask. Surgery can also be used but it doesn’t always work and the recovery period can be very long. Of course with the CPAP mask you will definitely have to take time to get used to the air being pushed into your mouth by the CPAP machine. Some at first struggle with it and then get used to it while others find it impossible to use. So what if you can’t use a CPAP and you are very leery of surgery, then what do you do? While it might not completely cure your sleep apnea there are things that you can do to lessen the extent of it.  Although not everyone who has sleep apnea is overweight but the vast majority are. While it is easier said than done, losing weight would be a big help. The tissue in your throat wouldn’t be as bad as it was when you were heavier. Not a cure but it will help.   Throat exercises can also be helpful because it tightens the muscles in ...

Sleep apnea is becoming a growing problem in this country and it is probably due to obesity. It seems strange because at the same time the idea of living a healthy lifestyle and eating well-balanced meals are also getting a lot of press. One of the reasons is that as a population we are growing older and unfortunately fatter. Of course gaining weigh will bring on more sickness and more visits to the doctor’s office. And we all know about how high the cost of healthcare is today so anything to eliminate those doctors’ visits is a good thing. Everyone knows or are finding out that not dealing with sleep apnea can have a profound effect on your life. Less sleep can effect your personality as well as your general thought process but probably the biggest effect is what it does to your heart. When you have sleep apnea there is a blockage in the back of your throat that causes you to stop breathing. The brain recognizes this lack of oxygen and forces you to awake. With those with slee...

 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 ...

The body seems to make adjustments when things are going right. When you are scared the body releases chemicals to fight off the terror. Or when you get hurt the body releases endorphins to help with the pain and injury. So what does the body do when you are suffering from sleep apnea? You stop breathing and the brain goes into panic mode and wakes you up. But according to a new study by the University of Toronto the brain also releases a chemical called noradrenaline that helps the brain learn more effectively. The article goes on to state that the brain forces the respiratory muscles to work harder as we struggle with sleep apnea. Apparently the chemical noradrenaline helps all this to occur. Which brings up an interesting question what if there was a medication that increased the level of noradrenaline? If all that were worked out you have a drug to help with sleep apnea. Of course all this would take time to happen, way in the future. That is really interesting because I ...