Broken Breathing
Breathing is essential for life. Sometimes at night, our breathing stops. This can happen if the soft part of our throat sags back and temporarily blocks our airway. This is called sleep apnea. Apnea comes from a Greek word for breathless. An episode of sleep apnea can last from a few seconds to a few minutes, and it can happen many times each night.
Sleep Gets Old
About a quarter of middle-aged men and fewer women have sleep apnea. Sleep apnea is more likely as we age but can start in our 30s. As we age, our throat muscles get weaker, and our airway narrows.
Two Kinds of Breathless
There are two kinds of sleep apnea. The sleep apnea where the soft parts of our throat sag and close our airway is called obstructive sleep apnea. The second kind is called central sleep apnea. With central sleep apnea, your breathing pauses when your brain forgets to send the signal to your lungs to trigger a breath.
You Might be a Sleep Apneac if…
You Wake up Racing
You may have sleep apnea without knowing it. Sometimes, it can make you wake up frequently at night, often when you are dreaming. Another clue might be waking up with a racing heart and gasping for breath. Sometimes we attribute the racing heart to anxiety or to the dream, but it might be sleep apnea.
You Wear a Path to the Loo
Another common symptom of sleep apnea is having to pee at night. If you wake to pee more than twice at night, it might be sleep apnea. When your breathing is interrupted, your body produces a signal molecule that triggers the urge to pee even if the bladder is not full.
You Snore Loudly and Are Tired
Regular, loud snoring is also a marker for sleep apnea, especially if it is linked with a feeling of choking and the snoring wakes you up. Having a very dry mouth when you wake can also point to sleep apnea. Also, sleep apnea can make you tired. If you are tired, even if you’ve spent enough time in bed, sleep apnea might be a problem.
You Wake Up with a Headache
With sleep apnea, it is common to wake up with a headache. We all get headaches occasionally, but if you have headaches often when you wake up, it might be sleep apnea.
You Have Nighttime Heartburn
Nighttime heartburn can be related to sleep apnea. Treatment for sleep apnea often solves nighttime acid reflux. It’s not clear how the two are related, but solving the breathing issues seems to solve the other.
You Have High Blood Pressure
Having high blood pressure is sometimes due to sleep apnea. If you have it and some other symptoms, it would be worth checking.
How to Know for Sure
Some people have only one of the symptoms, but none of the others. The only way to know for sure if you have sleep apnea is to do a sleep study. Sleep studies are usually done at a special facility, but a limited sleep study can be done at home. In a sleep study done at a facility, technicians attach 20 or more wires to your head, chest, and other parts of your body. Then you sleep at the facility for the night. They record all the signals and determine how often you experience a lack of breath. If they register more than 5 breathing interruptions in an hour, you have sleep apnea.
Sleep Apnea Undermines Health
Oxygen Theft
When we have several episodes of sleep apnea, it can decrease our oxygen level and increase the CO2 in our blood. It lowers our heart rate and the blood vessels in the lungs tighten up. Eventually, our brain figures out something is wrong and tries to wake us. One way to do this is to use a signal hormone that makes you want to pee, as mentioned before.
Sleep Apnea Attacks the Heart
Sleep apnea can also raise blood pressure and cause ‘a-fib,’ which is a rapid, shallow heartbeat. Other heart problems and stroke also have increased risk when you have sleep apnea.
Sleep Apnea Attacks the Brain
Sleep apnea can also cause thinking problems. Lower oxygen levels in the brain, combined with lousy sleep, can muddle our thinking.
Sleep Apnea Treatments
Sleep Different
To reduce the severity of sleep apnea, you can sleep using a wedge. The wedge must be at least 10 degrees to prevent sagging in the throat, which can block our airway. Even better results are achieved with a 30-degree wedge, such as one that is 24” long and 12” high.
Side Saddle Sleeping
How you sleep can make a big difference. Sleeping on the left side creates the easiest breathing. Right side sleeping can also work, but it tends to aggravate nighttime heartburn. But right-side sleeping may be better for certain heart conditions.
Good Side Sleeping Form
A long pillow beside your body can help with side sleeping. If you do sleep on your side, don’t pull your legs up --- that compresses your tummy. Give your diaphragm room to breathe. Also, try to keep your arms below your shoulders. Keeping your arms above your shoulders can strain your joint and cause shoulder pain.
Sleep with a Tennis Ball
Avoid sleeping on your back. This is the worst position for sleep apnea. Sleeping on your back has also been shown to raise blood pressure compared to side sleeping. If you are naturally a back sleeper, one easy way to break this habit is to sew a pocket into the back of your PJ tops and put in a tennis ball. Then sew the pocket closed. Sleeping on your stomach is better than your back, but not as good as side sleeping.
Less Sagging and Dragging
Losing weight can help, as we have less fat around our throat, there is less to sag. This is less true with age. As we age, everything in our body sags even without extra fat. Reducing alcohol consumption and smoking also helps reduce sleep apnea.
Train Your Lungs and Throat
Another option that may help is resistance breathing. A small device that creates resistance when breathing is used to exercise the diaphragm and the throat muscles. These tools are sometimes used in athletic training and don’t cost much.
Small Devices
There is also a device that looks like a mouth guard that keeps your jaw slightly forward to help keep your airway open. Other rarely used devices keep your tongue from sagging back. Any of these can be hard to get used to.
Get on the Machine
The most effective treatment for sleep apnea is breathing machines. These are small, quiet machines that help with breathing during sleep. A small mask has to be worn. There are two main kinds of machines, CPAP and BiPAP. BiPAP machines use different pressure for the exhale, and some people find them easier to use. These machines monitor the quality of sleep and record any breathing events. There are other advanced machines for special cases as well.
Surgery Options
Surgery can also be an option when nothing else seems to work. Surgery can open the airway or reduce airflow restriction in the nose. Other minor surgeries implant a small device that stimulates either the diaphragm or the throat. But, like any surgery, there are risks.
Check Your Breathing
Because sound sleep is essential for health, it may be worth talking to your doctor. If you are a loud snorer, often tired, and have high blood pressure, you might have sleep apnea---get checked.
