Sleep Apnea Treatment Home > Sleep Apnea

What Is Sleep Apnea, Anyway?

Waking Up To Sleep Apnea Disorder and Its Affects

"Before my sleep over I had no idea there was such a thing," admitted Derek Bates a 55 year old cable TV installer. "I mean so I snored a little? Doesn't everyone?"

But a night spent at the sleep lab with electrodes glued on proved there was more going on than just a little snoring, as Derek put it.

"I guess the sleep apnea tests showed my breathing stopped about 35 times an hour. They told me that put me in the severe sleep apnea category. Who knew, right? That and the fact I have high blood pressure made me a candidate for a CPAP machine. "

"You see, when we sleep, the muscles that keep the airway in your open I guess relax and go slack. But if they go too slack the airway closes. The BAM you stop breathing until your brain sends a jolt of adrenaline to the rescue - or something like that," Bates explained.

And he's right. As the oxygen level in your blood drops, the brain is alerted. It wakes you up enough to catch a breath and back to sleep you go. This cycle can play out dozens of times an hour. Yet the sleeper often is not aware of waking up at all. They just feel out of it during the day. Groggy sometimes. Able to fall asleep at the drop of a hat. Sitting in a chair talking one minute and out like a light the next.

"I wasn't getting the rest I needed at night," Derek agreed.

Did You Know? While snoring is certainly a symptom of sleep apnea people with sleep apnea disorder are not necessarily snorers. Then too snoring is a symptom, not the cause.

"For me the treatment of choice was what's called a CPAP machine. It's pretty much the most common of sleep apnea solutions."

Derek added, "Life with a sleep apnea diagnosis hasn't been that bad. I've slept with my CPAP machine for going on a month now. Strapping that mask on my face every night takes some getting used to let me tell you. Makes me feel like an elephant. But it kinda works like a vacuum cleaner in reverse. In that it delivers air into my nose to keep my airway open so I'm getting enough oxygen. No more waking up to catch a breath for me anymore. Which is a good thing."