Can I have sleep apnea but not awaken at night?

2 Comments

1. amanda m says:

   November 26, 2009 at 7:04 am

   There are many people with sleep apnea who don’t know that they have it until their spouse tells them so. I have heard many wives say "My husband was snoring really loud and then all of sudden he stopped and then he wasn’t breathig. Then after a few seconds he let out this weird snore like he was trying to catch his breath and he was breathing again." Apnea occurs when someone does not breath for about 10 seconds. There are 3 types of sleep apnea: obstructive, central and mixed. Some of the risk factors include: male, overweight and over the age of 40. If this is left untreated, it can cause high blood pressure and other heart problems. The type of sleep apnea that I have seen most often is obstructive. It can be cause by physical blockages or obstructions in the airway. One main cause that I have seen is overweight people who have a thick neck. When they lie down on their back all of the fat from their neck falls on their airway, therefore putting pressure on it. This causes that part of the airway to be pushed down and making diameter of your airway smaller. This is how the snoring comes about. The shape of your airway is now no longer a nice round pipe. Part of it now is being pushed down and when air tries to flow around it, it makes that rumbling sound called snoring. I would definitely see a Dr. about this. If he/she believes that you have sleep apnea, they are going to want to scedule a sleep apnea test. If they do conclude that you have sleep apnea, they may want to set you up with a home CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) machine. A small mask is placed over your nose, mouth or both. I have mainly seen the ones that are placed over your nose or both. A hose connects the mask to the machine. Air will from flow from the machine through that hose. It is continuous postive pressure flow, which will open the airways and keep them open. It is able to relieve that obstruction on the airways by having a continuous flow through them. I wish you the best of luck!!
2. SC says:

   November 26, 2009 at 7:04 am

   It is most likely sleep-apnea, and you do not necessarily need to get up at night for it to be sleep apnea. Most of the time, it is when you stop breathing for about 5-10 secs every time you snore. Thats about 2hrs worth of oxygen you are being deprived of EVERY NIGHT.

   You should most definitely see a doctor about it and believe me it will be worth it. I hope this helps. Good luck to you :D