Sleep apnea could be the reason you’re having trouble getting to sleep and staying asleep. The following advice will assist you in dealing with helpful advice to better cope with sleep apnea.
Try getting rid of bad habits to better your sleep apnea. Drinking and smoking are the biggest offenders. Alcohol depresses your nervous system and makes it harder to breathe, particularly when you are asleep. Smoking inserts carcinogens into the lungs, which eventually damages them. Drop as many bad habits as you can as early as possible.
Drop some of your vices to combat sleep apnea. Smoking cigarettes and drinking alcohol are some of the biggest offenders. Drinking depresses the respiratory system to function. Smoking introduces known carcinogens into your lungs over time. Dropping both these habits can help ease your symptoms.
Lose weight if you happen to be overweight and suffer from sleep apnea. Studies have found a correlation between sleep apnea and obesity can be related. If you are obese, you may see a marked difference in how your sleep apnea affects you.
Do you smoke or sometimes drink? Stop these bad habits. Both have a negative influence on your air passages. Smoking can actually swell your airways while alcohol can overly relax them; each causes sleep apnea. If it’s too challenging to give up these habits entirely, you should at least avoid indulging in them as you approach your bedtime.
If you’ve got a prescription for a CPAP for your sleep apnea, do try to sleep a minimum of four hours with it nightly. It can be extremely difficult for many patients to get used to sleeping with a CPAP. If you still have trouble adjusting, then ensure you are using it at least four hours a night.
Do not consume as much alcohol often. Alcohol causes all the muscles too much. Although some people do enjoy this, it tends to make the effects of sleep apnea much more serious. Alcohol has an effect on throat muscles and it can make it difficult to keep the air passage open. If drinking is an important part of your life, then just don’t do it right before bedtime.
Do not neglect your CPAP machine if it has been prescribed to you. Using a CPAP while sleeping is a tough adjustment for many patients to make. Four hours of use every night is the minimum necessary time you need to realize the benefits of CPAP therapy. Ease your way towards your four hour CPAP goal, even if you find the experience difficult to get used to.
You can consider video recording yourself asleep. The video should also contain audio to listen for any noises.
You will need to make note of how many hours of sleep you get each night, and mentioning other symptoms too. Your partner can often say if you jerk limbs around, jerking, or momentary lapses in your breathing. This diary will help the doctor determine if you actually have sleep habits.
When you have sleep apnea you can find out about it from tests your doctor will run. A sleep study can also shed some light on your sleep problems. Your primary physician may find that the best course of action is to send you to see a sleep specialist. These doctors have the specialized expertise necessary to diagnose and treat many sleep disorders including sleep apnea.
Sleep Apnea
Clearly, there are many ways to deal with sleep apnea. Give each of them a try, and stick with the ones that prove effective. Applying what you’ve learned here is a start to getting the rest you crave. Never again should sleep apnea take hold of your life.
Lose a bit of weight to get rid of your sleep apnea. Many people find that they can completely correct sleep apnea by losing excess weight. Even small amounts of weight loss have been shown to improve sleep apnea symptoms and open up the throat and airways.