Do you have sleep apnea and not know it?

90% of people who have sleep apnea don't know that they have it. Usually it is the bed partner who first notices that the person is struggling to breathe during sleep. Diagnosis and treatment can dramatically improve quality of life, asleep and awake and sleep apnea can be life-threatening.
Do you or your sleep partner notice that you stop breathing periodically during sleep or awaken gasping for air? If so, you may have sleep apnea. You may not remember anything at all about the awakenings. However, if you sleep with someone else, your sleep partner probably will remember. If left untreated, sleep apnea can be dangerous to your life and relationships, but also to your health. The most important thing to know about sleep apnea is that it can be successfully treated.

Do YOU take sleep for granted?

Sleep is something you may take for granted – until you aren’t able to sleep well. Then, sleep becomes a mysterious and frustrating process which you feel unable to control. Insomnia is the inability to get high-quality sleep. Most people will experience insomnia at some point during their lives. It can last a day or two, a month, or even months on end. Because different individuals need different amounts of sleep, insomnia is not defined by the number of hours you sleep or by how quickly you fall asleep, but by the quality of sleep achieved and how you feel after sleeping.

What are the types of insomnia?

The two main types of insomnia are distinguished by how long the insomnia lasts:Short-term Insomnia (Transient Insomnia or Acute Insomnia) may last one night, a few nights, or a few weeks. Transient insomnia is usually linked to an emotionally exciting or stressful event such as a homecoming or an argument. Sometimes a change in time zone (“jet lag”) or sleep schedule can trigger transient insomnia. Long-term Insomnia (Chronic Insomnia or Constant Insomnia) may last a month, several months, or years. It occurs on some or most nights and is considered ongoing. Chronic insomnia may be caused by a medical or psychiatric problem, a sleep disorder, or poor sleep hygiene. Long-term insomnia is divided into two subtypes differentiated by the presence or nonpresence of an underlying condition:Primary Insomnia has no known underlying condition; insomnia is the condition to be treated. Primary insomnia is the most common type of insomnia and is usually caused by harmful sleep habits. Secondary Insomnia is a symptom of another underlying (pre-existing) condition. When you receive effective treatment for the underlying condition, the insomnia usually goes away.

Signs and Symptoms of Insomnia

What are the signs and symptoms of insomnia?
Insomnia may mean you have a hard time going to sleep or that you have a hard time staying asleep. Sleepless nights can make it difficult to function during the day. Usually, you will know if you are experiencing insomnia because you will remember tossing and turning or being awake at night. Additionally, you may find that making it through a routine day is difficult because you are so tired.

Symptoms of Insomnia

Nighttime Symptoms
Daytime Symptoms

Difficulty falling asleep despite being tired
Daytime drowsiness, fatigue, or irritability

Using sleeping pills or alcohol to fall asleep
Difficulty concentrating

Awakening frequently during the night or lying awake in the middle of the night
Impaired ability to perform normal activities
Awakening too early in the morning and not feeling refreshed

Effects of Insomnia- Interesting

Insomnia negatively affects your health and well-being, particularly if you have a chronic sleep problem. At first, you may feel that you are coping surprisingly well with your life. But as the effects of insomnia increase, you will probably find that you are less able to manage the stresses of everyday life. Surveys report that people with severe insomnia experience a quality of life similar to those who have chronic conditions such as heart failure.
Some effects of untreated insomnia are:
poor health and diminished quality of life
impaired social functioning
increased impatience and irritability
diminished mental alertness and memory
slower reaction times and impaired concentration
increased risk of disorders such as major depression, anxiety disorder, and substance abuse
increased likelihood of automobile, home, and workplace accidents
poor job performance, missed work days, and school absences

Sleeping pills

Can sleep medications and sleeping pills help me to sleep better?
Often, people turn to sleeping pills to help them sleep. However, using sleep medications to treat insomnia is risky for many reasons:
Sleep medications do not treat the root cause of your sleep problem and can ultimately exacerbate your insomnia.
Some prescription sleeping pills are addictive, and you may condition yourself to rely on them for sleep.
You can develop a tolerance for sleep medications and require larger and larger doses to feel their effects.
The side-effects of sleeping pills can be significant.
Sleep medications interfere with deep sleep, and their sedative effects can extend into daytime activities as well.

Tips to help you sleep

What are some tips to help with my sleeping?
Establishing a consistent sleep routine is one of the most important ways to ensure a good night’s sleep. Following are a few pre-sleep routines that might work for you:

Tips to Help You Sleep
Keep a consistent sleep schedule
Try not to vary the hours when you go to bed and when you wake up, even on weekends. A consistent sleep schedule trains your body to go to sleep and wake up at set times.
Develop relaxing bedtime rituals
Listen to soft music, sip a cup of herbal tea or warm milk, or meditate.
Limit your intake of alcohol, caffeine, and nicotine
Insomniacs may be hypersensitive to caffeine, and even small amounts may affect your sleep. Alcohol may help you to fall asleep, but it interferes with deep sleep. Nicotine is a stimulant and deters sleep.
Limit your intake of food right before bed
Eat no more than a light snack within the last two to three hours before bed. A large, heavy meal can interfere with your sleep.
Reserve your bedroom for sleep and sex
Move the television to another room. Don’t initiate important relationship discussions or have arguments in the bedroom.
Clear your mind of anxious thoughts
Before you retire to the bedroom, write down anything you need to remember for tomorrow so that you don’t have to worry as you go to bed.
Exercise early in the day
Exercising late in the day can make you feel too awake to sleep.
Take a hot bath to induce a drop in your body temperature
The onset of sleep is correlated with a drop in body temperature. If you have difficulty going to sleep, take a hot bath 90 minutes before bedtime so that your temperature has to decrease afterwards.

How to keep a sleep blog

Learn about your sleep patterns and habits (“sleep hygiene”) by keeping a daily sleep diary. You can make up your own sleep log and include:

the times you went to bed and woke up,
total sleep hours,
quality of your sleep,
the times that you were awake during the night and what you did (e.g., stayed in bed with eyes closed, or got up, had a glass of milk, and meditated),
amount of caffeine, alcohol, or nicotine you consumed and times of consumption,types of food and drink before bed and times of consumption,
your feelings (happiness, sadness, stress, anxiety), and
any drugs or medications taken, amounts taken, and times of consumption.