Cracking the Sleep Code

Are You Just a Snorer...Or Could You Have a Breathing Disorder?

I was just going to do "sleep Apnea" week.  But the 'week' is turning into a month.  There is so much to cover with this sleep disorder I've decided to continue this series for another week.

Todays article is about diagnosing your sleep apnea.  Are you sure you're just a snorer??  There are ways to tell if you are at risk for obstructive sleep apnea even before going in for an overnight sleep study. It's important to point out that there are different treatments for snoring and sleep apnea.  A lot of the over the counter 'snore fixes' can be dangerous to a person who has sleep apnea.  The last thing you want to do is mask the disorder or delay diagnosis because you just want a quick fix for the snoring.  If you are at a point where you want to do something about your snoring then your first action should be a physician visit.

Is it time to find out if your snoring has transformed into sleep apnea?

Are You Tired of Being Tired? The Sleep Spa Might be the Answer.

What if on your lunch break, you could drive to a sleep room?  A room where there would be the ultimate sleep experience to re-energize you for the remainder of the day.  Counselors would be on hand to discuss your sleep problems and offer solutions... then you would go into the sleep section where you would be literally lulled to sleep for a nap.  A waterfall or stream trickling in the background, a massage chair, wall screen TV showing relaxing atmospheres and programmed lights that would dim as you melt into a sleep bliss.  The music that you would hear in the background is specifically designed to bring your 'awake' brain waves down to slow sleep waves.

In the United States approximately 40 million people suffer from a sleep disorder.  Matsushita Electric Works in Tokyo understands that sleep disorders are on the rise and created the sleep room to address this public need. In the U.S. some resorts have sleep spas as well but are still lacking in community awareness.

Maybe some day the sleep machine that scientists are creating will be available in the sleep spa's.  Now that would be the ultimate dream.

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Do You Have Sleep Apnea? Take The Test.

OK, so you say your tired all day but you thought you had gotten plenty of sleep.  You are the type that could fall asleep if just allowed to lay your head down on the desk for 2 microseconds.  Maybe, you think it was your spouse or partner that kept elbowing you in the middle of the night in attempt to stop your snoring.  I mean c'mon, if they hadn't woke you up 57 times maybe you would actually feel rested!

Here is a questionnaire that will determine if you need to have a sleep test or the medical term (polysomnograph).  A test can be taken home or a monitored test can be done at a sleep lab for a more extensive evaluation.  Either test will let you know if you have sleep disorder.  Sleep apnea is a sleep disorder where snoring and cessation of breath occur.  Some sleep studies have been shown to have 145 arousals or more in one night due to the lack of oxygen.  Most don't remember coming out of sleep because they might only be going from a deep sleep to stage one of sleep (the lightest stage). Now on with the test...

Points                                                                                                                        

8        1.   Do you snore?                                                                                                                                       

4        2.   Have you been told you stop breathing at night?   
                                             

3        3.   Do  you  have morning headaches?                                                                                        

2        4.   Do you have high blood pressure?                                                                                        

6        5.   Do you nod off while driving?   

                                                                                                
3        6.  Do you kick or jerk your legs while sleeping? 

                                                         
6        7.  Do you awaken suddenly with shortness of breath or with your                       heart racing? 

4        8.  Do you have trouble staying asleep once you fall asleep?                                                            

Risk Factor

LOW= 0-7

Moderate= 8-11

High= 12-15

Severe= 16+

I'll share more on this in the days ahead.

Informative article "Do you have a sleep disorder?"

Sick of Snoring and Being Tired? It's Time for the Sleep lab.

Finally, you get to your physician and get that long awaited prescription to the sleep lab.  Don't let the word lab scare you, you won't be treated like a rat.  The anticipation is probably the worst part of this test.  The important thing is that you're going to take action and seek some help. If you have a bed partner then they might even be more enthusiastic than you about this decision.  The dark circles under the eyes are usually present on both parties---who enjoys sleeping with loud snoring?

What to expect...

After your Doctor gives you the prescription for the lab, you will be scheduled.  There are sleep labs in hospitals and then there are free standing labs.  I have talked to people who have been to both and the free standing sleep labs have won hands down in the "making you feel at home" department.  This is very important when it comes to the sleep test.  Most people have anxiety about falling asleep when comes time for their test.  This is expected since you know you've got to sleep to make the test be worth while.  Some physicians will prescribe a mild sleep pill to help you relax.  The best thing to do is stay with your bedtime ritual----which the sleep technicians generally promote. Bring everything that you would need to follow your routine...your book, your food or drink etc.  Some labs have TV if your a TV watcher.

You'll be scheduled sometime between 8 and 11pm.  You'll fill out some paper work when you arrive and change into your PJ's.  Next is the fun part.  The application of the electrodes, which consists of some patches that they will glue onto your upper chest, legs and scalp---it's not painful.
The things that will be monitored are...eye movement, leg movement, chest movement, brain waves, heart rate, muscle tone and oxygen level.

The sleep technician will help you get into bed, so you can do your bedtime ritual or just turn off the light.  They'll most likely be waking you up between 6:00am and 7:00am, as the sleep technician shift usually ends about this time.  It's anywhere from 1 to 3 weeks to get the results back in which you will discuss the diagnosis with your Doctor.  If you find out you have sleep apnea then at least there is a reason for why you were feeling so miserable and now you can receive help.  Goodbye sleepy days!

For a personal story of a sleep lab experience Read here...

Treatments will be discussed in the upcoming posts...

Your trip to the sleep lab!

Sleep disorders.  They can be deadly. Insomnia, sleep apnea, restless leg syndrome, narcolepsy all have can be a danger to your health.  A person can also have more than one sleep disorder, one feeding off the other. Each disorder has it's own treatment.  For sleep apnea, it is either surgery or a CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure).  I will go into detail on treatments on later posts, but for now let's talk about a sleep test.

If you took the sleep questionnaire from my last post and scored moderate to severe, you'll want to talk to your family Dr. to get a prescription to go to a sleep lab.  If you didn't take it and are here because you're just stinkin' tired and suspect your disorder is related to your snoring... hopefully this information will help.

What to expect...

After your Doctor gives you the prescription for the lab, you will be scheduled.  There are sleep labs in hospitals and then there are free standing labs.  I have talked to people who have been to both and the free standing sleep labs have won hands down in the "making you feel at home" department.  This is very important when it comes to the sleep test.  Most people have anxiety about falling asleep when comes time for their test.  This is expected since you know you've got to sleep to make the test be worth while.  Some physicians will prescribe a mild sleep pill to help you relax.  The best thing to do is stay with your bedtime ritual----which the sleep technicians generally promote.  Bring everything that you would need to follow your routine...your book, your food or drink etc.  Some labs have TV if your a TV watcher.

You'll be scheduled sometime between 8 and 11pm.  You'll fill out some paper work when you arrive and change into your PJ's.  Next is the fun part.  The application of the electrodes, which just consists of some patches that they will glue onto your upper chest, legs and scalp---it's not painful.
The things that will be monitored are...eye movement, leg movement, chest movement, brain waves, heart rate, muscle tone and oxygen level.

The sleep technician will help you get into bed, so you can do your bedtime ritual or just turn off the light.  They'll most likely be waking you up between 6:00am and 7:00am, as the sleep technician shift usually ends about this time.  It's anywhere from 1 to 3 weeks to get the results back in which you will discuss the diagnosis with your Doctor.  If you find out you have sleep apnea then at least there is a reason for why you were feeling so miserable and now you can receive help.  Goodbye sleepy days!

Treatments will be discussed in the upcoming posts

Always Sleepy?!

OK, so you say your tired all day but you thought you had gotten plenty of sleep.  You are the type that could fall asleep if just allowed to lay your head down on the desk for 2 microseconds.  Maybe, you think it was your spouse or partner that kept elbowing you in the middle of the night in attempt to stop your snoring.  I mean c'mon, if they hadn't woke you up 57 times maybe you would actually feel rested!

Here is a questionnaire that will determine if you need to have a sleep test or the medical term (polysomnograph).  A test can be taken home or a monitored test can be done at a sleep lab for a more extensive evaluation.  Either test will let you know if you have sleep disorder.  Sleep apnea is a sleep disorder where snoring and cessation of breath occur.  Some people have been noted to have 87 arousals in one night from the lack of oxygen.  Most don't remember coming out of sleep because they might only be going from a deep sleep to stage one of sleep (the lightest stage). Now on with the test...

Points                                                                                                                        

8        1.   Do you snore?                                                                                                                                        

4        2.   Have you been told you stop breathing at night?   
                                             

3        3.   Do  you  have morning headaches?                                                                                          

2        4.   Do you have high blood pressure?                                                                                          

6        5.   Do you nod off while driving?   

                                                                                                
3        6.  Do you kick or jerk your legs while sleeping? 

                                                         
6        7.  Do you awaken suddenly with shortness of breath or with your                       heart racing? 

4        8.  Do you have trouble staying asleep once you fall asleep?                                                            

Risk Factor

LOW= 0-7

Moderate= 8-11

High= 12-15

Severe= 16+

I'll share more on this in the days ahead.