If someone struggles with getting sleep and it’s not getting better, sleep apnea may be the culprit. Don’t ignore your sleep apnea, and be sure to get your partner on board for treatment consultations. Read on to get more knowledge about sleep apnea.
Think about changing a few of your habits to help with your sleep apnea. Smoking and drinking are some of the biggest offenders. Drinking potentially causes extreme breathing issues because it reduces the ability of your respiratory system to function. Over time, your lungs will be damaged as the result of smoking. If you quit these habits you are likely to see an improvement in your sleeping difficulties.
Do you smoke or drink? Drop these unhealthy habits. Smoking irritates your air passages, making them narrow. Smoking swells up your airways, while drinking depresses your nervous system and muscles into excess relaxation. This can both cause and exacerbate sleep apnea. If you must continue with these habits, avoid doing them before bed.
If you have inherently narrow airway that are causing sleep apnea, a mouth guard can help. This opens up your airways, letting you breathe fully while you sleep. Talk to your doctor about whether or not a mouth guard can solve your sleep apnea problem.
Sleep Apnea
Do you light up or knock some back every day? Break these unhealthy habits right away. Both of these things affect your airway negatively and compound your sleep apnea problem. Smoking swells up your airways, while drinking depresses your nervous system and muscles into excess relaxation. This can both cause and exacerbate sleep apnea. If losing these habits is not possible, then at least limit yourself before going to bed.
Aside from the obvious reasons that losing weight is important, if you have sleep apnea, it’s vital that you lose weight. Research has shown a clear link between sleep apnea and obesity. As a result, the loss of just twenty or twenty five pounds can make a significant difference in reducing your symptoms of sleep apnea.
If you are dealing with sleep apnea and you’re a smoker and drinker, you should quit now to help improve the symptoms of this condition. Both smoking and drinking promote relaxation of the airways causing sleep apnea and excessive snoring. While quitting these habits may not stop your sleep apnea episodes entirely, you will be healthier overall and save money at the same time.
Limit your alcohol consumption. Alcohol will relax all of your muscles. While this is often considered a desirable effect, it can lead to sleep apnea. If you are sleeping and have been drinking too close to bedtime, this can be a dangerous combination while you are asleep. If eliminating it is not an option, cut back and make sure you do it well before bedtime.
Your doctor may recommend a mouth guard to help ease the breathing problems associated with sleep apnea. You might just have a small air way, if you have a recessed chin or a smaller jaw this can cause sleep apnea. You will get better rest if you use specialty devices to position yourself and align your jaw properly while sleeping.
If you want to beat your apnea and get a healthy dose of sleep, roll onto your side the next time you go to sleep. When lying on your back, your throat and nasal passages can obstruct your airways. Make it a habit of falling asleep on your side, which hopefully does alleviate some of these sleep apnea symptoms.
Follow your treatment plan including wearing your sleep mask. Although it can be difficult to become accustomed to wearing a CPAP, it is an important tool in improving sleep apnea. Good health over the long term is what is important, and you need to build up the amount of time you use it until you can use it throughout the night. If you still have trouble adjusting, get at least four hours and try to add more time each night.
Sleeping pills and other drugs are not good solutions if you are having trouble falling asleep. Similar to alcohol, a sleeping pill will relax the muscles in your throat. They also lead to other issues that can cause many problems, especially for someone suffering with sleep apnea. See if your doctor knows of any sleeping medication that doesn’t cause respiratory depression.
Avoid drinking alcohol to excess. Drinking alcohol relaxes the muscles of your throat and airway. If the throat muscles are too relaxed, they can collapse and block your airway. Your muscles will relax and collapse, which will make you snore and possibly cough through the night. If you absolutely must drink, then do it in moderation and certainly not right when you’re about to go to sleep.
Do not take sleeping pills if you have sleep apnea. These pills can cause your throat muscles to relax and keep your airways from properly functioning. The medication can be very dangerous, even fatal, if you suffer from sleep apnea.
Sleep apnea can be a serious disorder. If you think you may have it, it is important to make an appointment with your doctor to discuss it. When you are officially diagnosed, you are going to be referred to a sleep specialist. You may even have to take a sleep test at home with a monitor to fully discover the depth of your symptoms.
To help diagnose your sleep apnea, your doctor may ask you to keep a sleep log. This log is where you’ll keep track of how much you sleep during the night, and other symptoms you may experience. Your spouse can inform you of any excessive snoring, jerking, or momentary lapses in your breathing. This type of data can help your doctor diagnose the issue.
If you are requiring a hospital visit, don’t leave the CPAP machine behind. Your CPAP machine should be with you whether you’re admitted to the hospital or visiting the emergency room. This is preset to your breathing pressure. In addition, you’ll be using the same mask you’ve been accustomed to using each night. You’ll be able to resume your CPAP therapy much easier by having these things in the hospital with you.
Try to keep a sleep schedule if sleep apnea is an issue in your life. Your sleep apnea is already affecting your sleep. Do what you can to establish a regular pattern to improve your health and feel less tired. The adjustment that is most important is your sleep schedule.
One sure-fire way to combat the problems posed by sleep apnea is proper weight management. Getting rid of those extra pounds can help you with your sleep apnea. Even a little weight loss can improve the symptoms of sleep apnea and cause the airways and throat to open up more.
You need to make sure you have a medical ID on you if you use a CPAP and have sleep apnea. If you need medical attention, it’s vital that the people treating you know about your condition and that you use a CPAP machine. The ID needs to include all of the medical information pertaining to your CPAP use.
Snoring devices may serve your needs with sleep apnea. Snoring is caused by mostly-closed airways, and apnea is fully-closed airways. It is sensible to get a tool that assists with snoring, since it might help with sleep apnea too. Use an anti-snoring device when you sleep.
Reduce sleep apnea by shedding excess weight. A lot of people find that when they lose weight, they no longer have apnea. Even a loss of a few pounds has been beneficial in opening the airway.
Stop smoking if you have sleep apnea. Swelling of the airways occurs when one smokes; this makes sleep apnea worse. If you are struggling to quit, join a program, or try using nicotine-replacement therapy, such as patches. The first month is the hardest part. Following this, the nicotine dissipates and cravings are reduced.
Working out your tongue can help treat your sleep apnea symptoms. If you press your tongue up and hold it there for a short period of time, it will help. This increases the strength of the muscles in your tongue and throat, which means they won’t relax as much during the night.
Do not drink to excess if you suffer from sleep apnea. When drinking alcohol it causes the muscles in your throat to relax, which results in snoring and blocked airways. Avoiding alcohol altogether is best, but if you must drink then limit yourself to one drink taken several hours before bedtime. This way, the alcohol will not disturb your sleep.
Don’t be embarrassed about using a CPAP machine or getting treatment. Make people aware that your life would be much worse with the machine. Also, don’t be afraid to use the machine in front of others, including friends and your spouse. The use of your CPAP device is medically necessary, and if anybody mocks you over it, consider getting friends who take life more seriously.
Most of the time sleep apnea causes anxiety, and if this is bothering you, then consider a nice warm bath before going to bed each night. When you bathe in hot water, it calms your muscles and melts away tension. Therefore, you can sleep better without waking up because of apnea symptoms.
Whether you yourself suffer from sleep apnea or you have a loved one dealing with the condition, the advice in this article may prove helpful. If you are assuming sleep apnea is somthing you can ignore, it is not true. Use the information you learned from this article and share with anyone else you think it could help.
Search for effective treatment options to address your sleep apnea. Sleep apnea can be potentially dangerous if it left untreated. Don’t wait until you are getting absolutely no sleep every night. See your physician if you have even the slightest suspicion that you have sleep apnea.