Sleep Apnea Symptoms


Sleep apnea symptoms appear only during sleep, making it impossible for those suffering from the condition to be fully aware of the disorder. The most common signs people should be aware of include: excessive sleepiness during the day, and repeated shortness of breath while sleeping. Your bed partner may be the first one to notice these apnea indicators

The sleep apnea disorder may also have associated features which helps people ascertain if they have the condition or not. Some of these sleep apnea symptoms include;

- loud snoring
- depression
- heartburn
- high blood pressure
- irritability
- dry mouth after waking up
- having trouble concentrating or remembering
- in some cases, insomnia
- morning or night headaches
- unexpected gain in weight

Sleep apnea symptoms differ from person to person, and some patients even suffer from multiple of these signs. To help diagnose the severity of the said sleep disorder, a sleep apnea test can be taken.

Upon acknowledging these apnea symptoms, it is essential to consult a physician and go through said test.

A sleep apnea test called polysomnography is often the most commonly used medical assessment to diagnose this sleep disorder. Sleep apnea symptoms can be diagnosed with two kinds of polysomnograms:

1. For snoring, gasping, and the likes, a test can be done overnight with an overnight polysomnography which includes examining the brain waves, muscle tension, the movement of the eyes, breathing, blood’s oxygen level as well as audio monitoring.

2. The second type of sleep apnea test using polysomnography test is a home monitoring test. You will be hooked up to the entire electrode by a professional Sleep Technologist, who then briefs you on recording
your sleep with a computerized polysomnograph. This can be taken home and returned in the morning. This sleep apnea test is fortunately covered with insurance.

Here’s a shocking statistic for you: according to the National Institute of Health, up to 90% of Americans who have obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) don’t know they have it. The Institute estimates that 12 million Americans have OSA – and many are completely unaware of it.

If you’re already experiencing some of the sleep apnea symptoms, your next step is to get a test for apnea.

Why You Should Test Apnea

Before addressing the “how”, it’s important to understand the reason why you should test for apnea. There are many reasons people lose sleep, including job and relationship stress, physical ailments, and even a poor sleeping environment.

Sleep deprivation creates fatigue, and reduces your ability to do everyday functions. More importantly, there are many additional short and long term sleep apnea effects. If you think you might have sleep apnea, it is important to confirm that you have the condition.

4 Ways to Test Apnea

Tests for apnea can range from something as simple as answering a few questions online regarding your daily habits and experiences, to doing an overnight “study” to test for apnea.

There are four main ways to test apnea:

  1. Online test for apnea
  2. Apnea home test: Disposable sleep apnea screener
  3. Apnea home test: At-home diagnostic test
  4. Apnea sleep study

Next: learn how to take an online test for apnea

To receive a FREE e-course on 7 proven sleep apnea treatments (that don’t use CPAP), please click here.


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25 Comments

  1. hi there great site i do know i have it but in canada(nova scotia)you have to pay for the test its not covered under any plan so i cant afford to get done here,my doctor has try but no sucess i do have a plan tho.again nice site

    Roger

    Comment by Roger — November 23, 2009 @ 8:13 pm

  2. Hi Roger,

    Thanks for your compliments!

    I wasn’t aware that the test is not covered in Nova Scotia. This is an important topic to research – I will look into which countries/states/provinces cover sleep apnea tests, and post the results of my research on the site.

    Marc

    Comment by Moe — November 25, 2009 @ 5:14 pm

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