Sleep apnea is a condition in which breathing stops and starts during sleep. It is a condition that affects as many as 100 million people world wide. Sleep apnea causes a variety of potentially serious health issues and side effects. But the most startling thing about sleep apnea is most sufferers don’t actually know they have it. At least not until it has begun to take a serious toll on their health. You might wonder how that is possible. How could someone stop and start breathing several times a night and not even know? What are the signs of sleep apnea? How do we so often miss these signs?
What is Sleep Apnea?
Signs and Symptoms
Because they occur during sleep, someone with sleep apnea is usually only aware of the lingering side effects. These might include waking up with a dry mouth or sore throat, chest pain in the morning when waking up, or morning headache. These symptoms are easily misinterpreted as other issues and often go misdiagnosed. Chest pain from sleep apnea might result from your sleeping posture, lifestyle, or other health issues. A morning headache might get ignored as just needing your morning cup of coffee. Dry mouth could be the result of dehydration, sleeping with your mouth open, or a side effect from medication.
Diagnosing Sleep Apnea
So how do so many people with sleep apnea go un- or misdiagnosed? As discussed, many of the symptoms are easily explained away by other complaints. Imagine a patient comes in to see their doctor. They complain of poor sleep, low moods, and difficulty focusing. Because they live alone, they are not aware of their loud snoring. To the doctor, this presents as a fairly typical case of depression. It’s not until they develop or complain of other common symptoms that the cause becomes clear, if ever.
In fact, most people who do finally seek medical advice don’t actually think there is anything wrong. They only speak to their doctor because their loved one is losing sleep too, due to their loud snoring. Individuals who live alone or who do not snore may go months or even years before they see a doctor.
Treating Sleep Apnea
- Weight Control
- Making sure underlying conditions are well controlled
- Change sleeping positions
- Use a humidifier
- Quit smoking
But in the meantime, you need to get some restful sleep. The frequent waking has left you exhausted and falling asleep at work. You need relief now. So what can you do? A CPAP machine is usually the go-to answer for most sleep apnea patients. CPAP stands for Continuous Positive Airway Pressure. It’s a mask that fits over the nose and mouth to pressurize your airway, preventing it from collapsing during sleep. These masks are large and usually fairly heavy. Many patients have difficulty falling or staying asleep while wearing it.
As a result, many patients do not wear their CPAP as often as they should to see relief. Thankfully, there are other options. An alternative, and equally effective option is to use an oral appliance. An oral appliance is a device worn in the mouth to maintain an open airway during sleep. It does this by shifting the lower jaw forward to prevent soft palate collapse. Oral appliances come in generic versions or can be custom designed to fit your mouth. With a custom fit appliance, patients report much higher compliance with their prescribed sleep apnea therapy. And better compliance means better sleep.