Is It Sleep Apnea?

Steven WIndley M.D.

Sleep apnea is a diagnosis that deals with difficulty breathing during sleep. A person may stop breathing or may have significant difficulty breathing during sleep. Sleep apnea is not a new diagnosis, but conventional medicine has not truly begun to grasp how much is affected by sleep apnea until recently. I had the pleasure of working with Dr. David Lawler who spent years working on techniques through dental appliances to help the tongue position. By helping the tongue stay out of the airway in the back of the throat, the body could breathe more easily and the nervous system could relax.

The nervous system relaxing is a big deal! Think about how you might have felt when you were a kid and someone dunked you under the water. Your first thought is to get back to the surface to get a breath. Your body can go for quite a while without food – several days to a few weeks if it had to – not quite so long without water (several days)- but your time without air is typically measured in seconds to a few minutes max. This means that the brain has a lot of alarms in place that will sound off when the airway is compromised. Sleep apnea is often thought to be a condition affecting overweight men, but in truth, it can affect males and females of any size. In terms of sleep, I consider sleep apnea when Someone says that the patient stops breathing They wake up gasping or with their heart racing. Or they wake up anxious and don’t know why They wake up frequently through the night and don’t get better with other treatments They get more anxious when they lie down – can be the airway getting compromised by the tongue moving backwards due to relaxing and gravity Patients are not waking up rested or even feel worse when they wake up. Patients sleep with their mouth wide open – does not guarantee sleep apnea but it does mean they are probably working harder to breath

Sleep apnea can lead to other problems. This happens in large part because the nervous system is overactive through the night even though it wants to relax – struggling to breathe will do that. Other problems I watch for that may suggest or include sleep apnea: Hypertension – very common with sleep apnea Heart disease Diabetes Type 2 Frequent night urinations Nighttime heartburn and reflux symptoms Erectile dysfunction Atrial fibrillation – irregular heartbeat – very important to watch for as patients try to get back in to regular rhythm Anxiety and depression ADHD/ADD Headaches Sleep apnea is incredibly important to help not only sleep but many other and often chronic problems.