The symptoms of sleep apnea are most commonly seen in men over the age of forty who are overweight although they can appear at any age in both women and men and are being seen increasingly in children.
The clearest symptom of sleep apnea is snoring which is difficult to spot yourself and usually needs to be pointed out to you by a sleeping partner. There are many reasons for snoring and the fact that you snore is not in itself an indication that you have sleep apnea. However, maost sleep apnea sufferers do snore.
The next most obvious symptom of sleep apnea is undue daytime tiredness. People who suffer from sleep apnea stop breathing frequentlywhile sleeping and the body’s natural reaction is to wake you sufficiently for you to begin breathing again, but not enough for you to be conscious of the fact that you are being awakened. This of course means that your sleep is constantly interrupted and very light so that you do not get the deep sleep which your body needs. The result of this is that you grow more and more tired during the day.
Left untreated the effects of sleep apnea start to emerge and you will begin to experience additional symptoms which may include headaches (in particular first thing in the morning), tetchiness and even depression. You may also notice that you are starting to gain weight.
Yet another not quite so obvious sign of sleep apnea is an increase in blood pressure that can lead to several cardiovascular difficulties. If you are one of the growing number of people who are now monitoring their blood pressure at home you will pick this up fairly easily but, it not, it will not be found unless you attend your doctor’s office to have a routine physical examination.
Another symptom is that of increasing difficulties with memory retention and learning difficulties. Once again this is not something that is easy for you to notice yourself but others around you may well notice that you are not as quick on the uptake as you used to be.
Lastly, a number of sleep apnea sufferers will notice a drop in sexual function which can eventually lead to impotency.
Each of these symptoms by themselves could ne indicative of just about any problem you can think of. If you start to notice these symptoms appearing together however there is a better than even chance that you have sleep apnea and you should consult your physician and consider being tested for sleep apnea.
