Because Sleep Apnea Can Affect Anyone, Learn the Symptoms of Sleep Apnea

Sleep apnea can be extremely hard to identify!

Mainly because the symptoms of sleep apnea may not always be apparent to someone who suffers from them. But there are a few symptoms of sleep apnea that can help you discover for yourself whether or not you suffer from sleep apnea.

# Loud snoring

To be clear, just because you snore loud, and often, does not necessarily mean that you suffer from sleep apnea. However, if loud snoring is paired with gasping for air, moaning, mumbling, it is important to realize that these can be symptoms of sleep apnea. If snoring is combined with silence that can last from approximately 10 seconds upwards to a minute or more, this would be a definite indicator that you may want to be checked out for sleep apnea.

# Periodically halted breathing

One of the reasons that symptoms of sleep apnea often go undetected is because our brain does wake us up to breathe in, but it does not register the fact that we were awake for a split second. However, if you sleep next to someone and they notice that you occasionally take a gasp for air or even stop breathing completely, this is a definite indicator that something is not working the way it should be.

# Excessive sleepiness during the day, chronic fatigue

Again, everyone can have a bad night of sleep and everyone can feel mentally and physically sluggish a few times a month. However, if you tend to fall asleep when you are attempting to stay awake, this is one of the more noticeable symptoms of sleep apnea. If you are trying to read something, or watching television and happen to drift off to sleep without realizing it, this is a definite indicator. One of the first ways most people notice sleep apnea is when they are feeling fatigued throughout the day, but they have the feeling that they got a good night sleep.

# Sleep that does not live up to expectations

One of the final symptoms of sleep apnea that patients can actually encounter themselves, thus making it one of the ways to identify a problem. If you wake up feeling groggy, with an early morning headache and all-around fatigue this could be sign of a problem. Also, having an excessively dry mouth when you wake up is another one of the symptoms of sleep apnea.