Does anyone else have sleep apnea?
Last night I stopped breathing and woke up gasping for air. I couldnt’t fall back to sleep. This hasnt happened in awhile, the last time was probably last year. I got tested for this a few years back and the lab said that i have this condition. I’m wondering if i should tell my family that i love each of them in case something happens to me, yet I don’t want to tell them because I don’t want to make them worried.
Tagged with: hasnt • last time • sleep
Filed under: Sleep Apnea Symptoms
Hope this Help you Dear!!
What Is Sleep Apnea?
Sleep apnea is a common disorder in which you have one or more pauses in breathing or shallow breaths while you sleep.
Breathing pauses can last from a few seconds to minutes. They often occur 5 to 30 times or more an hour. Typically, normal breathing then starts again, sometimes with a loud snort or choking sound.
Sleep apnea usually is a chronic (ongoing) condition that disrupts your sleep 3 or more nights each week. You often move out of deep sleep and into light sleep when your breathing pauses or becomes shallow.
This results in poor sleep quality that makes you tired during the day. Sleep apnea is one of the leading causes of excessive daytime sleepiness.
Overview
Sleep apnea often goes undiagnosed. Doctors usually can’t detect the condition during routine office visits. Also, there are no blood tests for the condition.
Most people who have sleep apnea don’t know they have it because it only occurs during sleep. A family member and/or bed partner may first notice the signs of sleep apnea.
The most common type of sleep apnea is obstructive sleep apnea. This most often means that the airway has collapsed or is blocked during sleep. The blockage may cause shallow breathing or breathing pauses.
When you try to breathe, any air that squeezes past the blockage can cause loud snoring. Obstructive sleep apnea happens more often in people who are overweight, but it can affect anyone.
Central sleep apnea is a less common type of sleep apnea. It happens when the area of your brain that controls your breathing doesn’t send the correct signals to your breathing muscles. You make no effort to breathe for brief periods.
Central sleep apnea often occurs with obstructive sleep apnea, but it can occur alone. Snoring doesn’t typically happen with central sleep apnea
If it has been confirmed through the lab that you do indeed have sleep apnea than you can get a prescription for a C-pap machine to wear at night. It forces air into your airways to keep them open. This way you are not oxygen deprived and you don’t have to worry about sleep apnea related death.
If you had a sleep study and your doc told you that you have this condition, your family knows about it already. Every time you sleep you snore. When you stop snoring, they are relived. What they don’t know is that you have stopped breathing. The snort that follows is your brain telling your lungs to take a breath.
Why not take the Doctors advice to get on that CPaP or BiPaP? This is a device that creates an air splint to allow you to breath while you sleep. Or at the least make the effort to drop those extra pounds. Weight is a factor in sleep apnea.
If you love your family, you will tell them. They will encourage you to get on the Cpap machine. If you can’t afford it (they can cost upwards of several thousands of dollars) tell the doctor and they can work out a deal.
Bottom line. If you don’t you subject yourself to heartattacks that will eventually take your life. Start by dropping the weight.
Bet you didn’t think people knew about what the Doc told you, huh?