What To Do When Sleep Apnea Takes Your Breath Away

What To Do When Sleep Apnea Takes Your Breath Away

Listen to all of your doctor's orders after you find out you have sleep apnea. Millions of people around the world have it, though, so it isn't uncommon. Sleep apnea can be treated easily in a number of ways. You'll find plenty of useful advice for dealing with sleep apnea in this article, and some of the suggestions may prove to be highly beneficial. To help deal with sleep apnea effectively, you should speak with your doctor to help him show you what CPAP machine works best. The loudness and size of any machine should be considered. Some of these machines are really small and barely make any sounds at all. The doctor would be able to guide you to the right one to use. Avoid drinking alcohol to excess. Alcohol will relax all of your muscles. While this may be something you desire, it tends to create the problem of sleep apnea. Your muscles will relax and collapse, which will make you snore and possibly cough through the night. While it's not vital that alcohol be avoided 100%, do what you can to make sure you do not drink it before a nap or nighttime sleep. Talk to your doctor about fitting you with a mouth piece you can wear at night. You might have a narrow breathing passage, recessed chin, or small jaw naturally that can worsen sleep apnea. Special mouthpieces can help to maintain proper alignment while you sleep, allowing you to rest much better. Many children suffer with sleep apnea. Children who are frequently tired or who have a poor attention span may have sleep issues. These symptoms can be similar to those of ADHD, so consult a doctor and consider both conditions. Do not neglect your CPAP machine if it has been prescribed to you. Sometimes it is hard for people to get used to the CPAP. For this CPAP therapy to work successfully, you will need four hours each day to use it. If it is hard and become difficult to adjust to in the beginning, then ensure you are using it at least four hours a night. Sleep apnea sufferers often benefit from laying on their side during sleep. Sleeping on the back can cause air passages to constrict. If you can get to sleep lying on your side (and stay that way through the night), you may well experience a much less trouble night. Limit your alcohol consumption. Alcohol naturally relaxes your muscles. This might be something you want to do but it can also exacerbate your sleep apnea. Your throat muscles become relaxed, making it harder for your airway to stay open. While you might still drink, limit yourself and avoid it at bedtime. To actually diagnose your disorder, a doctor may require you to take notes in a sleep log. The intent is for you to record both the overall amount of sleep you get and any unusual symptoms or incidents that occur. If you have a partner, they may be able to help document your snoring, jerky body movements and stoppage of breathing. All these will assist your physician in making a formal diagnosis. Sleep apnea is a severe condition to have. If you suspect you may have it, it is important to see your doctor right away. If the doctor determines you are suffering with sleep apnea, you should consult with someone who specializes in this disorder in order to effectively treat the condition. Do you travel frequently? If so, then do not forget to bring along your CPAP. When you have been diagnosed with sleep apnea, you should not go even one night without using your CPAP. You should have a travel bag to bring your CPAP with you. You can use this bag to allow you to transport your CPAP machine with ease when you're not home. When you are using a CPAP, if your mouth always drops open while you sleep, you should wear a strap for your chin. It is only a small fabric strap that keeps your chin in place so you can sleep with a closed mouth. Use this device to solve this annoying problem, as leaving it unfixed will make your CPAP therapy ineffective.

Sleep Apnea

If you're admitted to the hospital, take your sleep apnea machine with you. It's important to have your familiar mask and machine available in the hospital, whether you're there for a planned visit or an unplanned emergency. Your own CPAP machine will be set to the pressure recommended by your sleep specialist, so you won't have to get used to a new machine. This will make your stay a little more comfortable. If you have sinus or allergy issues, this may be causing your sleep apnea. Your condition is already affecting your breathing at night. Additional swelling in the airways and extra mucus will make sleep apnea worse. Try and clear your airways as much as possible, and keep your nasal problems to a minimum. To decrease your risk of sleep apnea symptoms, lose some weight. There are a number of people who only need to lose a few pounds to entirely stop their sleep apnea episodes. Simply losing a small amount of weight can open your airways, improving your sleep apnea symptoms. Try and lose weight because it will help you deal with sleep apnea. People who are overweight usually suffer from sleep apnea more. Losing weight can reduce pressure on the airways and cause better airflow when breathing at night. Be sure to use just one, normal-sized pillow when you sleep. An over-sized pillow or multiple pillows can actually skew your position. Not only is this bad for your neck in general, it also restricts your airway. You can minimize the impact your sleep apnea has by using just a single pillow in bed. Exercise your tongue and minimize sleep apnea symptoms. One exercise includes pressing your tongue on the roof of the mouth and keeping it for several minutes. This should strengthen both your tongue and throat muscles, which helps them to not relax while you're asleep. Snoring devices may serve your needs with sleep apnea. Snoring occurs when air passages are almost closed, while sleep apnea occurs when air passages are completely closed. It makes sense to have a device that will help both. You could find yourself reducing your apnea with anti-snoring devices.

Sleep Apnea

Patients who suffer from sleep apnea might want to consider losing weight as a means to relieve the symptoms. Sleep apnea is common to those that have large necks or that are overweight. A person with sleep apnea can breathe a lot easier without all that extra weight on them. Learning that you have sleep apnea is frightening. Fortunately, it is a condition that can be managed. Try these sleep apnea tips and begin applying them to your daily life now. Getting proper treatment will help you get through each day easier because you will have a good amount of sleep. Your physician is the only one who can really diagnose sleep apnea in you for sure, but there are things you can do on your own to manage and combat the condition once you know. If you lose weight and quit smoking you will be able to combat sleep apnea. Keep the last two hours before bed free of heavy meals, caffeinated beverages or alcoholic beverages.