Sleep apnea is a much more common condition than most people realize. If you sleep alone, you could have it and not even realize it. Most people end up going to the doctor because their partner has complained about their snoring or has noticed the pause in breathing. That is literally what sleep apnea is. It’s when a person stops breathing for a time and then restarts again. It sounds scary and it is for the person listening but the person experiencing it, they don’t even know it’s happening. They may feel the affects like being tired even after getting what they think is a full night’s sleep.
What causes sleep apnea?
What is actually happening is that the air way is blocked which causes pauses in your breathing cycles. When the airflow stops, your oxygen level drops. This causes your brain to disturb your sleep just enough to start you breathing again. This often happens with a choking or gasping sound. You probably won’t even remember the episodes as they are so brief. There are various things that can make sleep apnea occur. Being overweight is a big one and for some reason, it’s mostly males that struggle with the condition. If you are older, a smoker, have high blood pressure and a large neck circumference, all of these things will contribute to your risk factor.
What are the symptoms?
While you are sleeping you will snore loudly. It is known as chronic snoring. Periodically you will pause your snoring because your breathing has stopped and then you will choke or gasp and start snoring and breathing again. You may wake up at night feeling like you are short of breath.
The main symptoms are how you feel in the day time: tired or fatigued, dry mouth, headaches, mood swings, lack of focus are all warning signs that you might have sleep apnea. If you can get discount cpap mask parts, it might be worth it to try the mask for a night and see if that helps. However, you should always talk to your doctor before trying anything at all.
How can it be treated?
While there is no surgical cure as of yet, there are ways to treat the condition and help you sleep better. Cpap machines can be worn when you sleep in order to help yourself sleep better and stop pausing your breathing. Sometimes, insurance doesn’t cover the sleep studies or the equipment. However, don’t give up. Keep looking around and you may be able to find funding for the treatment. Also, don’t discount cpap mask parts that are second hand or gently used, many times people will buy a mask or a part and then not need it because it’s not comfortable for their face or something. Who knows, it might fit you perfectly.
Too many people don’t get treated because they don’t want to pay the cost for the sleep study and cpap masks or cpap machine supplies, etc. If your insurance doesn’t cover the cost of all of these things, keep in mind that you can get discount cpap mask parts at wholesale stores and online. If you simply write “discount cpap mask parts” in to a search engine or an online general store, you might be surprised at what you find. There is definitely ways to over come this condition. It is probably affecting you much more than you realize. You’ll never know how bad you felt until you feel good.
Bedtime Remedies
If you want to try and help yourself before your sleep study, here are a few tips.
- Sleep on your side to stop your tongue and tissues from obstructing.
- If you can’t seem to stay on your side, wedge a pillow behind you or sew a tennis ball into the back of your pajamas.
- Elevate your head slightly from the bed.
- Try using breathing strips or a saline spray to open your nasal passages.
- Tighten up your jaw muscles for around about 10 minutes before going to bed.
Other helpful remedies are singing, doing throat exercises and gargling.
The most important thing to remember is not to just let it go. Sleep apnea is a potentially very serious condition. If you think you may have it, you need to see your doctor for diagnoses and treatment.
