Getting A Good Night’s Sleep Despite Sleep Apnea

If anyone around you has trouble with their sleep and things are not getting better, you should be aware that sleep apnea might be the culprit. Sleep apnea is a serious condition; you and the loved one you sleep with cannot simply ignore the problem and expect it to resolve itself. Continue on to learn about some helpful tips on sleep apnea.

A reason that a lot of people have problems with sleep apnea is due to excessive weight. In this case, a person suffering from sleep apnea needs to lose this excess weight. Anyone in this situation should stick to a sensible diet, in combination with a good amount of exercise. Many people have success following a low carb diet.

Stopping bad habits may help with your sleep apnea. If you smoke and drink, you are almost sure to suffer from sleep disturbances. Drinking can overly relax your respiratory system and may cause breathing problems. Smoking adds harmful chemicals which damage your lungs over time. Dropping both these habits entirely will help ease the symptoms of sleep apnea.

If you have a prescription for sleep apnea and you are prescribed a CPAP, you should at least use it four hours every night. Going to bed with a CPAP machine humming away is certainly an adjustment that can be a challenge for some. If this is the case with you, try a different mask. That is often the source of the discomfort. Keep trying to use your machine, and work up to a full night slowly if you need to.

If you have inherently narrow airway that are causing sleep apnea, a mouth guard can help. Using these guards encourages proper jaw alignment and helps keep the breathing passages fully open while you sleep. It’s best to see a medical professional to get fitted properly for a guard that will fit your individual situation.

Sleep apnea generally is diagnosed by studying your medical and family history and having a thorough physical exam. You can do sleep studies and the things the doctor finds will guide him on making a decision on what can be done.

Eating in a healthy way will help you drop weight and fight apnea. Changing from a poor diet to a healthy one can transform your sleep apnea symptoms. Research shows that people who eat an unhealthy diet have more severe apnea than some overweight people who eat healthier.

If you do not have a partner to let you know how you sleep at night, it can be difficult to assess if you have sleep apnea. Therefore, record yourself sleeping at night by putting a video camcorder in your room. Ensure that you record audio also, which will allow the doctors to evaluate noises you are making during sleep.

Sleeping Pills

Keeping a sleep ledger can help your doctor monitor your sleep apnea. You would record your total hours of sleep each night, as well as symptoms that occur. Your partner can let you know if you snore too loudly, jerk your limbs, or stop breathing. Your doctor can use this information to determine if you actually suffer from sleep apnea.

Try something besides sleeping pills. Similar to alcohol, sleeping pills will relax your throat and airways to an undesirable extent. They’re also known for causing other problems in those that have to deal with sleep apnea. Ask your doctor about sleeping aids that won’t have a negative impact on your breathing.

If you have sinus or allergy issues, this may be causing your sleep apnea. Your condition is already affecting your breathing at night. There’s no reason to compound your troubles by suffering through other problems that make it harder to breathe. Keeping your airways clear and free by properly treating nasal issues can help you sleep better at night.

When you have sleep apnea you can find out about it from tests your doctor will run. Also, your doctor may want to try a sleep study on you. Depending on the results, you may be referred to a specialist.

Although you should visit your doctor to become diagnosed, you can still figure out if you have sleep apnea on your own. Quitting smoking and losing weight are beneficial to anyone, particularly those that have sleep apnea. Curtail alcohol, heavy foods and caffeine before bedtime also.

Avoid medications that are designed to help you sleep. The muscles in your airway may become too relaxed. The medication can be very dangerous, even fatal, if you suffer from sleep apnea.

One way to prevent yourself from getting sleep apnea is to exercise your throat muscles and make them stronger. Relaxed or excessive tissue can obstruct air passages and make breathing difficult. When your muscles are strenghthened they will not block your air passages.

Your physician may suggest that you start recording your sleeping habits in order to zero in on your sleep apnea symptoms. Keep track of how long you are able to sleep at night, as well as anything else related to your sleeping process. Ask your partner for more specific information on how loud your snoring is, the quality of your breathing and even how restful you were. This diary will help a medical professional see patterns in your sleep habits.

Avoid alcohol when you have sleep apnea. Drinking exacerbates the airway constriction of sleep apnea by causing the muscles in your throat to relax. If you’re dealing with sleep apnea, it’s a good idea to avoid drinking as much as possible, especially in the hours close to your bed time. This will ensure alcohol doesn’t affect your sleep.

When you travel, be sure to bring your CPAP on the trip. A diagnosis of sleep apnea is serious and means that you cannot forgo the use of your CPAP for even a single night. This CPAP should have a travel bag that came with it. This will help ease transporting your CPAP machine if you must be away.

If you have sleep apnea you should never sleep on the back. Sleeping while flat on your back often results in airway constriction, reducing the amount of sleep you get. You could try sleeping on your side or in a semi-reclining position propped up with pillows.

Sleep Apnea

Do not procrastinate in searching for a treatment. Start now! If you don’t consult a physician about what you can do, your condition will worsen and may even threaten your life. Don’t wait for this problem to get much worse, take control of it now if you believe you are suffering with sleep apnea.

Lose a bit of weight to get rid of your sleep apnea. Lots of people have found they can eliminate their sleep apnea by dropping all their excess fat. Even a nominal amount of weight loss will go a long way in improving your breathing at night.

If sleep apnea is something that you are afflicted with, you might want to try the throat exercises known to improve the condition. The goal of these exercises is to prevent the throat from collapsing by strengthening the muscles supporting it. One exercise is to simply push your tongue up against the top of your mouth for a few minutes to strengthen throat muscles. Do this once a day.

Stick to using just one normal sized pillow as you sleep. An over-sized pillow or multiple pillows can actually skew your position. This can position you in a way that makes it harder to breathe. You can minimize the impact your sleep apnea has by using just a single pillow in bed.

Sleep apnea becomes an even bigger problem if you are chronically fatigued. To deal with this problem make sure that you have a set sleeping schedule. Set yourself some guidelines as far as sleeping. That is going to stop apnea from getting worse, such as having total insomnia.

Try a device marketed to help with snoring. Sleep apnea occurs when air passages are totally obstructed, but snoring is the result of majority closure where air still gets through what is left. If you can reduce the snoring, it is possible you can keep your airways open. Use an anti-snoring device when you sleep.

If you think you suffer from sleep apnea, get an official diagnosis from your family physician. Neglecting to do so could carry some major risks. Inform your doctor of your sleeping issues, and he or she can help you find the reason.

Shedding weight oftentimes is a big help to anyone who is dealing with sleep apnea. Sleep apnea is common to those that have large necks or that are overweight. Your breathing will be improved once you lose weight because the pressure will be reduced on the airway and your airflow will be increased.

The technical definition of sleep apnea is not having enough oxygen while you are sleeping. To reduce this problem, people with sleep apnea should not sleep at higher elevations. High elevations mean that your oxygen level will be lower and may cause your sleep apnea to be worse. Avoid sleeping at higher elevations as much as possible.

The information contained herein will help you, and can even help others. If you believe you can ignore sleep apnea, you are very wrong. You can even print this article out and let others look at it to learn of sleep apnea too.

Do throat and jaw exercises. Sleep apnea can be exacerbated by weak muscles in your throat, so taking the time to strengthen them can help you manage your apnea. These exercises can greatly help reduce your symptoms.