People with sleep apnea make unique sounds during sleep, such as snoring, gasping for air, snorting, and intermittent breathing pauses. Sleep apnea can be a serious condition, especially if it threatens your ability to perform your daily duties and live a fulfilling life.
Is sleep apnea a disability? This is determined by the severity of the condition and the applicable laws in your region. Sleep apnea can contribute to fatigue, decreased cognitive performance, atrial fibrillation, high blood pressure, and other issues. Depending on the career, falling asleep at the computer is one thing, whereas falling asleep or having a heart event while flying a plane or driving is a major safety issue. This is why some professionals are tested and monitored for sleep apnea treatment to prevent catastrophic events. This could lead to disability or unemployment for those professionals with untreated sleep apnea.
Unfortunately, many people with this sleep disorder don’t know they have it. This lack of awareness largely stems from misinformation and misdiagnosis.
Some people even confuse sleep apnea with other sleeping disorders like insomnia. So, before you opt for a homemade sleep apnea solution, it’s important to get a proper diagnosis from a medical professional. This article will discuss the main symptoms of sleep apnea and the sounds you’re likely to make at night.
Common Sounds Associated with Sleep Apnea
Let’s elaborate more on these sounds to help you make an informed decision about your condition:
Gasping for Air or Choking
You are most likely suffering from sleep apnea if you’re always waking up in the middle of your sleep gasping for air. This is a frightening experience, especially when you wake up feeling like you’re suffocating. It also lowers the quality of your sleep.
The gasping for air and choking experience occurs when your airways collapse or get obstructed. Patients with sleep apnea also tend to snore loudly and are likely to wake up with a headache.
Snoring
Snoring is the hoarse sound you make when air passes through the collapsed muscles of your throat during sleeping. As the air goes through these muscle tissues, they vibrate, causing the croaky sound.
Although many people snore occasionally, snoring is typically worse for people with chronic sleeping disorders like sleep apnea. However, not everybody who snores has sleep apnea.
This is why you should consult a qualified medical professional before making any conclusions. The type of snoring associated with sleep apnea is often combined with other symptoms like paused breathing, gasping for air, or choking while sleeping.
Furthermore, snoring doesn’t happen continuously throughout the night; it’s usually a combination of loud snores and periodic silence. The silence occurs when your breathing is paused. From there, restarting breathing can involve a gasp and an increased heart rate, a return to snoring if the airway remains partially obstructed, or snorting.
Snorting
Snorting is characterized by a rapid and noisy inhalation as you recover from paused breathing due to obstructed airways. Collapsed tissues in your throat normally cause this obstruction.
Interrupted Breathing Pauses
Periodic pauses in your breathing‒followed by noisy sounds of resumed normal breathing‒are the hallmarks of sleep apnea. This breathing pattern can be associated with changes in heart rate as seen on continuous pulse oximetry monitors.
Related Signs of Sleep Apnea
Aside from these sounds, there are other important signs of sleep apnea that you should look out for.
- Unexplained daytime sleepiness: If you often feel sleepy during the day for no apparent reason, it could be a sign of sleep apnea.
- Morning headaches: Frequent headaches when you wake up in the morning may be a sign of sleep apnea.
- Lack of concentration: Lack of quality sleep due to sleep apnea often leads to a lack of concentration during the day.
- Anxiety and mood swings: Sleep apnea can cause anxiety, and a prolonged lack of sleep may lead to mood swings.
- Insomnia: Waking up repeatedly at night is a sign of sleep apnea, especially if you wake up gasping for air.
In Conclusion
These sounds often become more noticeable when you lie on your back. Sleep studies will often report the number of apnea events in different sleep positions. You can reduce the effects of sleep apnea by adopting safer sleeping positions. If you think you have sleep apnea, consult a reputable healthcare professional for an official diagnosis.
If you’d like to learn how to support easier breathing and sleep naturally, you can read Sleep Apnea Solution by Dylan Petkus, MD.
