Do You Snore Like a Chainsaw?
My husband says I snore. I say he does! We’re both right. I like to think that as a woman I have a more delicate type of snoring disorder. But now I’m dreaming! I speak all across the U.S. and Canada to dental audiences. During one exhausting trip, I woke up in my hotel room to someone banging on the adjacent wall. How embarrassing!! My decibel level can be quite high; I don’t have a quiet “whisper” type of snoring.
Does someone in your family snore? You may not realize it, but snoring disturbs your sleep. You also may disturb the sleep of other people. My husband didn’t believe me when I said he not only snored, but that he stopped breathing and flailed his legs around. So, like any good, well-intentioned wife, I took a video of him with my cell phone.
Snoring and sleep apnea are common sleep disorders. Snoring is a symptom of sleep apnea. Sleep apnea is where you stop breathing at night, causing decreased oxygen levels (hypoxia). Most people who have sleep apnea have multiple low-level arousals at night that cause exhaustion the next day. Some questions:
Do you feel tired in the morning even if you’ve had enough hours of sleep?
Is your blood pressure an issue, weight gain or trouble losing weight? Do you or your family have any history of heart attack, stroke or diabetes?
Is stress an issue for you, affecting your sleep? Do you wake up stressed, having to use the facilities often at night? Sleep-disordered breathing tends to release stress hormones during sleep, which can raise blood sugar levels.
How are your blood sugar levels? One recent Canadian study showed that 23 percent of patients diagnosed with mild or moderate sleep apnea went on to develop diabetes within 5.5 years. Also, about half of type 2 diabetics have sleep-disordered breathing.
There are other causes sleep disorders: insomnia, central nervous system disorders and medication-induced sleep apnea are a few. Regardless, I know one thing to be true: You need good sleep in order to heal and be healthy. Personally, I think sleeping and eating are a waste of time. I mean, look how much we could get done if we didn’t have to do these two things! All kidding aside, how crummy do you feel if you’re sleep deprived?
My patients feel more irritable, grouchy, depressed and are definitely more sensitive to pain.
The solution: You need a sleep study for a proper diagnosis. You need a diagnosis that’s interpreted by a board certified sleep physician. You don’t have to go to a sleep clinic; you can do this in your home. You’ll be comfortable and in your own bed. You still may have a difficult time sleeping with all the wires and attachments, but you’ll feel good knowing your status and understanding your options for treatment.
