If you are tired of poor sleep, daytime fogginess, constant fatigue, and stress from never feeling well rested, it may be time to explore the possibility that you suffer from Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA). Millions of people have OSA, and many of those people suffer the adverse health effects of OSA for years (even decades) before getting a proper diagnosis and treatment for this serious sleep disorder.
Have you ever been tired and groggy despite a full night's sleep? If you or someone you know snores regularly, sleep apnea could be the culprit. Sleep apnea is when breathing is repeatedly interrupted during sleep, leading to a lack of oxygen in the body. This can cause snoring, gasping, and even choking while sleeping. Sleep apnea has been linked to a host of health problems, including high blood pressure, diabetes, and stroke.
An estimated 29.4 million adults in the U.S. have sleep apnea, and 80% go undiagnosed and untreated. Unfortunately, many men write off their sleep apnea as insomnia, and women underreport snoring. This makes it difficult for physicians and dentists to screen for sleep apnea, diagnose, and provide life-changing treatment.
27.4% of adults take melatonin as a sleep aid, according to the Sleep Foundation. Most of those say that it helps them fall asleep faster and take it on average four days per week. Melatonin pills are widely available over the counter in drug stores and grocery stores but it’s also a natural hormone that our bodies produce as a response to darkness to help us fall asleep. So, if our bodies make melatonin naturally, wouldn’t it be okay for those with sleep apnea to take more of it? Simply, no. Melatonin is not recommended for those with sleep apnea. Here’s why.
Finding out that you have obstructive sleep apnea is equal parts relief and uncertainty. On the one hand, you’ve finally discovered the cause of your snoring, daytime sleepiness, and cognitive changes. On the other hand, you’re left with a choice, should you use CPAP or oral appliance therapy to treat your sleep apnea?
Did you know that sleep apnea is 80% undiagnosed? That means that most people with sleep apnea don’t know they have it or have a suspicion that they do but haven’t been tested. That’s a scary thought because non-diagnosis means non-treatment. And when you go without sleep apnea treatment, you succumb to sleep apnea’s symptoms and put yourself at risk for other conditions that can arise due to sleep apnea.
Learning that you have sleep apnea can be both a relief and frustration. Relief because you finally have answers to why you’re so tired during the day, wake up with headaches, and have a short fuse (among other symptoms!). Frustration because it’s just another thing you have to deal with. Sometimes it feels like the punches just keep coming.
Sleep apnea is a sleep-disordered breathing condition characterized by pauses in breathing while you sleep. These pauses last anywhere from several seconds to much longer, depending on the severity of your condition, and can happen hundreds of times per night. Sleep apnea leaves you unrested and irritable with headaches, memory problems, and more. If you’re experiencing sleep apnea symptoms, get a home sleep test from SleepTest.com to find out if you have sleep apnea, what type you have, its severity, and your treatment options.
For many, fears about sleep apnea treatment are scarier than the possibility of having sleep apnea. It may seem attractive and easy to blissfully ignore the likelihood of sleep apnea, even when experiencing daytime sleepiness, morning headaches, and cognitive decline. But it’s crucial to get a sleep study if you suspect you may have sleep apnea.
Traditional sleep apnea testing is done in a lab over one night. It’s called in-lab polysomnography. You go to a sleep testing lab for one night, and sensors and a tech monitor your sleep for the night. The data is then given to a sleep doctor who would diagnose you or not. However, the problem is that sleep apnea episodes fluctuate nightly, making the severity of your sleep apnea hard to diagnose in just one night of monitoring. Not only that, but sleep testing labs can be uncomfortable, like sleeping in a hotel. You may or may not sleep as you normally would at home.
One thing many people fear when they worry about sleep apnea is sleep apnea surgery. Rightly so, undergoing surgery for anything is a bit scary. However, sleep apnea surgery isn’t usually necessary because other, less invasive treatments work better.
Sleep apnea is 80% undiagnosed and untreated, but it’s familiar enough that many people are aware of it. You may even know someone receiving treatment, or maybe you are experiencing symptoms of sleep apnea and are wondering if you should get tested. Sometimes, we think of sleep apnea as simply not getting enough sleep. While this is true, it’s more complicated than that. Untreated sleep apnea leads to health consequences throughout your entire body. One such consequence is dementia. If you have sleep apnea, treating it can lower your dementia risk.
Do you wear a smartwatch to bed? If you do, you know that it tracks your sleep. It provides data on how long you slept, how long you spent in each stage of sleep, and how many times you woke up throughout the night. More sophisticated watches estimate blood oxygen saturation, snoring, sleeping heart rate, and restlessness. You’d think you could diagnose your own sleep disorder with all that information, but a doctor still needs to provide a diagnosis. Here’s why.
Your body performs many complicated processes to keep you alive and healthy throughout the day and night. Each system has a different purpose that has evolved over thousands of years to ensure the survival of our species. One such process is sleeping. The more we find out about it, the more we realize that it’s not just our brains that need sleep. It’s our entire body. And even when we think we’re sleeping fine, we may inadvertently be triggering a body response that prevents us from getting the restful sleep we need to be truly healthy. In a 2022 study, researchers found that sleeping with even a tiny amount of light can have health consequences.
With three different types of sleep apnea and multiple treatment options, you can feel overwhelmed and like your situation is hopeless. Not only that, but you’re suffering detrimental sleep apnea symptoms, making your personal, professional, and social life seem like a chore. Choosing the right treatment for sleep apnea shouldn’t be so hard.