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...

The majority of people who have sleep apnea have obstructive sleep apnea where the airway in the back of the throat is blocked. This blockage causes the body to stop breathing which in turn causes the body to go into panic mode which wakes you up. This routine can happens hundreds of times each night eliminating any chance of getting any rest. This is the most common type of sleep apnea; the other type is central sleep apnea which only occurs in a small percentage (about 5%) of folks with this sleep disorder. Unfortunately central sleep apnea can also occur when you are being treated for OSA, which is called complex sleep apnea . What is central sleep apnea? Central sleep apnea is similar to obstructive sleep apnea in that your breathing stops while you are trying to sleep. But the cause of that stoppage isn’t from the airway in the back of your throat being blocked it’s because the brain doesn’t send the correct signals to the muscles that are in charge of breathing. According to...

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...