Do you often feel just as tired when you wake up as you did when you went to bed? Does the person you sleep with gripe about your snoring all night? Has your snoring been so loud that even you woke up? If this is the case, then you may be suffering from sleep apnea, but don’t worry! The information presented below will show you how to cope with this issue.
Shedding some excess pounds is a good idea if you’re overweight. Several studies have shown that there is a link between obesity and sleep apnea. Consequently, it is therefore possible that losing just twenty-five pounds could result in a dramatic improvement of your sleep apnea symptoms if you are currently suffering from obesity.
If your sleep apnea is the result of narrow airways, try using a mouth guard when you sleep. Devices like these can align your airways properly to allow you better sleep. Speak with your doctor concerning mouth guards, and have yourself fitted for one, provided your doctor agrees.
Family history is one thing that doctors use to diagnosis sleep apnea. You can do sleep studies and the things the doctor finds will guide him on making a decision on what can be done.
Don’t underestimate the potential health consequences of sleep apnea. If you think you may have it, it is important to make an appointment with your doctor to discuss it. A specialist in sleep disorders can order the tests necessary to diagnose the condition.
To get a diagnosis for sleep apnea, your doctor may have you write a sleep log. All hours slept or spent awake should be recorded. Your partner can tell you if you snore loudly, quit breathing or jerk your limbs. These pieces of information are key to helping your doctor diagnose your sleep disorder.
Sleep Apnea
If you have tried everything to no avail, be sure to see your doctor about professional treatment. There are many treatment options available, some which do not work well with some everyone. But there are other methods of treatment, such as surgical techniques which include airway enlargement, as well as the removal of adenoids and tonsils
Sleeping on one of your sides when you have sleep apnea can help you sleep better. When sleeping on the back, throat and tongue muscles are more likely to 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.
A great way to reduce the possibility of having sleep apnea is to lose weight. It’s possible to get rid of this condition just by losing weight. Simply losing a small amount of weight can open your airways, improving your sleep apnea symptoms.
If you sleep alone, you may have sleep apnea and not know it. Setting up a camera to record your sleeping habits might be the answer. You need to include audio in your video because the doctor needs to hear the noises you make.
Don’t use multiple or oversize pillows. Having too many pillows, or one gigantic one, may interfere with good breathing posture. You’ll be resting in such a way that makes breathing difficult. So pick out a single pillow you feel comfortable with to sleep on at night.
Sleeping Pills
Think about using nasal spray if your nasal passages are stopped up. Nasal spray can temporarily reduce swelling in your nasal passages. Remember that nasal sprays should only be used on a temporary basis to avoid nasal damage and irritation. You should go to your pharmacy and explore different options to keep your nose open while you sleep.
Avoid sleeping pills when you suffer from sleep apnea. Sleeping pills relax your palate and the muscles in your throat, which causes you to have even more trouble breathing while you sleep. If you have sleep apnea it can be life threatening to take sleeping pills.
You might want to look into anti-snoring devices. Snoring is caused by your airways being blocked with minor airflow, and apnea involves them being shut completely with no airflow. It is sensible to get a tool that assists with snoring, since it might help with sleep apnea too. Anti-snoring devices can help to reduce your sleep apnea symptoms as you rest.
Get to bed at a regular time every night if you suffer from sleep apnea. Your regular sleeping patterns already suffer due to your condition. Try your best to get a regular sleep pattern after you find out you have sleep apnea, this will help your overall health improve. Go to sleep and wake up at set times each day, even the weekends, for the best results.
Weight loss can make a huge difference in sleep apnea symptoms. People who are overweight or have a larger than normal neck circumference may be prone to sleep apnea. A person with sleep apnea can breathe a lot easier without all that extra weight on them.
Make sure you have something with you at all times that explains that you suffer from sleep apnea and you use a CPAP. If you are in need of medical attention, it is important that the people helping you realize you have sleep apnea and use CPAP therapy. Your ID should clearly inform medical personnel of your sleep apnea condition. Include the fact that you’re using a CPAP machine and indicate the proper pressure level it operates at.
Don’t sleep on your back at all if you have sleep apnea. Sleeping on your back with sleep apnea can make it hard for you to sleep. Prop yourself up on your side with a pillow or cushions.
If you are not having any luck managing your apnea, you may want to talk to a doctor about more radical treatments. If you do not have success with standard treatments, you may have to consider surgery, such as a tonsillectomy or airway enlargement.
People that have sleep apnea need the help of a doctor. There are various sleep apnea treatments for various people because no two cases are exactly alike. For some, weight loss can help, but even slender people can suffer from sleep apnea. The CPAP machine and other non-invasive procedures have been helpful for millions. For others, surgical techniques to remove airway obstructions may provide the most effective relief. Regardless of the method you use, obtaining some type of treatment is essential to living a higher quality of life with this condition.
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 makes you sleep in a way that makes it hard to breathe. Because of this, you should only sleep with a single pillow to combat sleep apnea.
Some great tongue exercises can reduce the symptoms of sleep apnea. Try to press your tongue up against the roof of your mouth. Then, hold it there for about three minutes. This can improve the strength of your tongue and throat muscles and decrease the chance that they will relax too much and cause breathing difficulty.
Patients who suffer from sleep apnea might want to consider losing weight as a means to relieve the symptoms. If a person has a neck circumference of 17 inches or more, they are more likely to develop sleep apnea. Shedding some unnecessary weight can really cut down on the pressure airways receive, which means you get easier air flow and breathing during your sleeping hours.
If you use a CPAP device for your sleep apnea, you should look into getting a heated humidifier also. If the air you breathe is moist, you have a higher chance of sleeping better and continuing your CPAP machine application. If you think you may need to use a humidifier in conjunction with your CPAP machine, talk to your doctor first.
Don’t drink too much if you have sleep apnea. Alcohol makes the throat muscles over-relax, resulting in blocked airways and snoring. If you are going to drink, have only one a few hours before bed. You need to do this to ensure that drinking has no effect on your sleeping patterns.
There are several exercises that can strengthen you throat and improve sleep apnea’s symptoms. These exercises strengthen the muscles surrounding the airway, which makes them less prone to collapsing. Try to move your tongue up and down and flex your throat muscles as one type of exercise. Do that every day for best results.
Reading this article was the first step in dealing with your sleep apnea. This is a very important step, as many people don’t even take the time to do this part. With this help, you may get some better sleep finally, and feel happier at that.
Many people who sleep on their back typically experience sleep apnea. If this is you, then you should try finding another position to sleep in. Many studies indicate that if you sleep on your side, it will help with your sleep apnea.