My Life and Sleep Apnea

If you had a bad night and couldn’t sleep at all, then a bad day when you were drowsy would follow. It is a miserable feeling when you don’t get enough sleep. Every little thing that you do during the day seems to take all of your energy (what little you have left!). This happens to most folks at one time or another, but if you have a sleep disorder like sleep apnea, it probably occurs every day. It is challenging to be productive if your energy is sapped, and that is exactly what happens after a night of waking every few minutes because the apnea is choking you. It can also cause emotional problems such as depression and physical illnesses like heart disease and diabetes.   Sleep apnea is caused by blockage in the back of the throat due to loose tissue or an enlarged tongue. Another type of sleep apnea called central sleep apnea causes you to wake every few minutes but isn’t due to blockage in the throat. This type of apnea doesn’t occur as much as obstructive sleep...

Passing out   If you have ever fainted or felt extremely light-headed you know how helpless that feeling is. You may black out which can be dangerous depending on where you are at or what you are doing (especially if you are driving). Falling can also be a result of fainting which may lead to serious injuries.  It seems that sleep apnea and fainting do have a connection considering the causes of  fainting and what sleep apnea does to your heart  and general health. What is fainting? According to Wikipedia, fainting (syncope) is “a sudden, usually temporary, loss of consciousness generally caused by insufficient oxygen in the brain either through cerebral hypoxia or through hypotension, but possibly for other reasons.” So there is a lack of oxygen in the brain that causes fainting (although that isn’t the only cause of fainting), which certainly makes it understandable that sleep apnea could be connected to fainting because the obstruction of the airway in the ba...

I remember having episodes of sleepwalking as a child. It really didn’t seem to bother me much until I woke up during a walk in the middle of the night in another room in the house. It was very disorienting to slowly realize that you don’t know where you are. My parents didn’t seem concerned, assuming that I would just outgrow it, and I did. I wondered whether my other sleep problem, sleep apnea, might have something to do with that. According to Science Daily “ Nearly 1 in 10 patients with obstructive sleep apnea also experience "parasomnia" symptoms such as sleepwalking, hallucinations and acting out their dreams,” which seems strange to me considering how little sleep folks with apnea get, but there is a study from Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine to back it up. Sleepwalking occurs during the “deep sleep” stage of sleep. The cause is unknown, but it might be caused by mental disorders, medications, fatigue, or alcohol. The majority of cases ha...

A deviated septum can be a factor in developing sleep apnea. The septum is the area between the nostrils that separates the nasal passages. Any blockage can cause disruption of your breathing. What causes a deviated septum? You could be born with a deviated septum or you could have one as a result of an injury to the nose. Old age can also be a factor causing the septum to be crooked. What is done to treat a deviated septum? The surgery is usually done as an outpatient procedure. It takes between 60 and 90 minutes. Working through the nose, the surgeon bends the cartilage to eliminate the blockage. After the surgery there may be packing inside the nose, it will stay there for up to 3 days allowing the nose to heal. Unfortunately, just having the surgery doesn’t correct sleep apnea for those who have severe OSA . One ENT that I saw suggested that I have the surgery. He told me that although it wouldn’t cure my sleep apnea, it would certainly help. I declined, and I’m glad I...

I slept on my stomach till I was in my late twenties. Until then, sleep wasn’t really an issue with me, and it didn’t seem to matter what position I slept in. Then, I had an injury to one of the discs in my back. The b ack pain was extremely sharp, and it seemed worse when I was on my stomach. After I had a nerve block done, the pain in my back left I also found that sleeping on my stomach was uncomfortable. Sleeping on my back seemed the only way that I could get any rest. Of course, that’s pretty much when the sleep apnea started. As I have written in the past, there are some things to consider when sleeping on your stomach… You will find that many folks who have sleep apnea also have acid reflux or GERD. I do. Besides not eating before you go to bed, sleeping with your head propped is also a good idea.  Pick a good pillow if you have sleep apnea. I use a wedge pillow, and it seems to help my sleep apnea and my acid reflux.  Consider sleeping on yo...

Do you eat while you are asleep? I don’t but it appears that some folks do. Sleep eating is apparently just another sleep disorder that affects people. According to about.com , “ Sleep-related eating disorder (SRED) is characterized by repeated involuntary episodic eating that occurs during nighttime sleep. It is more than a midnight snack, and individuals with this disorder remain largely asleep while eating.” And if eating while you are asleep is strange, it seems that what some folks are eating at night is even weirder. They eat odd combinations of foods such as salt, sugar, flour, and even—this is disgusting—cat litter. Foods that are high in calories (I don’t know what the calorie content is for cat litter) are also prevalent. What makes this happen? This usually occurs in people who have other sleep disorders like restless leg syndrome, sleep apnea, and periodic limb movements. There also seems to be a link between Confusional arousal and SRED. The demographic for this ...

Before I went to my first sleep study, as a matter of fact, way before I went to a sleep study, I had a problem with my teeth grinding. I don’t remember for sure but I believe it was a dentist that told me that I was grinding my teeth at night. I believe they call that bruxism . I didn’t think that was the case, but I tried and tried to keep my mouth open while I sleep and it must have worked because I no longer grinded my teeth at night. Instead, I slept with my mouth wide open , breathing through my big mouth. I suppose that isn’t bad if you don’t have sleep apnea. Although I think it is recommended that breathing through your nose is better. Why? For a number of reasons, such as air leaving the nostril taking longer and giving the lungs a better chance to extract oxygen. The nose filters the air going into the lungs, which is a good thing that doesn’t happen when you are breathing through your mouth. The only problem that I ever had sleeping with my mouth open was that my mo...