Signs of Sleep Apnea

There are various signs of sleep apnea which you can look out for to evaluate whether or not you suffer from the sleep apnea disorder.  The signs to look for include, but are not limited to, the following.  Ask yourself these questions, and then assess the results.

If you feel the majority of questions result in a yes, then it would be wise, and recommended, to contact your doctor for further analysis.

• Do you snore loudly, and regularly?
• Do you find your sleep disturbed, and wake up several times per night?
• Do you suffer from daytime tiredness, causing you to fall asleep whilst driving / at work etc?
• Do you have low libido, and wake in the middle of the night gasping and/or choking?

If you can relate to these questions, and these issues affect your everyday life, then you would be best to further investigate your situation, and book an appointment with your doctor, who may then refer you to a sleep specialist.  But not to worry, as sleep apnea is treatable, and in some cases curable, and the improvement to your life once the condition is being treated is immeasurably positive.

Sleep apnea is commonly caused by excessive weight gain, which reduces the airway passage within the throat, which can be dangerous during sleep, forcing the sufferer to stop breathing, and wake up gasping for air or choking spurts.  This is sometimes experienced without any recollection, and can continue for years undetected.  Leading to daytime tiredness, a sleep apnea sufferer may fall asleep on the spot, whether at work, talking to others, driving or at the cinema.  For more physically demanding jobs this can prove quite dangerous, or for those sufferers who regularly take long drives.  Another sign of sleep apnea is low libido.

Snoring is not always directly connected with a sleep disorder, but is one of the signs doctors look for in a potential sleep apnea sufferer.  Sleep apnea sufferers typically snore fully and deeply through the mouth.  Since the patient struggles to sleep for a prolonged period of time, they never tend to reach an REM (Rapid Eye Movement) state of sleep, which is the deepest stage of sleep, and most beneficial to our bodies.  This is what is most attributed to the daytime exhaustion of sleep apnea patients; where the most trivial of tasks can drain every ounce of energy from the body, leaving you feeling weak and vulnerable.

These are the main signs of sleep apnea, to help determine whether or not you, or a partner, are suffering from the sleep disorder.