My Life and Sleep Apnea

It sometimes seems that sleep apnea can be connected to just about any kind of health problem that you can imagine, and that is certainly understandable, considering how it affects the body. Not getting enough or any rest makes you susceptible to injuries because of your lack of concentration.  It is well known about all the things that can happen to your body when you don’t get enough oxygen (caused by an obstruction in the back of the throat), such as heart disease, diabetes, and blood pressure problems.   I just found out that there might be a connection between hearing loss and sleep apnea. A study done in Taiwan suggests that there could be a link between OSA and hearing loss, according to Rueters.com. Sudden hearing loss was also found in people who had sleep apnea, although the percentage wasn’t that high. A Doctor is quoted in the article as saying that the problem of sudden hearing loss may be due to plaque in the blood vessels, which can occur with sleep apnea. ...

As most folks with sleep apnea have found out, this disorder can cause more problems than just a lack of sleep. In previous posts, I have written about the major danger of sleep apnea, which is the blockage of air in the back of the throat, which means that oxygen is cut off, which in turn forces your body to wake up. There are other major health issues that can also be associated with sleep apnea, such as Diabetes, GERD, and high blood pressure. Sleep deprivation due to this illness can also cause memory and concentration problems as well.   Something that I didn’t realize, though, was that there is a connection between sleep apnea and pneumonia . According to the National Library of Medicine pneumonia is “a breathing (respiratory) condition in which there is an infection of the lung. It is also a common illness affecting millions of people yearly in the United States. Germs called bacteria, viruses, and fungi may cause pneumonia.” Connection between pneumonia ...

Before I went to my first sleep study I had no idea if I had sleep apnea or not. My wife thought that something was wrong because my snoring was very loud and strange sounding, more like a grunt than the typical sound of someone snoring. At the time I knew little about sleep apnea other than the fact that it keep you up most of night, and making you feel exhausted during the day. One of the first things that I found out about this sleeping disorder was that the number of times that you wake up from it is a good indicator of how bad your sleep apnea is. At the sleep study you are attached to many wires that record many things regarding your sleep. One of the main issues is how many times that you will awake in a given hour. This is referred to as apneic episodes, which happen after your breathing stops and you gasp for air which triggers you awake. If you have had 5 to 15 apneic episodes than your sleep apnea is considered in the mild range, if the number of episodes 15 to 30 then ...

Sleep apnea can be a trigger for many ailments, such as h eart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes , and other illnesses. It can also have an adverse effect on your cholesterol level . First, there are 2 types of cholesterol, the ‘good’ and ‘bad’ cholesterol. It used to be that you would be given just one number to tell where your cholesterol level was. Not now, you also have to take in consideration that some cholesterol is good. LDL is the bad cholesterol. It clogs up the arteries with plaque, which could eventually lead to complete blockage, which could kill you. HDL is the good cholesterol. It helps send cholesterol and fats back to the liver for recycling. Sleep apnea can reduce the level of good cholesterol . Apnea affects lipid metabolism, which has a direct effect on good and bad cholesterol, according to a German study done in 2006. The same study found that CPAP helped raise HDL cholesterol. Of course, being tired all the time can lead to poor eating habi...

While there are many harmful side effects to sleep apnea such as heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, gout, depression and many more, the most immediate problem is being tired or being sleep deprived.  This is one side effect that you see constantly from early in the morning to late at night. What is sleep deprivation ? Sleep deprivation is simply receiving a lack of sleep regularly or even occasionally. The causes of sleep deprivation are many besides sleep apnea . It could be emotional issues that aren’t dealt with or medications or something simple like eating too late at night. But the consequence of lack of sleep can be very dangerous or even fatal in the case of sleep apnea. One of the things that I have written about is adrenal fatigue which can also be caused by other sleep disorders such insomnia.   Brain damage is also a concern if you don’t have the right amount of rest. But the most damaging and serious side effect of lack of sleep is heart diseas...

It sounds inevitable that cpap users would swallow air, especially those with full face masks. But one of the problems of swallowing too much air is a condition called Aerophagia . Aerophagia occurs when a person swallows too much air causing bloating, belching, stomach pain and gas. What causes this condition? Chewing gum Drinking soda drinks Smoking Eating too fast Hysteria And for some wearing a cpap mask Potential reasons for the cpap causing Aerophagia is the air pressure is too great on the machine, if the air doesn’t go to the lungs it goes into the stomach. Of course, that can be fixed by having the setting changed on your machine. Another possible problem is air leaks. Make sure that your mask fits snuggly enough so no air escapes. (I know that isn’t easy)