A lot of people think that their sleep deprivation is a problem that doesn’t have a real solution. The fact of the matter is that sleep apnea afflicts lots of people and is never realized as the culprit. Extract all the information from this article on sleep apnea that you can.
Get through sleep apnea by consulting with your practitioner about getting a CPAP machine. The machine size and how loud it is are things you should think about. Certain machines are actually smaller than your average bread box, and they whisper quietly. A doctor will be able to give advice on machines that they know their patients have had very good luck with.
If your sleep apnea is the result of narrow airways, try using a mouth guard when you sleep. These gadgets correct your alignment, letting you breathe easily and normally throughout your sleeping hours. Consult with a doctor or get a mouth guard made if you are suffering.
Look into corrective mouth pieces to help with your sleep apnea. If you have a narrow airway, recessed chin or small jaw, it is likely you have amplified sleep apnea effects. Mouth pieces can help align your jaw in the proper way, which will provide you with high-quality sleep.
If you are obese, start a weight loss program. Studies have found a correlation between sleep apnea and obesity. You may cure sleep apnea by just shedding twenty pounds.
Get a custom mouth guard. These oral devices are specially made for sleep apnea sufferers. This is a good alternative to using the CPAP machine. You will find that this mouth guard stabilizes the soft tissues and allows the airways to be more open.
Sleep Apnea
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. Alcohol relaxes throat muscles and can make it difficult to keep the air passage open. If you feel like you have to drink, try to not do it prior to going to bed.
Try to sleep on your sides to keep sleep apnea from ruining your sleep. Sleeping on your back can block your airway. Be sure you try sleeping on your side to get rid of a few of your problems caused by sleep apnea at night.
Consider any alternative you can find to using sleeping pills. The muscles in your throat relax too much when you use a sedative like sleeping pills, (or alcohol) and your airway is much more likely to collapse during sleep. Natural sleep aids, such as melatonin, are much safer. Ask your physician about sleep aids that won’t also affect your breathing.
If you are not sleeping with a partner, then it’s almost impossible to determine if you’re suffering from sleep apnea on your own. You can always set up a camcorder to make a video of a typical night’s sleep. The video needs audio too so that the doctors can hear the noises you make.
If you suffer from sleep apnea, do not take pills. Sleeping pills can make your throat relax which prevents your airways from functioning properly. Sleeping pills can actually really harm you and prevent any air from coming through your body, so stay away from them as much as possible.
If you use a CPAP, then ensure a medical ID is carried with you at all times. This is particularly important if you have an accident and require overnight hospitalization. The information on the card should mention your sleep anea and include the full details of the treatment you regularly use.
Take your CPAP along whenever you are embarking on an overnight trip. You ought not to go a single night without the CPAP if you have sleep apnea. You were probably provided a padded traveling bag when you got your CPAP machine. This is perfect for taking your CPAP along with you anytime you are away.
Try not to sleep on your back if you have sleep apnea. Most apnea patients are “back sleepers”, making it more likely that airway obstructions can occur. Prop yourself up on your side with a pillow or cushions.
Stick to using just one normal sized pillow as you sleep. If you use very thick pillows or many pillows, you may end up sleeping at an odd angle that hurts the free flow of air through your airways. This can position you in a way that makes it harder to breathe. So, you should stick to one pillow to help lessen any sleep apnea symptoms.
Don’t drink a lot of alcohol if you have sleep apnea. When you drink alcohol, your throat becomes excessively relaxed. This can cause snoring, airway blockage and sleep apnea. You should either quit drinking, or make sure you only have a single drink a long time before you sleep. You don’t need alcohol to compound your issues with sleep apnea, and following this advice will help alleviate that.
Use nasal spray if you suffer from sleep apnea. This product should help clear your airways for a night or two. Nasal sprays with medications should not be used for many days in a row, however, because they can damage the nose. Take a trip to the local pharmacy to see what they have available to help with keeping your nose open when you’re sleeping.
How you sleep can determine how many sleep apnea occurrences you have. Therefore, you need to be careful about the way you sleep. Try taking a foam wedge and using it to raise the top half of your body. Try to also prevent yourself from falling off the bed in the middle of the night.
You might want to look into anti-snoring devices. When the airway is mostly closed, snoring occurs. Apnea on the other hand, occurs when the airway is completely closed. It makes sense to have a device that will help both. Anti-snoring devices help you reduce apnea as you sleep.
Contact the airline you will be flying on if you are flying overseas and will need to sleep on the airplane. Many airlines will help you find a seat in a location where you have the space to use your CPAP machine. Don’t forget your power adapter!
Mitigate the risk factors associated with sleep apnea. Some risk factors, which include being male and family history, are innate and unchangeable. However, many other risk factors can be cut out, like being overweight, a smoker or a heavy drinker.
If you are dealing with effects of sleep apnea, one solution is to perform throat exercises, which can help lessen the symptoms. Your muscles become stronger with these exercise, making the airways less likely to collapse. One example would be pressing your entire tongue against the top of your mouth, holding it there for multiple minutes and then letting go. Do that every day for best results.
Your sleeping position can actually be important when dealing with sleep apnea. Because of this, your sleeping position should be the best possible one. Take a foam wedge to lift the top of your body up. Or, if you are up for it, raise up the top part of your bed itself four to six inches.
Do not sleep on the back if you suffer from sleep apnea. Your airways will be much more likely to get blocked by sleeping on your back. Sleeping on your side is much better as it eliminates the extra effect that gravity has on you.
Go to sleep on your side because sleeping looking straight up can make sleep apnea worse. One method to prevent yourself from changing positions during sleep is to sew a spherical object like a tennis ball into your nightclothes. This can make sleeping on your back uncomfortable.
Remain in touch with your physician and attend all scheduled doctor’s visits following your diagnosis. Your physician should provide you with ongoing support and treatment. If you try something new, follow-up with your doctor in about a month so you can tell him how the treatment is working.
Being that sleep apnea is an issue with your throat, is very important that you strengthen the throat muscles to help alleviate many of the sleep apnea symptoms. In an effort to strengthen throat muscles, many exercises can be done to help.
Avoid alcohol before going to bed if you have sleep apnea. Alcohol will make the muscles in your throat relax far too much, which in turn causes a reduced amount of air getting through and that makes the sleep apnea much worse. This only means to reduce your drinking that is close to bedtime.
A lot of people with sleep apnea sleep on their back. If this is the case, you may want to consider changing your sleeping position. Sleeping on your sides helps keep your airways straight, which reduces apnea during sleep.
If exhaustion has haunted you for a long time, it might be a good idea to talk to your doctor about this. You don’t have to suffer much longer. This information is welcomed to be shared with others that have sleep apnea.
Make sure you don’t drink any alcohol before bed. Alcohol causes the throat muscles to relax too much, making it hard for enough air to get in and flaring up sleep apnea. It is not necessary for you to totally stop drinking, but you should not have any prior to going to bed.