Sleep Apnea Symptoms

When people have prolonged moderate to severe snoring problems they may be suffering from a disorder called sleep apnea. Basically, sleep apnea is marked by pauses during breathing or shallow breaths during sleep. These irregular breathing patterns cause someone who is asleep to move out of a deep sleep and into a light sleep which results in poor sleep quality. Unfortunately sleep apnea is hard to detect and there is no way a doctor can diagnose this condition during a regular check up. Sleep apnea also won't show up on any type of blood test. The best chance you have of recognizing sleep apnea is if a bed partner notices the change in breathing while you sleep or you notice that you have one or more of common sleep apnea symptoms.

There are three kinds of sleep apnea: obstructive sleep apnea, central sleep apnea and a combination of the two. Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is the most common form and can include the following symptoms: excessive daytime sleepiness, waking up from sleep feeling un-refreshed and drowsy, morning or night headaches, mood swings, irritability during the day combined with fatigue, constant waking during the night to urinate and excessive sweating and chest pain while sleeping. Your partner also may notice sleep apnea symptoms that you may not including loud snoring, episodes of not breathing or breathing struggling, restless tossing and turning during sleep and nighttime choking or gasping spells. Having a partner in bed with you is the best way to identify sleep apnea problems because most people who suffer from it will not know why they keep feeling restless and drowsy during the day.

When you notice symptoms of sleep apnea you should schedule a visit to a doctor and let him or her know that you are having difficulty sleeping. Again, there is no test to clearly identify sleep apnea so unless you tell a doctor they won't be able to help you. If your sleep apnea does not appear serious there are several remedies you can try to alleviate the snoring problem including using an anti-snoring mouthpiece and mandibular appliances that can help keep a person's mouth shut while they sleep so they are forced to breathe through the nose instead of the mouth to eliminate snoring.