Sleep Apnea and Night Sweats

Sleep apnea, the (stopping of breathing while sleeping) can be alleviated in some patients by sleeping in a different position. The problem arises when that position is found to be less comfortable to the patient causing sweating and they revert to the old position that causes them breathing problems. irregardless of wearing a mask or knowing the bottom line cause of apnea.  Being able to sleep in a different position is vital to many sleep apnea patients. Night sweats will keep you from finding the comfort zone and staying in a pro-active sleep position.

Definition

Apnea is the medical term for "stopping breathing." Many obese people have difficulty breathing when they sleep. The fatty tissues in the pharynx and neck can compress the airway and block it. When this occurs, the body's carbon dioxide levels rise to uncomfortable and unsafe levels. This may cause you to wake up many times throughout the night. For this reason, patients with sleep apnea sleep very poorly, and wake up in the morning still feeling tired. They remain tired throughout the day, sometimes falling asleep in the middle of a conversation or while driving. Sleep apnea may be relieved by using a CPAP or BiPAP device at night. These are breathing assist devices that are worn over the face to help with breathing at night time. After weight loss surgery, sleep apnea usually gets much better. Most patients who needed to use CPAP or BiPAP machines before surgery are able to stop using them within several months after surgery.

If you snore and you also have other signs of disrupted sleep like excessive daytime sleepiness and headaches, you might be experiencing sleep apnea. Below are some questions to consider. If you answer yes to any of them, keep reading and consult your doctor.

• Do you snore on a regular basis? Does your snoring cause you or your sleeping partner to wake up?
• Do you ever wake up suddenly, gasping or choking for air?
• Do you experience excessive sleepiness during the day? Do you often have trouble staying awake, even when occupied?
• Do you experience headaches, sore throat, or dry mouth in the mornings after waking up?
• Sleep apnea is a dangerous and progressive sleep disorder (it gets worse as you age). Not only does sleep apnea result in sleep deprivation, but it also can threaten your life. This article discusses the symptoms of sleep apnea, causes, diagnosis, dangers, and treatments.

What is the difference between snoring and sleep apnea?

Snoring is a loud sound that a person makes as they breathe during sleep.

Sleep apnea is a true breathing obstruction, which requires the sleeper to awaken to begin breathing again. A person with sleep apnea wakes up many times a night to regain breathing, but usually remembers nothing at all about the awakenings. The sleep partner of a person with sleep apnea remembers a great deal about the awakenings and is generally a good witness of the incidents.

Distinctive signs of sleep apnea include

• Frequent waking episodes at night
• Disrupted breathing, gasping, gagging, or choking for air during sleep
• Sleep Apnea is a breathing problem during sleep that creates a sleep disorder.
• Snoring is a common symptom of Sleep Apnea, a result of the obstruction, and sometimes even a cause of Sleep Apnea. Snoring by itself does not involve the cessation of breathing.

What are the symptoms of Sleep Apnea?

Sleep Apnea causes a person to stop breathing periodically throughout sleep, which upsets the balance of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the blood. The brain senses the reduction in oxygen and the increase in carbon dioxide and sends a signal to resume breathing. The person wakes up in response to the breathing arousal signal from the brain. The muscles of the tongue and throat awaken to enlarge the airway and allow carbon dioxide to escape and oxygen to enter. The waking episodes are necessary to restart breathing (and save the person's life), but they prevent the individual from getting high-quality sleep.

On a physical level, the Sleep Apnea sufferer cannot breathe because they have an obstructed airway. The throat muscles and tongue relax too much and may be enlarged or misshapen, so the air passage is narrowed during sleep.

Sleep Apnea sufferers awaken frequently to restart breathing, but they remember little or nothing of being awake. Frequent waking at night may be a sign of Sleep Apnea. The frequency of waking episodes varies, but may be between ten and sixty per night. Severe Sleep Apnea may cause the sleeper to experience more than 100 waking episodes in a single night. One measure of Sleep Apnea is that the person must stop breathing for a period of at least ten seconds or more, five times within an hour. Sleep Apnea sufferers may stop breathing for as long as two minutes.

Signs and symptoms that can alert you to Sleep Apnea are

• Frequent cessation of breathing (apnea) during sleep. Your sleep partner may notice repeated silences from your side of the bed.
• Choking, gasping, or gagging during sleep to get air into the lungs
• Loud snoring
• Waking up sweating during the night
• Feeling un-refreshed in the morning after a night’s sleep
• Headaches upon awakening
• Daytime sleepiness, including falling asleep at inappropriate times, such as during driving or at work

• Lethargy
• Rapid weight gain
• Memory loss and learning difficulties
• Short attention span
• Poor judgment
• Depression
• Personality changes

If you or a sleep partner experiences symptoms that might indicate Sleep Apnea, seek the advice of a doctor.

What determines a diagnosis of Sleep Apnea?

A bed partner typically reports a sleep disorder involving breathing and can provide this information to a doctor, who can diagnose for Sleep Apnea. The easiest way to determine whether you have Sleep Apnea is to ask your spouse or sleeping partner to record your sleep habits. A sleep diary and a tape recorder are useful recording devices. Because your partner is awake anyway, keeping a record of awakenings can be a constructive way to move toward solution of the problem. You can also automatically audiotape yourself during sleep with a noise-activated audio recorder.

To make a sleep diary, your bed partner can keep a notepad, a pen, and a flashlight near the bed, and they can make written records for an entire night every so often. Whenever they wake up, they can note

• How loud the snoring is
• Whether you are asleep or not
• Whether you are having trouble breathing (choking, etc.)

If you don't have someone to record your sleep patterns, it may be helpful to consult your doctor and go to a sleep clinic to be observed and diagnosed.

To more intelligently discuss with your doctor your sleep disorder and breathing problems, become as educated as possible about the condition by reading this article. If your family doctor is not knowledgable about Sleep Apnea, you may need to see a sleep specialist.

To diagnose for Sleep Apnea, a doctor will probably Perform a physical examination of your mouth

Recommend an overnight sleep study in a sleep clinic.

Sleep tests in a sleep clinic help to diagnose Sleep Apnea by measuring how frequently you stop breathing. Polysomnography is a test that records body activities, such as electrical activity of the brain, eye movement, muscle movement, heart rate, respiratory effort, air flow, and blood oxygen levels during sleep. The Multiple Sleep Latency Test (MSLT) measures the speed of falling asleep at different points in the day. You can get comprehensive tests during an overnight stay at a sleep center. You may be able to obtain a home sleep evaluation; this option is useful if insurance coverage prevents testing at a sleep center for a diagnosis of Sleep Apnea.

What are the types of Sleep Apnea?

There are three types of Sleep Apnea:

• Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA): Obstructive Sleep Apnea is the most common type of Sleep Apnea. OSA is caused by an obstruction in the airway, which actually stops the air flow in the nose and mouth. Throat and abdominal breathing continue normally. Obstructive Sleep Apnea is commonly accompanied by snoring and causes the sleeper to wake up, gasping or snorting, and then go back to sleep again.

• Central Sleep- Apnea (CSA): Central Sleep- Apnea is a much less common type than Obstructive Sleep- Apnea. Central Sleep- Apnea is due to a brain signal problem: the brain signal that instructs the body to breathe is delayed. With CSA, oral breathing and throat and abdominal breathing all cease at the same time. The periods of breathing interruption may last a few seconds, and breathing may be too shallow to provide oxygen to the blood and tissues. Central Sleep- Apnea may be associated with irregular heartbeat, high blood pressure, heart attack, and/or stroke.

• Mixed Sleep- Apnea: When individuals experience a combination of the two other types of Sleep- Apnea, Obstructive Sleep- Apnea and Central Sleep- Apnea, they have mixed Sleep- Apnea.

This article primarily discusses the sleep disorder called Obstructive Sleep- Apnea.

What are the causes of Sleep- Apnea?

The causes of Sleep- Apnea are:

• An obstructed airway
• A central nervous system disorder such as a stroke, a brain tumor, or even a viral brain infection
• A chronic respiratory disease
• What can cause an obstructed airway? The following risk factors predispose you toward having an obstructed airway, and therefore are causes of Sleep- Apnea. If you have a number of these risk factors, and you suspect you are not sleeping well, you might wish to see a doctor for a diagnosis of Sleep- Apnea.

Obesity or excessive weight gain: Fatty cells in the throat tissue narrow and block the airway when the muscles are relaxed. A large neck or collar size is associated with Sleep- Apnea, whether or not the person is obese. Note that almost half of people with Sleep- Apnea are not obese.

Age: Aging is usually accompanied by a loss of muscle mass and tone. Among these muscles that become more lax are those near the windpipe. With age, the tongue more easily falls back during sleep and blocks the airway, and the soft palate becomes looser and can impede the free flow of air. Sleep- Apnea very commonly appears in people who are in their late 40s or 50s.

Gender: Men are more likely to experience Sleep- Apnea because they have narrower airways than do women. However, Sleep- Apnea may be under diagnosed in women.

Irregular sleep hours, particularly a difference between work days and non-work days, can throw off your sleep cycles. Stage 1 sleep (when you first fall asleep) and REM sleep (when dreaming is prevalent) are extremely responsive to disruption. Unstable breathing during those parts of the sleep cycle can be the result. Chronic sleep disturbances, such as a snoring bed partner, a new baby, aggravation from the day’s events, not following a natural preference to sleep during nonconventional hours, or overuse of caffeinated products can all disrupt important Stage 1 and REM sleep. This can cause Sleep- Apnea.

High blood pressure is another risk factor for Sleep- Apnea.

Anatomic abnormalities or facial deformities, such as nasal obstruction, an enlarged tongue, a narrow airway, a receding chin, a small jaw, tissues blocking the airway, a deviated septum, polyps, or certain palate and jaw shapes, can cause Sleep- Apnea.

Snoring itself is not only a result of Sleep- Apnea, but also a cause. The repeated vibrations of the soft palate during snoring can cause the soft palate to lengthen, which can obstruct the airway.

Enlarged tonsils or adenoids often cause Obstructive Sleep- Apnea in children.

A family history of Obstructive Sleep- Apnea: No specific genetic marker has been discovered, but OSA seems to run in families. This may be a result of facial and neck characteristics or anatomic abnormalities that are passed along to succeeding generations.

Immune-system abnormalities may cause Sleep- Apnea. High levels of some immune factors are related to fatigue, breathing problems, obesity, and pumping problems in the heart.

Use of alcohol and sedatives before bedtime can relax the musculature in the upper airway, which obstructs breathing.

Smoking causes inflammation and swelling of the upper airway, which restricts the flow of air. A history of smoking or exposure to secondhand smoke is also a risk factor for Sleep- Apnea.

Hypothyroidism, acromegaly, amyloidosis, vocal cord paralysis, post-polio syndrome, neuromuscular disorders, Marfan's syndrome, and Down’s syndrome all can contribute to obstructed breathing, and therefore to Sleep- Apnea. Nasal congestion, nasal blockages, and nasal irritants such as household dust and dander can inhibit breathing through the nose and force breathing through the throat, which may also be blocked. Severe heartburn or acid reflux (gastroesophageal reflux disease, or GERD) is another cause of Sleep- Apnea.

What are the results or effects of Sleep- Apnea on health?

Sleep- Apnea has serious health consequences and can even be life-threatening. Some of the symptoms of Sleep- Apnea are actually results of the obstruction.

The sleep deprivation that is a result of Sleep- Apnea affects both the sleeper and their bed partner. The effects of sleep deprivation are:

• Daytime sleepiness
• A compromised immune system and slower healing
• Poor mental and emotional health
• Lack of smooth functioning of the body
• Decreased productivity
• A negative mood, irritability
• Low energy
• Unclear thinking, lack of concentration
• Slower reaction time

Some mild effects of Sleep- Apnea are

• Frequent bathroom visits to urinate during the night
• Heartburn
• Excessive sweating during sleep
• Dry mouth in the morning
• Loud snoring
• In children, a concave chest during sleep

The more serious health problems from Sleep- Apnea that can result from reduced oxygen going to the brain are:

• Restless sleep, insomnia
• Premature death
• Type II Diabetes. Mild Sleep- Apnea is associated with increased Glucose intolerance and insulin resistance, conditions that lead to diabetes.
• High blood pressure
• Hypertension
• Stroke
• Heart disease
• Hypercapnia, or excessive carbon dioxide levels
• Right-sided heart failure
• Arrhythymia, or abnormal heart rhythm (irregular heart beat)
• Memory impairment, learning difficulties, and lack of attention
• Rapid weight gain and obesity. Sleep- Apnea disturbs rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep, a disruption that increases the risk for obesity.
• Impotence, sexual dysfunction, or reduced libido
• Morning headaches
• Depression
• Sevenfold increase in involvement in auto accidents
• Sudden infant death syndrome may be a result of Sleep- Apnea in the infant.
• What are the treatments for Sleep- Apnea?
• Treatment for Sleep- Apnea is determined by the individual's specific Sleep- Apnea characteristics.

Treatments include:

• Behavioral changes
• Physical or mechanical therapy
• Surgery
• Medication is not usually an effective treatment for Sleep- Apnea.
• Sleep- Apnea responds well to treatment. You may wish to try several treatments, either in succession or simultaneously.

 What behavioral treatments can cure sleep apnea?

Behavioral therapies are an important part of the treatment for sleep apnea, especially in cases where a doctor has identified a specific cause of the obstructed airway. The following are the most effective home remedies you can try.

 Lose weight: One of the most significant remedies for sleep apnea is weight loss. Overweight individuals who lose even 10% of their weight can reduce sleep apnea during the night and dramatically improve the quality of their sleep.

Eliminate the use of alcohol, tobacco, and sedatives such as sleeping pills: Avoiding the use of alcohol, tobacco, and sleeping pills can reduce the likelihood of airway closure during the night.

Sleep on your side:People who experience sleep apnea only when they sleep on their backs can benefit from special pillows or folk remedies that encourage side-sleeping, such as the tennis ball trick. (See Helpguide’s article on Snoring: Symptoms, Causes, Cures, and Treatment for more tips to help prevent snoring.)