Do you often wake up after 8 hours of sleep feeling drowsy? If this has happened to you several times then you may be suffering from something known as sleep apnea without knowing it! If this is true for you then the best thing to do is read this article for information.
Try losing a few pounds, if you suffer from chronic sleep apnea. Controlled studies have proven that people with this sleep disturbance benefit greatly after losing 20 or more pounds. Symptoms may even diminish completely, so you now have yet another reason to get your weight down to a healthier number!
For people who are using a CPAP machine, you need to take notes to give to your doctor. If you experience any symptoms, like snoring, that were eliminated when you started using the CPAP machine and they come back, you need to let your doctor know. Only your doctor can properly assess any problems.
You should know that using a CPAP machine can cause certain side effects, including snoring, congestion, irritation or dryness in your mouth and airways. If this occurs, you should go to your doctor and make sure you are using your machine properly. Consider using a different mask or a different machine.
Try your best to lay off tobacco and nicotine products. Cigarette smoke can irritate your upper airway causing it to swell up, subsequently hindering your ability to breath during the night. Quitting smoking could therefore, significantly improve your sleep apnea symptoms and will also improve your body’s overall health and your feelings of well-being.
If you have sleep apnea and cannot break the habit of sleeping on your back, try sleeping in a t-shirt with two tennis balls sewn into the back. Making this sleep shirt is a simple project to do at home, and it can help to break you of sleeping on your back. Every time you try to roll over on your back in your sleep, the tennis balls will remind you to roll back onto your side.
Check if a corrective device can help alleviate your sleep apnea symptoms. Having an overbite, an undersized jaw or a recessed chin can cause your airway to be more narrow because of how your jawbone is set. These devices help create proper alignment of your jaw while you sleep, opening up your airway more. As a result, you experience fewer sleep apnea symptoms.
People who use alcohol, sedatives, and sleeping pills are far more likely to suffer from sleep apnea. This is because these drugs will relax the throat and cause their breathing to be impaired. Using these drugs before bedtime is more likely to cause sleep apnea than using these drugs during the day.
You need to have patience when you realize you have sleep apnea. Some treatments may work for certain people, but not all of them. Very often, losing weight has a profound effect on sleep apnea symptoms; however, some very thin people have sleep apnea. Many patients get great results with non-surgical treatments like CPAP therapy. Some prefer surgery when dealing with sleep apnea. Choose whichever method you think will work for you so you may begin to live a happy and comfortable life.
How you physically sleep each night can really affect your sleep apnea. That’s why you need to sleep in an optimal position. A foam wedge allows you to elevate your body. An even better idea is to lift the top part of the bed by about four inches, if you can.
There are different ways that sleep specialists will treat sleep apnea. They may start by treating an underlying medical condition, using oxygen while you are sleeping or utilizing breathing devices that will manage your obstructive sleep apnea. They could prescribe medications that will help with the sleepiness, but will not help with the apnea itself.
If your sleep apnea is caused by misalignment of your jaw, which results in the narrowing of your airway, you may benefit from visiting a doctor. A doctor can look at the alignment and suggest a night mouth guard that will force your airways to stay open while sleeping by holding your jaw in proper alignment.
People who have sleep apnea usually sleep on their backs. If this is you, then you should try finding another position to sleep in. Sleeping in a position, such as on your side, can help alleviate the problems caused by constricted airways.
Check with your doctor about any medications that you are taking that may be causing your sleep apnea symptoms. Some prescription medications, such as muscle relaxers, may, in fact, promote the collapse of the soft tissue in the back of the throat which can contribute to the symptoms of sleep apnea.
If you suffer from sleep apnea, it is important that you maintain a healthy body weight. Being overweight significantly worsens sleep apnea and losing just a few excess pounds can go a long way towards dramatically improving your ability to breathe properly while you sleep. Following a healthy diet and exercise plan is one of the best ways to deal with sleep apnea.
If you take sedatives or sleeping pills and suffer from sleep apnea, discontinue these medications. Many of these medicines relax your muscles, including those in your airways. This leads to an increased likelihood of sleep apnea. If you are having trouble sleeping, talk to your doctor about other options that will not affect your breathing.
Sleep apnea sufferers oftentimes take sleeping pills in an effort to get a good night’s sleep. This is a huge mistake. Taking sleeping pills will actually make it harder for you to breathe while you sleep. This is because sleeping pills relax throat muscles, which leads to your throat getting blocked off. Sleeping pills can also cause lead to a number of other problems, including addiction.
Now that you know about sleep apnea you can analyze your situation to see if that is what is happening to you. By following these useful tips you can turn a horrible night’s sleep into a great, peaceful rest. Remember to enlist the help of loved ones when you are dealing with this issue.
