The Symptoms Of Sleep Apnea Can Be Hard To Recognize

Sleep apnea symptoms are most commonly observed in men overweight men above the age of forty although they can appear at any age in both women and men and are now being seen increasingly in children.

The most obvious symptom of sleep apnea (which is only one of many common sleep disorders) is snoring which is hard to spot by yourself and often needs to be brought to your attention by a sleeping partner. There are many reasons for snoring and the fact that you snore does not by itself mean that you have sleep apnea. However, the majority of sleep apnea sufferers do snore.

The next most obvious symptom of sleep apnea is excessive daytime tiredness. People who suffer from sleep apnea stop breathing frequently while sleeping and the body's natural reaction is to wake you enough for you to start breathing again, but not sufficiently for you to be conscious of the fact that you are being aroused. This of course means that your sleep is continually interrupted and therefore very light so that you are not enjoying the deep sleep which you need. As a consequence you grow more and more tired during the day.

If left untreated the effects of sleep apnea start to emerge and you will start to experience additional symptoms which might include headaches (particularly first thing in the morning), irritability and even depression. You might also find that you are starting to gain weight.

Yet another not quite so obvious symptom of sleep apnea is a rise in blood pressure that can give rise to several cardiovascular difficulties. If you are one of the growing number of people who are now monitoring their blood pressure at home you should pick this up quite easily but, otherwise, it will not be discovered until you attend the doctor for a routine physical examination.

A further symptom is that of learning difficulties and increasing difficulties with memory retention. Once again this is not something that it is easy for you to notice yourself but other people might well notice that you are no longer as quick on the uptake as you used to be.

Finally, a number of sleep apnea sufferers will notice a decline in sexual function that can lead to impotency.

Any of these symptoms by themselves could be indicative of almost any problem you can think of. When you begin to see these symptoms appearing alongside one another however then there is a better than even chance that you are suffering from sleep apnea and you ought to talk to your physician and think about having a sleep apnea test.