Do you snore very loudly that even your dog wouldn’t sleep next to you? There are millions of people who snore heavily and many of them have this potentially serious condition called Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) and do not even know it.
What is OSA? It is basically the relaxing of throat and nasal membranes during sleep which deprives your lungs of incoming air through the nose or mouth. It results in stoppage of normal breathing that normally ranges from a few seconds to a couple of minutes, usually occurring several hundred times a night! This leads to lack of oxygen to the brain and body, that could lead to heart failure, hypertension and other ailments (possibly even the cause for ‘bangungot’). However, the most common effect of OSA is fatigue. Because you don’t really achieve restful sleep, this results in daytime sleepiness that turns to accidents on the road.
As long as I can remember, I have always snored very loudly. However, I never really paid attention to the telltale signs that I may have OSA until only about five years ago. One of the most notable symptoms I had was that the back of my throat was always red and irritated. I sang with a choir, and frequently coughed when trying to sing the high notes. I didn’t realize it was because my throat was irritated, due to heavy snoring. Another sign to look for is that you suddenly wake up in the middle of the night, gasping for air. This is your body waking you up from air deprivation. You probably have not breathed in for an extended time that it had to wake you up! Also, since you seldom achieve deep sleep, you seldom achieve dream state, so you really never have enough rest.
Luckily for many of us, OSA is very treatable. However, it needs to be diagnosed first before the doctor can do anything. The first step I did was to seek out a sleep disorder specialist. During your appointment, the doctor will schedule you for a sleep study. What this means is that they will ask you to sleep in their clinic with a whole bunch of wires and sensors on your face, arms and body. You will be ask to bring your normal sleeping clothes so you are comfortable, and sleep in the clinic until the morning. Some doctors will ask you the take home a monitoring device to attach to your finger while sleeping, and then bring it back to the office so they can retrieve the results.
In my case, I had to sleep in the clinic and came home at around 6:30 the following morning. I remember having a good sleep that night, even with the wires attached to me. I have to admit though that having a pretty pinay nurse attending to you, and waking up to, made my experience a lot better too :) Anyway, it turned out that I have OSA and, are you ready for this? I stopped breathing 435 times that night, and the longest episode lasted 90 seconds! This condition was considered ‘severe’.
A CPAP machine.
So now that I know I have OSA. What now? The first thing that the doctor ordered was a Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) therapy using a machine (see left image). The easiest way to describe this machine is that it is a small table-top device that continuously blows air into your nose through a hose to keep your nasal passages from collapsing. It is only available with a prescription and the air pressure settings are preset by the doctor. There are several manufacturers and models available, the mask that go over your nose are also available in different sizes.
There was one thing the doctor told me though, this is that I am stuck with this machine for life. I have to keep using it every night, during naps, and bring it with me during vacation. So even during our yearly camping trips, I brought my machine, powered a 12v car battery.
The doctor also told me that as long as the CPAP therapy is working for me, I should be okay. There are however other options for other patients with a more severe condition which included surgery (trimming of the upper palette) to prevent blockage of the throat. But for the most us though, CPAP therapy should be enough.
So what do you look for to know if you have OSA? If you are experiencing the following, suspect that you may have OSA:
- Loud and chronic snoring
- Choking, snorting, or gasping during sleep
- Long pauses in breathing
- Daytime sleepiness, no matter how much time you spend in bed
In addition to continuous loud snoring, children with sleep apnea may adopt strange sleeping positions and suffer from bedwetting, excessive perspiration at night, or night terrors. Children with sleep apnea may also exhibit changes in their daytime behavior, such as:
- Hyperactivity or inattention
- Developmental and growth problems
- Decrease in school performance
- Irritable, angry, or hostile behavior
- Breathing through mouth instead of nose
Ever since I was diagnosed and treated, my wife has also slept well, since the CPAP machine stopped the snoring. Just imagine how grateful she has been :) Also, I now dream regularly, rarely tired and sleepy at work, and can now sing the high notes without coughing.
If you suspect you may have Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA), consult your doctor. Also, visit these other resources:
http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/tc/sleep-apnea-symptoms
http://helpguide.org/life/sleep_apnea.htm
http://www.cpap.com/
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