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Snoring or Something More?

sleep disordersIf you snore, you may know about nightly jabs in the ribs, grumbling from your bed partner, or even moving to the couch. Snoring happens when air can't flow freely through your throat. Then the noises you make can disrupt your partner's sleep - or your own. You may have an unsafe condidtion called sleep apnea.

Sleep Apnea is Serious
If you have sleep apnea, your throat becomes blocked during sleep. You stop breathing for short periods of time. You may snore loudly, then be very quiet. Or you may gasp or snort in your sleep. Other signs include:

  • Frequently feeling drowsy during the day
  • Waking up tired, even after a full night's sleep
  • Waking up with a headache
  • Feeling very sleepy or falling asleep at the wrong time (for instance, at work or while driving your car)
  • Being cranky or having a short temper
  • Having problems with concentration or memory
  • Impotence
  • Obesity (not everyone who is overweight suffers from sleep apnea, nor is everyone who suffers from sleep apnea necessarily overweight.)
  • Bed-wetting

lf sleep apnea is left untreated, it can cause:

  • Irregular heartbeat
  • High blood pressure
  • Enlargement of the heart
  • Increased risk of heart failure
  • Increased risk of stroke
  • Excessive sleepiness
  • Workplace and automobile accidents (a disturbing study of a group of truckers showed that 87% had signs of sleep apnea. This is a tragedy in the making because people with untreated sleep apnea are at high risk of falling asleep at the wheel, and when a trucker dies behind the wheel, he sends an average of 4.3 innocent victims to their graves.)
  • Impotence
  • Uncontrollable weight gain
  • Psychological symptoms, such as irratability and depression
  • Deterioration of memory, alertness and coordination
  • Death

Your Doctor Can Help
Snoring and sleep apnea rarely go away on their own, but they can be treated. Your doctor can evaluate you and suggest treatment to help you breathe and sleep better. Treatment may include changes you can make, a medical devide you can use, or surgery. Treating your snoring may give you sound, restful sleep that won't annoy those around you. And if you prevent or control sleep apnea, you'll improve your own life and health.

Breathing During Sleep
Breathing may seem simple. Most of the time, you don't even think about it. but if you've ever had a stuffed-up nose, you know what it's like to breathe through a very narrow passage. This is what happens in your throat when you snore. While you sleep, throat tissue partly blocks your air passage, making it narrow and hard to breath through. If the entire passage is blocked and you can't breathe at all, you have sleep apnea.

Some Changes You Can Make
Your snoring may get better if you make a few simple changes in your sleeping and waking habits. These changes might be all you need to improve or even cure your snoring or sleep apnea, or they may work best when used along with other types of treatment.

  • Sleep on your side - Sleeping on your side may keep throat tissue from blocking your air passage. This may improve or even cure snoring or sleep apnea.
  • Avoid alcohol and certain medications - Alcohol and medications such as sedatives, sleeping pills and antihistamines make breathing slower and more shallow. They also make your muscles relax, so structures in your throat can block your air passage. These changes can cause or worsen snoring or sleep apnea. If you snore, avoid alcohol. Talk to your doctor if you take medication to help you sleep.
  • Lose weight - Too much weight can make snoring worse. Extra weight puts pressure on your neck tissues and lungs, making breathing harder. Getting close to your ideal weight may even cure snoring or sleep apnea.
  • Exercise regularly - Exercise can help you lose weight, tone your muscles, and make your lungs work better. These changes may help improve your snoring or sleep apnea.
  • Unblock your nose - If something blocks your nose, treating the problem may help improve your snoring or sleep apnea. Your doctor can suggest medications for allergies or sinus problems. Surgery can straighten a deviated septum, reduce the size of turbinates or remove polyps (growths).

Air Pressure Devices
To treat sleep apnea and severe snoring, your doctor may suggest an air pressure device. The most common type of air pressure device is called continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP). Often, adjustments are necessary to make CPAP comfortable. Your doctor can help make CPAP work for you.

How CPAP Works
A flexible hose connects a small air blower to a soft plastic mask. Each night, you place the mask over your nose and turn on the blower. The blower sends a gentle steady stream of air through your nose into you throat. This keeps the throart structures from blocking your air passage. During you sleep study, your doctor found out how much air pressure is needed to keep your air passage open. You and your doctor may need to adjust this pressure so CPAP works right for you. The pressure may also need to be changed if you lose or gain weight.

Tips for Using CPAP

  • CPAP can't cure snoring or sleep apnea, so use it all night, every night.
  • If your mask doesn't fit or feel right, talk to your doctor or the vendor about adjusting it or trying a new one. Custom-made masks are also available.
  • A vaporizer or humidifier may help combat any dryness in the nose that CPAP causes. Saline nasal spray may also help.
  • CPAP works best if your nose is clear. If you have allergies or other problems that block your nose, get those treated first.
  • If CPAP doesn't feel good or work well at first, don't stop using it. Ask your doctor for ways to help it work for you.

Misdiagnosing Sleep Apnea
Sleep apnea is very commonly misdiagnosed. Only in the 1980's did doctors begin to recognize sleep apnea as a specific sleep/breathing disorder with characteristic causes and symptoms. It is still best understood by sleep specialists. Even today the average medical student receives only about 24 minutes of instruction on sleep disorders during his or her entire medical education.

Call us TODAY! We can help you stop feeling tired.

Email Us at: info@michigansleep.com

Phone:  989-345-1000
Toll Free:  877-595-1090
Fax:  989-345-3163

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