Sleep Apnea Symptoms, Signs, Causes, and Treatment

What is Sleep Apnea?

Sleep apnea is an episode someone has in their sleep where they stop breathing temporarily or have short breaths during the night.

Pauses like this, when they happen, can last only a few seconds then in some people it can last for minutes. This can happen 30 times or more in an hour.

Usually, regular breathing will start again after this period that is initiated with a loud snorting noise or choking sound.

Normally, sleep apnea is ongoing (happens every night) and you may not even know it, but your brain does!

It will cause you to move in and out of light to deep sleep, because the lack of oxygen, which can cause you to feel tired during the day. Sleep apnea is the leading cause of daytime sleepiness.

Sleep apnea usually goes undiagnosed because it can’t be detected during a normal doctor office visit by taking blood etc.

Most people do not even know they have it and may never unless their bed partner or someone notices it when they sleep.

Types of Sleep Apnea

Obstructive sleep apnea is the most common type of sleep apnea. It is obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) because the airway either gets blocked or collapses during sleep causing the pauses in breathing or short breaths.

When air is trying to squeeze by the blockage it can cause loud snoring.

OSA happens a lot more in people who are overweight, but it can happen to anyone, even children.

An example, is an enlarged tonsil causing blockage and the child is snoring.

Central sleep apnea is more rare than OSA.  Central sleep apnea (CSA) occurs when the brain does not send the correct signals to your breathing muscles to tell you to breathe.

In this case, you will not make any efforts to breathe causing your brain to make you wake up due to the lack of oxygen.

CSA can affect anyone just like OSA, but it is seen more in people that have other medical conditions or are on certain medications.

It is also possible that CSA can also cause OSA. Yet usually, CSA happens by itself and  does not cause snoring or OSA.

Sleep Apnea Symptoms and Signs

Sometimes, the signs and symptoms of sleep apnea in both obstructive and central types coincide with the other make it difficult to diagnose one from the other or sometimes both.

Common signs of sleep apnea are:

– First and foremost, loud snoring which happens more with OSA. Pauses in breathing may occur randomly, followed by a choking noise or movement in sleeping positions to breathe again.

Usually, the snoring is the loudest when you are laying on your back. BUT just because you snore don’t mean you have sleep apnea. So, don’t freak out!

-Someone telling you that they were wondering if you were going to breathe again is a huge sign.

If you are snoring and someone notices you stop breathing, this is a a real common sleep apnea symptom.

-When you abruptly wake up with shortness of breath is usually a central sleep apnea symptom. We are not talking about bad dreams here. 🙂

-When you wake up in the morning do you always have a dry mouth or sore throat? This can also be a sign.

-Waking up with a headache can be  a symptom. Your brain is not getting the oxygen it needs and therefore you have a headache.

-Are you having trouble staying asleep all night? You may not realize it, but your brain is taking you in and out of deep sleep because the lack of oxygen and it can make you wake up over and over again.

-Daytime Sleepiness? Again, don’t get freaked out. We all can get tired during the day due to many reasons, but if it is excessive it could be a sign.

If you are going to bed the same time every night and getting 8-9  hours sleep, to your knowledge, and you still find yourself fighting sleep a lot during the day, then it may need to be looked into further.

-Having trouble paying attention during the day? Again, similar to daytime sleepiness, your brain may just not be operating on all levels due to the lack of sleep it got, that you THOUGHT it got, and it causes focus problems.

-Are you getting short/irritable with everyone? Again, a sign of lack of sleep can be a cause of irritability and a symptom of sleep apnea.

-Waking up a lot to urinate during the night? Being you aren’t sleeping well, it can make your bladder a little more active with all the wake-ups.

-Find yourself forgetting things way more? This is a hard symptom of sleep apnea to identify because lets face it, the older we get it seems the more we tend to forget, but if you notice suddenly that you are tired more and just can’t remember the usual things you are used to remembering, it could be a sign.

-Not feeling frisky with your partner anymore? Not wanting to have sex is common in newly discovered sleep apnea patients.

Lots of these symptoms, if you haven’t figured it out yet, are symptoms from lack of sleep. Anyone who does not get the sleep they need can suffer from a lot of these symptoms.

Yet, if you believe to be getting the sleep you need and you are experiencing more than a few of these symptoms, it could be worth getting yourself checked out, or at the least, having someone watch you sleep for a while.

What Causes Sleep Apnea?

• Probably the most common cause and most often guessed issue is weight. If you are overweight, you can increase your risks of having sleep apnea.
• If you are a male, you are more likely to have sleep apnea than a woman is.
• Sleep apnea can be hereditary, so if you know someone in your family with it, it could of been passed down for you.
• If you are over the age of 50 you are more likely to develop sleep apnea.
• If you are Black, Hispanic, or a Pacific Islander you are more likely to have sleep apnea. According to records of diagnosed patients, more people of this race have sleep apnea.
• Do you smoke? You might want to try to quit or you may find yourself at a higher risk of sleep apnea.
• Lack of exercise can cause all sorts of body levels to get out of whack including blood pressure. High blood pressure puts you at higher risk of having sleep apnea.
• Having a thick neck (having one 15.75 inches around), which can be related, for some, to being overweight can put you at higher risk as well.
• Other causes are physical attributes of the person such as a deviated septum, adenoids, enlarged tonsils, or receding chin (which are also the most common causes in children). Your throat muscles could be relaxing more than normal or allergies can cause sleep apnea related symptoms as well.

Treatment For Sleep Apnea

Changes to make to your lifestyle

• Lose that weight. When you are overweight you have more tissue in your throat which can be more that gets in the way of your airflow while you sleep. Even losing 5-10 lbs. can make a huge difference.
• Quit that smoking. Smoking causes your throat to be more irritated and inflamed, therefore restricting airflow.
• Sleep when you should sleep and maintain that schedule! Sleeping on a schedule reduces sleep apnea episodes
• Don’t drink caffeine or eat too much within 2 hours of bed time.
• Exercise! This helps more than just one thing, such as weight, but many other things such as high blood pressure that is related to causing sleep apnea.  Exercise is also proven to help you sleep better which will reduce sleep apnea symptoms.
• No alcohol, sedatives, or sleeping pills right before bed. These things have proven to make the throat muscles relax more and therefore blocking your airway.

Changes or tips when going to bed

• Keep those nasal passages open. If you have some allergy problems or just need to breathe through your nose more, try a saline spray, nasal dilator, neti pot, breathing strips, or humidifier to help you breathe more easily.
• Keep your mouth closed. If you find you are sleeping with your mouth open, try strengthening those jaw muscles by chewing gum or holding something in your teeth for 10-15 min. before bedtime until your jaw gets tired.
• Keep your head propped. Elevating your head at night can help airflow in your throat. It is best to elevate your bed if possible or elevate your body from the waist up. If you don’t, your neck will hurt!
• Keep it on the side. Sleeping on your side is one of the best ways to keep that air flowing correctly to those lungs. Gravity can make your tongue and throat tissues get in the way when you are on your back.
• Keep a ball in your back pocket. By keeping a tennis ball, for example, in your back pocket of your pajamas it will sub-consciously make you not roll over to your back because it will be uncomfortable.

When Those Changes Don’t Work

When making changes to your sleep habits or lifestyle don’t work, it is time to see a doctor about your problem. The list of treatments for sleep apnea are the ones they can provide:

• You may have a heart or neuromuscular disorder that they can treat.
• You may need a breathing device to sleep with every night called a CPAP machine (continuous positive airflow pressure) and it is the most common treatment for sleep apnea. In short, it is a machine that makes air flow to the mask you wear while you sleep through your nostrils or mouth, depending on the type of mask, to make sure air is being pushed to your lungs and preventing the collapse. CPAP therapy has been around for a very long time and the advances in technology have made lots of these masks very comfortable to wear while you sleep.
  • You can read more about the best cpap masks for side sleepers here and the 6 best cpap machines here.
• Another popular method for people who just really, really, don’t want to wear or try a cpap mask is by a dental device or dental surgery. Dentists can make a device/mouth piece called a mandibular repositioning device and a tongue retaining device. Both help do the same thing which is either keep your jaw in a specific location (mandibular) to allow more airflow or keep your tongue out of the way (tongue retaining). These devices must be fitted and made specifically for you. They are only effective for mild to moderate sleep apnea patients. They will not work for more serious sleep apnea. Dentists have also been known to break and relocate the jaw in surgery to allow better airflow.
• Surgery can also be a treatment if the doctor believes that your tonsils, adenoids, or too much tissue in the throat is getting in the way. These tissues/organs can be removed to cure sleep apnea, but again only when this has definitely been singled out to be the problem.
  • Check out the different types of sleep apnea surgery here

If any of these options do not sound like something you want to do, or you just hate cpap masks like lots of people do:

check out our cpap alternatives post with other sleep apnea treatment options

Summing it Up

As you can probably see, there are many signs to look for in sleep apnea and along with the signs, there are many easy treatments.

If you think you have sleep apnea, don’t automatically think you  are going to have to wear a mask the rest of your life.

In all honesty, there have been thousands of people that have fixed their sleep apnea by just changing their lifestyle habits a bit.

Yet, don’t expect it to go away if you are not willing to make any changes. If you try some of the methods mentioned above and you are still feeling the symptoms, then it is always best to go see a doctor and get their opinion.

Then, if need be, they can set you up on a sleep apnea test/sleep study to learn more about how you are sleeping at night.

The great news is that sleep apnea is well managed even when it can’t be cured permanently.

The bad news is that this disorder goes unnoticed more than almost any other disorder out there.

Sadly, this can shorten your life due to causing all sorts of health problems or even someone else’s if you were to fall asleep behind the wheel.

Don’t be that person, and if you suspect, then it never hurts to get checked out!