Sleep apnia symptoms and diagnose
Sleep apnia symptoms are often misdiagnosed as the sleep apnea disorder is very difficult to diagnose.
Sleep apnia symptoms
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Sleep apnea is often misdiagnosed or even ignored as a medical condition. It is difficult to diagnose sleeping disorders as the patients don't always realize they are having a problem, especially if they live on their own. There are some symptoms of sleep apnia though that can be used in the diagnose and that do not require listening in when the patient is sleeping.
The heavy snoring is one of the most prominent symptoms pointing towards sleep apena. This snoring often occurs in short bursts and it is due to obstructions in the free airflow that lead to stopping and restarting the breathing briefly, many times per night. The stopping can typically be for around 10 seconds, then the body notices it and adjusts the airflow. The snoring comes from the sudden need to increase the airflow as a compensation.
Snoring, even heavily, is not always a symptom of SA. On the other way around though, almost all cases of SA will be related to (heavy) snoring. Cases of SA without snoring are extremely unusual. Another, indirect, symptom of SA is tiredness during the day. This is especially so if the patient has SA but is unaware that he/she is snoring during the night.
Symptoms of sleep apnia (apnea)
- loud snoring
- breathing pauses during sleep
- restless sleeping
- patient is confused when waking up
- a feeling of dry mouth when waking up
- increased irritability
- severe morning headache
- chest retraction while sleeping (young children mainly)
- increased blood pressure
- weight problems, possible rapid weight gain
- concentration problems when awake
- excessive sweating while sleeping
- reduced sexual libido
- insomnia
- frequent urination at night (known as nocturia)
- feeling of depression
One of the most important tools in the diagnose of sleep apena is called polysomnography which literally means monitoring a lot of things while you are asleep. The monitoring is supervised by a technician and it is done over one full nights sleep. Parameters monitored are eye movements, measuring of brain waves, the muscular tension, movement of eyes, breathing, blood oxygen level etc. It also includes an audio recording used for identifying outbursts of snoring or heavy breathing.
There is also a smaller version which is an automatic monitor you will use without a technician. It will automatically monitory many of the above parameters for the sleep apnea, but not all and record them for later evaluation by a trained doctor when for the diagnose of your sleep apnia symptoms.