Weight is one, the structure of the sinuses and the opening from the nasal area past the soft palate into the airway, size of your tonsils, and I am sure there are others…

A sleep and pulmonary center has specialists who can evaluate you and prescribe the sleep studyevaluation, which is an experience in and of itself..

It robs you of your most restorative sleep and makes you incredibly tired and increasingly touchy and unfocused.

If the apnea or obstruction is severe enough and not treated, you can end up with a number of severe conditions.

I just hope I have caught mine in time!

The fact of the matter is this: if you have OSA, you are already waking up many, many times a night because your body is telling you that it needs some air. You just don’t realize that it is happening. However, when you wake up the next day, you are not rested, you fall asleep when you are not intending to, it is all very frustrating.

Obstructive Sleep Apnea happens when the airway closes with an obstruction and the person can no longer take a breath in. They will make the effort to breathe yet they will not be able to get any air in. The heart rate slows, the oxygen level in the body drops and the body fights to breathe. It is something like drowning or suffocation. Because the oxygen level in the body drops, there are serious consequences to not dealing with ones Obstructive Sleep Apnea. The following are things that can possible happen with someone who ignores their OSA:

1. Never Rested, irritable, stress increases
2. Right sided heart failure (cor pulmonale)
3. Pulmonary Hypertension
4. Death

When you go and see your Pulmonologist, he/she will recommend a sleep study. At the sleep study, they will hook you up to all kinds of different devices to see how you are sleeping. If indeed you do have OSA, the most common form of treatment is CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure).

This device will help keep the airways open.
If you have ever watched anyone sleep who has obstructive sleep apnea, it might seem strange for a while, then, it gets familiar, and then it turns into, “well, that is just how he sleeps.” It is dangerous not to get Obstructive Sleep Apnea treated. A lot of people refuse to wear CPAP because, “it looks funny”, “it feels uncomfortable”, “it blows in my eyes”. Whatever the reason, it is better to go ahead and wear the CPAP then to make excuses not to wear it.

There is surgery to remove the excess tissue of the throat. I have only seen this done twice. Once was a friend of mine. She said her throat was sore for months. It is a more drastic, invasive measure, but it is also used to correct this problem.

I say which ever way you use to help you keep breathing at night is good. Just don’t ignore the problem. It will not go away and will eventually lead to you being hooked up to more invasive devices than the CPAP machine.

Breathe each and every Breath!

Ways to avoid sleep apnea is to keep your weight in a normal range and maintain a healthy lifestyle to avoid cardiovascular disease.

If you have sleep apnea, there are surgeries and there are C-PAP machines which keep the airway open to reduce your risks and increase the quality of your sleep. It often stops the snoring and eases the fatigue many people with sleep apnea have to cope with.

There are a few treatments that can help and you should consult a doctor. I have heard of people using an oxygen machine while sleeping which ensure the needed oxygen to the brain. If more severe, surgery could be called for. My husband had the surgery – it was NOT a pleasant one to recover from as they actually shave away a part of your soft pallet to open the airway better. But it has helped him significantly – and now we BOTH sleep much better!

The other typical contributor to this condition is weight. If you are carrying more weight, you should try to do something there as well. Good luck!