Tips To Make Life While Dealing With Sleep Apnea Easier

Tips To Make Life While Dealing With Sleep Apnea Easier

If you have sleep apnea, you have already experienced the sleep deprivation and ill health that result from this condition. There is simply no substitute for the role natural, restful sleep plays in your health. Thankfully, there are many solutions to this problem. Read on to learn how to fix your sleep apnea. One thing that affects sleep apena is obesity. If this is the case, a sleep apnea sufferer should try to lose weight. Increasing exercise and reducing your total calorie intake can help to accomplish this. Some amount of carbohydrate restriction is beneficial for many who are trying to lose weight as well.

Mouth Guard

Ask your doctor about a corrective mouth piece for your sleep apnea symptoms. You may have a naturally narrow breathing passage, small jaw or recessed chin that can amplify the effects of sleep apnea. By aligning the position of your jaw and throat, you will find that you can sleep with fewer symptoms of sleep apnea. Get a mouth guard made specifically for you. Sleep apnea patients can have mouth guards that are custom made specifically to treat their condition. Instead of using a CPAP device, you can use a mouth guard. It really helps keep the airways clear and keeps the soft tissues of the throat stable. Try something other than sleeping pills. Sleeping pills cause your throat muscles to relax, just like alcohol. They're also known for causing other problems in those that have to deal with sleep apnea. Stress relief through meditation or exercise can also help you fall asleep safely. To keep your sleep apnea in check, eat a healthy diet to lose weight. Despite what you may think, diet plays a major part in the ability to sleep. Someone who is overweight but still eats a healthy diet will have fewer symptoms of apnea than someone who eats an unhealthy diet but weighs less. To help diagnose your sleep apnea, your doctor may ask you to keep a sleep log. You will record when you sleep and when you awaken and anything else that happens during your sleeping hours. If you have a partner, you can find out about snoring issues, breathing issues or flailing limb issues. This log will assist your doctor in diagnosing your condition. Avoid alcohol before bed as much as possible. Alcohol causes all the muscles in your body to lose their tension. Although you may think this improves your sleep, it actually just worsens it. Alcohol relaxes throat muscles and can make it difficult to keep the air passage open. If you do drink alcohol, avoid drinking it 3 hours before bedtime. If you suffer from sleep apnea, get your allergy and sinus problems treated. You might have trouble breathing during the night because of sleep apnea. The last thing you need is something else interfering with your airways while sleeping. It is important to keep your airways open and free from mucous and debris.

Sleep Apnea

Losing weight is an excellent way to alleviate the symptoms of sleep apnea. Some people are able to almost completely eliminate their sleep apnea with weight loss. Even just a small drop in your weight can contribute to a better night's sleep, helping to clear the airways and your throat. Sleep apnea is not to be taken lightly. Be aware of the symptoms of sleep apnea and consult your doctor if you are concerned. When you are officially diagnosed, you are going to be referred to a sleep specialist. You may even have to take a sleep test at home with a monitor to fully discover the depth of your symptoms. If you have a stuffy nose, use a saline spray or neti pot. This will dry out the passages and help clear them out temporarily. Nasal sprays with medications should not be used for many days in a row, however, because they can damage the nose. Head to your pharmacy to see what your options are to deal with your nose bothering you in your sleep. Find another way to get to sleep other than sleeping pills. The muscles in your throat relax too much when you use a sedative like sleeping pills, (or alcohol) and your airway is much more likely to collapse during sleep. They may also cause complications for sleep apnea patients. If you have chronic insomnia, consult with your doctor about safe alternatives to sleeping pills. You should get a machine to stop snoring. Snoring can be a sign that a person has sleep apnea, and a doctor can tell the patient whether one of these oral devices will be of help to them. It makes sense to have a device that will help both. Devices such as mouth guards can reduce snoring as well as sleep apnea episodes. Your physician may suggest that you start recording your sleeping habits in order to zero in on your sleep apnea symptoms. You simply log the amount of hours you're sleeping each night, and mentioning other symptoms too. If your sleeping partner is telling you that you snore or jerk in your sleep, you may have sleep apnea. Your doctor will then be able to tell if you suffer from sleep apnea. If you have sleep apnea, do not sleep laying on your back. Most apnea sufferers are chronic back sleepers and this position leads to a collapse of the soft tissue in the throat and blocks the air passage. A good way to get around this is to use a pillow so that you sleep on your side in bed. Use a chin strap with your CPAP each night to prevent your mouth from opening as you sleep. It is a simple cloth strap that can easily hold up your chin as you sleep. CPAP therapy will not work if your mouth is open, so try this simple device to see if it fixes the problem. If you are experiencing sleep apnea, stop smoking. Smoking can cause swelling in the airways, exacerbating sleep apnea. Second-hand smoke is just as damaging to the respiratory system as first-hand smoke. For most people, the toughest part is the first 30 days or so. Once you are past that point, your nicotine cravings lessen drastically.

Cpap Machine

Learn to play one of the wind instruments. In addition to enjoying the music, you will be strengthening the muscles you need to breathe properly. Strengthening these muscles can help you better control them when sleeping, which can lessen apnea symptoms. You should take your CPAP machine everywhere you will be spending the night. Do not leave it at home. When sleep apnea affects you, do not attempt even a single night without your CPAP machine. Conveniently, your CPAP machine should have a bag included with it for easy travel. The bag should be used to secure your CPAP during all of your travels. How you position yourself when you lay down for bed can contribute to your issues with sleep apnea. Try sleeping on your side or your stomach to decrease the condition. Lift up the top half of your body with a foam wedge. Or, if your bed is adjustable, raise it about four inches at one end. If nothing is working to better your sleep apnea, try talking to a doctor about more aggressive treatments. A small percentage of patients don't react to the common treatments, and as a result, surgery may be their only option, which includes enlarging the airway or removing the tonsils. If you are taking a flight and bringing your CPAP machine, contact the airlines ahead of time. You will be able to make an arrangement with the airline to use your CPAP. Also, don't forget the power adapter you will need if you are booked with a foreign airline.

Sleep Apnea

Do not let your sleep apnea go untreated. Avoiding a visit to the doctor will only prolong finding treatment, and your symptoms can get worse over time. Don't allow your lack of sleep and snoring problems to become unbearable. Consult your physician immediately if you experience symptoms associated with sleep apnea. A good way to help your sleep apnea might be to shed some extra weight. A lot of people find that if they shed weight they will help the apnea. The symptoms of sleep apnea can be greatly reduced by even a relatively minor amount of weight loss as the breathing passages and the throat open up. Throat exercises have been shown to help with the symptoms of sleep apnea. These exercises help to strengthen the muscles that surround the airway, making them less likely to collapse. Try to move your tongue up and down and flex your throat muscles as one type of exercise. Do this exercise once each day. Only sleep with a single pillow of standard size. When you sleep on a pile of pillows, or one extremely thick pillow, your chin is pushed down toward your neck and restricts your air flow. This may result in breathing difficulties, because you end up in odd positions. Because of this, you should only sleep with a single pillow to combat sleep apnea. Try staying away from going to bed on your back when you have a sleep apnea condition. You are more likely to have apnea during your sleep if you are on your back because your airway can close up more easily in this position. Sleeping on your side can help you prevent sleep apnea; gravity won't work against you. Consider trying devices that reduce snoring. Snoring occurs when airways are mostly closed up with a little air getting through, but sleep apnea occurs when the airways completely close up. So you can see that it is logical that this device can help with both issues. Anti-snoring devices can help to reduce your sleep apnea symptoms as you rest. People who have sleep apnea usually sleep on their backs. Anyone who has sleep apnea would be better off not sleeping on their back. Instead, sleep on your side because research has proven that this reduces sleep apnea symptoms, causing a greater amount of quality sleep. There are a number of things you can do to address your sleep apnea. You can finally get a good night's sleep by applying the proper treatments. Once you get a good night's sleep every night, your days will seem brighter. The technical definition of sleep apnea is not having enough oxygen while you sleep. This is why it can get worse at higher elevations. It is important to get treatment for your sleep order before your body goes without oxygen for too long. If you can sleep at a lower elevation, you should do it.