If you find yourself tired even after a good night’s sleep or find trouble breathing during your sleep, you are likely to be suffering from sleep apnea. Sometimes, you could be snoring so loudly that your partner can’t seem to sleep through the night. Chances are, your brain and the rest of your body is not receiving sufficient oxygen. It feels like you are almost drowning in an ocean, and it can only get better when you gasp for air. While supplements like melatonin may help you sleep through the night, you can only get relief once you see a doctor that specializes in sleep apnea in Everett. But before you call your doctor, consider the following factors.
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What is sleep apnea?
Snoring only sounds funny until it affects the quality of your life during the day. People with sleep apnea are loud snorers and that may be a cause of daytime fatigue. Since it is an involuntary act, they won’t be aware of the short breathing pauses that interfere with their natural sleep rhythm. Before you know it, you start experiencing anxiety and are not as productive during the day. When left untreated, sleep apnea can lead to chronic conditions such as hypertension, cardiac arrest, and mental disorders. When you start to experience daytime sleepiness, poor concentration, and increased risk of accidents, then it is time to see your doctor for treatment.
There are two forms of sleep apnea:
Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA)
This happens when the soft tissue in the back of your throat gets raptures during sleep, causing your airways to get blocked.
Central sleep apnea (CSA)
In CSA, your brain fails to respond to signals from the muscles, making it harder for you to breathe. Unlike OSA, the respiratory control center becomes unstable even when your airway isn’t blocked.
What is the difference between snoring and sleep apnea?
It is possible to snore loudly but not have sleep apnea and vice versa. The trick is to find out how you feel during the day. If you feel fatigued, lose concentration, or become clumsy, then you may be suffering from sleep apnea. Loud snoring, on the other hand, may not cause you to feel all those symptoms, but it can affect the quality of your sleep and health. Both cases require immediate medical intervention before they worsen.
Who is at risk for sleep apnea?
Sleep apnea can affect you at any age. However, you are at higher risk of getting affected if you are male, obese, having a large tongue, have a family history of sleep apnea, small jaw bone, or tonsils.
