Many people suffer from the side effects of sleep apnea without even realizing it. Often times, the symptoms go completely unnoticed because people ignore them or assume that they are a result of another illness, disease, or event in their lives. It is very important to recognize the symptoms of sleep apnea because it can be extremely detrimental to your health and in some cases even fatal if left untreated.
There are several symptoms that may indicate that you have sleep apnea. One of the most obvious as well as the most common symptoms of sleep apnea is loud snoring accompanied by extended pauses in breathing followed by gasping or choking. While this is not a symptom that you can easily identify on your own, your bed partner, friends, or family may have told you that this happens while you are sleeping. If they have, this is a very good indication that you suffer from sleep apnea.
In addition to the snoring and suspended breathing, many sufferers wake up in the morning with a sore or extremely dry throat. They also have a tendency to wake up several times throughout the night. In almost all cases, people with sleep apnea wake up feeling like they haven’t slept at all even if they believe they have slept all night. They also experience a noticeable lack of energy during the day as well difficulty staying awake while they are driving.
While both men and women suffer from sleep apnea, the symptoms are not necessarily the same for both. There is a significant difference that makes it much more difficult to diagnose women with this disorder. In fact, for this reason alone, studies indicate that men are much more likely to be diagnosed with sleep apnea than women. In addition, it is thought that men are more likely to seek treatment than women. Oddly enough, this is due to the fact that their bed partners, in many cases women, are more in tune to any abnormalities that might occur in their partners sleeping patterns, such as lapses in breathing and gasping for breath.
Typically, men that are diagnosed are overweight, middle aged, and they present with telltale loud snoring, pauses in breathing, and daytime fatigue that are indicative of sleep apnea. It should be noted that the severity of the apnea increases as the level of obesity increases. While it is easier to diagnose in men, they are also more likely to develop sleep apnea at a younger age than women and in many cases they are not diagnosed with it until later in life. The risks associated with extended non treatment of this disorder could be fatal, especially for men. The results of a study released in April of 2010 by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health, indicate that men are at a much higher risk of a stroke, as much as three times more likely, if they suffer from sleep apnea. In fact, the more severe the sleep apnea is, the higher the risk for a stroke.
Women tend to have symptoms that are not as easily defined. While many of them have the typical symptoms that men suffer from, they may be more subtle and less noticeable. They may also suffer from chronic morning headaches, memory loss, depression, moderate to severe mood swings, insomnia, periods of narcolepsy, and a lack of libido. High blood pressure and hypothyroidism also often accompany sleep apnea in women. The problem here is that these symptoms are not just associated with sleep apnea. They can be indicators of several other health issues which make it much more difficult to diagnose and in fact often lead to misdiagnosis.
It is thought that close to 45 percent of overweight women that suffer from polycystic ovary syndrome (PCS), a disease where the ovaries become enlarged and develop multiple cysts, also suffer from Obstructive sleep apnea. PCS can cause the female body to release an excessive amount of the male sex hormone androgen which in turn can cause abnormalities in the way the pharyngeal muscles work. This in turn can cause blockage of the airway as well as breathing problems while sleeping.
In addition, there is an increased risk for women to develop sleep apnea as they age and progress through menopause, especially if they are overweight. That is not to say that younger women or women who are not overweight are not affected by it but menopausal and post menopausal women are three times more likely to develop the sleep disorder.
It is important to recognize the symptoms of sleep apnea because this disorder can lead to serious health problems, possibly even death, if severe enough and left untreated. Keeping this in mind, it is important to note that having some of the symptoms of sleep apnea does not necessarily mean that you have it. Remember, these symptoms can result from a number of different things. If you think you might suffer from it, don’t wait to seek medical advice. Talk to your doctor about scheduling a sleep study, called a polysomnogram. This test will determine whether or not you suffer from sleep apnea and if so the severity of it.