Sleep apnea can be incredibly frustrating. It disrupts your normal sleeping habits, and can leave you feeling as though you didn’t sleep well enough at all during the night. An estimated 20 million adults in the U.S. have been diagnosed with sleep apnea, but it’s thought that millions more suffer from sleep apnea without knowing it.
So how do you know when you should seek sleep apnea treatment from a dentist in Naperville? Let’s take a look at some warning signs that should prompt you to seek treatment.
Snoring
While it’s not always an iron-clad symptom, if your spouse tells you that you snore at night, there’s a chance you’re suffering from sleep apnea. Specifically, if your snoring is very loud and chronic, that’s almost a sure sign that you have sleep apnea. You can find more information on how to interpret your snores here.
Breaks in breathing
This is a surefire sign that some form of sleep apnea is affecting your nightly rest. At times during sleep, your airway can become blocked, which deprives your brain of oxygen. Then, your brain jerks you awake – but not all the way. This prevents the deep, restful sleep you need in order to achieve the best benefits from sleep.
Waking up with a headache
Do you wake up with headaches on a regular basis? That’s another sign of sleep apnea. Your brain isn’t fully rested when you spend a night with apnea disrupting your sleep, which results in a bad headache when you wake up.
High blood pressure
If your blood pressure is chronically high, then you know you’re at risk for developing sleep apnea. If you go in for an annual physical and your doctor doesn’t ask you how you’re sleeping after seeing that you have high blood pressure, that should be an immediate red flag. If you have high blood pressure and aren’t sleeping well, this is one of sleep apnea’s earliest signs.
Being overweight
The last common symptom of sleep apnea is manifested in those individuals who are overweight. Sleep apnea has been shown to cause weight gain, which causes a vicious cycle as fat can press on your throat while sleeping, contributing to more serious apnea.
Sleep apnea is incredibly disruptive and can turn you into a cranky person instead of your usual happy self. If you’re suffering from any of the above symptoms, call us today or visit our website to schedule a consultation so we can determine the best course of action to right your sleep apnea.