My Life and Sleep Apnea

It is tough to face any problem alone, whether it is health related or one of the many situations that life puts us through. Of course it can be done alone and for a lot of folks that don’t have any support system there really isn’t any choice.   Sleep apnea is one of those health related problems that can be greatly helped by understanding and supportive friends and relatives. Most folks don’t like to ask for help or even support from others, maybe they feel they don’t need it or maybe they think it is a sign of weakness. They are wrong on both accounts. Most folks wouldn’t hesitate to help others then they shouldn’t hesitate to ask for help from others. What kind of support is needed for sleep apnea? Before you even know that you have sleep apnea your sleeping partner probably knows that something is wrong because of the strange and intense snoring that they hear at night. If they urge you to go to the doctor about it listen to them! A sleep study will show whether yo...

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...

I was first diagnosed with sleep apnea about 12 years ago. I knew that I was a loud snorer because my wife often complained about it although I didn’t know that it was sleep apnea at the time, in fact I wasn’t sure what sleep apnea was exactly. But it wasn’t just the snoring that caused me to seek help I was also very tired during the day. I had other health issues that I thought would be more manageable if I had more rest. So I went for help. My doctor sent me to a specialist who set up a sleep study for me.   After my first sleep study it was apparent that I did indeed have OSA. I was given a CPAP mask to use and as I have written many times before it didn’t really help much. After the first CPAP disaster I waited about a year or two before trying it again. This time it was with a different doctor who sent me to another sleep study. Once again it was shown that I had sleep apnea and another CPAP (BIPAP) was issued to me. Once again it didn’t work; frustrated I didn’t go back...

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...

One of the signs of sleep disorders especially sleep apnea is daytime sleepiness . As the day drags on you find it harder and harder to stay awake. Caffeine is a little help but really not that much. By the time you get home you find that all you want to do is fall asleep, take a little nap before you do anything else. Of course that little nap gives you enough energy to stay up for a while before going to bed. But when you try to go to sleep you find that you just lay there staring at ceiling and walls hoping that you will fall asleep soon.   Anxiety starts to build as you look over at the clock and it is getting later and later.   If this is you then your problem has to do with sleep latency . Being able to fall asleep quickly and having interrupted sleep can be a problem with sleep apnea. You wouldn’t think falling asleep would be a challenge considering how tired you are but it is. The problem of sleep apnea is bad enough with the way to wakes you several times an hour ...

It seems like there are a million things to worry about in life from health to family to making a living all this stuff constantly gives you reasons for concern (and headaches!). Health matters whether they involve your family or you are right up there at the top of the list. One of my concerns is the amount of rest that I get or don’t get each night. As you probably already know sleep apnea has been a thorn in my side for many years. In fact I can’t remember when I wasn’t affected by it, maybe it wasn’t a problem when I was a kid or a teenager but I can’t say for sure. Sleep apnea can be a precursor of many ailments like diabetes, depression, gout and the biggest concern is what it does to your heart. As we all know heart problems can lead to the most unfortunate conclusion, which is unexpected death. Are you worried about dying from sleep apnea ? This question is relevant to me because my father who suffered from sleep apnea died of heart troubles at the age of 61 in 1977. Of cour...