Having sleep apnea means that, every once in a while, certain of your mouth and throat tissues collapse into your airway. This makes it impossible for you to breathe for a few moments, until your body is disturbed from its rest and forced to clear the airway. Fortunately, we can help many patients in Livonia, MI, overcome their sleep apnea by custom-designing an oral appliance that promotes better breathing while they sleep.
Chronic, extremely loud snoring
Obstructive sleep apnea, or OSA, is a common sleep disorder, but many people who have it don’t realize that there’s an issue. That’s because sleep apnea episodes don’t usually wake them fully, so they remain unaware of the trouble they have sleeping. Nevertheless, it can cause them to snore excessively more loudly, until the noise stops altogether because of the airway becoming blocked. The repeating cycle creates a distinctive pattern of loud snoring and silence that could only be caused by sleep apnea.
Getting tired faster each day
In addition to the noise, sleep apnea also causes you to lose precious sleep by depriving you of the time you need to enter deep, R.E.M. levels of sleep. Over time, this causes you to experience increasing tiredness and fatigue throughout the day, despite thinking that you’re sleeping peacefully each night. If you experience worsening daytime fatigue but don’t realize that you’re having trouble sleeping, then it may because you suffer from obstructive sleep apnea.
Experiencing unusual mood swings
Daytime fatigue is just one of many symptoms of prolonged sleep deprivation, which results from the chronic occurrence of sleep apnea episodes. Another is increased irritability and mood swings, as well as trouble remembering things and solving problems. This can be one sign that you’re consistently losing sleep and that it’s beginning to affect your mental and cognitive health.
What to do about your sleep apnea
If you exhibit signs that turn out to be symptoms of sleep apnea, then find out how we can treat your condition so you can finally get the peaceful sleep you deserve. To learn more, schedule a consultation by calling James Stewart, DDS in Livonia, MI today at (734) 425-4400.
