You may realize that you snore but have little idea of how severe your snoring problem really is until someone tells you. If a loved one has expressed concern about your snoring habit and its disruptive nature, there is more than one reason to take note. Not only do you want to support your relationship by protecting everyone’s sleep, yours included, but you also need to realize that there comes the point at which snoring is a dangerous habit. Here, we want to point out a few ways that snoring may be revealing that you have obstructive sleep apnea.
No Amount Of Sleep Feels Like Enough
Many people wake up feeling groggy and sleepy. However, if you consistently wake up feeling exhausted, even after at least eight hours in bed, it could be because your quality of sleep is being disrupted. If your morning is spent chugging coffee and you still can’t seem to break out of that fog bank in your head, it could be that your body is working on overdrive at night.
Obstructive sleep apnea causes a pause in breathing. This can happen hundreds of times a night. When you stop breathing, your brain panics and releases adrenaline to wake you up enough so you begin to breathe again (until the next apnea episode). As a result of this constant struggle for deep sleep, some people find that they have to nap during the day or that they fall asleep when they sit for a few minutes.
Mornings Are A Headache
Many people with obstructive sleep apnea also report that they tend to wake up with a headache more often than not. The reason that this may occur is that the flow of oxygen to the brain is restricted during every apnea episode.
Blood Pressure Climbs
Sleep apnea disrupts the processes that are commonly performed while you sleep. Therefore, a number of secondary concerns may originate with this sleep disorder. High blood pressure, or hypertension, is one example. Blood pressure may increase in the face of obstructive sleep apnea because, in the body’s state of shock, blood vessels constrict and blood pressure rises to jumpstart the respiratory system. The circulatory effects of an apnea episode linger even after breathing has resumed.
Obstructive sleep apnea presents serious concerns, but it can be treated efficiently. Some people obtain the best results with oral appliance therapy. If you suspect you have obstructive sleep apnea and would like to learn more about this treatment, contact us online or call our Beverly Hills office at 310-276-4537.
