Tag: sleep apnea symptoms

Understanding the of sleep apnea tests and its symptoms

Do you suspect that you or someone dear to you is suffering from sleep apnea as revealed from the symptoms?.  Are you in search of some more information from a sleep apnea doctor to ascertain the meaning of the symptoms shown? Sleep apnea   is a very common sleep disorder which can take dangerous proportions if not taken care of.  Leaving this condition untreated can pave way for dangerous conditions like attacks, strokes and high blood pressure.

Proper diagnosis of this disease can be done at a sleep center by a specialized doctor. In this article I intend to give a brief account of symptoms shown by sleep apnea patients and the details of the tests conducted to ascertain the existence of sleep apnea.

Symptoms

Two important symptoms of sleep apnea are tiredness in the morning and snoring at night with chocking sounds and gasps. Other symptoms include:

  1. Morning headache
  2. High blood pressure
  3. Dry throat or mouth in the morning
  4. Obesity
  5. Anxiety, depression and inability to concentrate on anything
  6. Decreased libido
  7. Restless sleep
  8. Frequent urination
  9. Confusion on waking up

Sleep apnea test

  1. Nocturnal poysomnography: In this many parameters related to the sleep of the patient are recorded for understanding and further investigation. These include heart and lung activity, breathing patterns, oxygen level in your blood while you sleep, movement of the extremities etc. This is the most common test used for diagnosing sleep apnea.
  2. Portable device for monitoring sleep parameters: For some patients doctors recommend portable devices with which the sleep parameters of the patient is recorded while he sleeps in his house. These tests are conducted during a series of nights and after the test is completed the patient reports the result to the doctor. If any abnormality is noticed the patient is requested to conduct a polysomnography in a sleep center.
  3. In some cases, the sleep apnea doctor may ask the patient to get checked up by an  ear, nose or throat specialist as well as a neuro specialist to check whether there is any obstruction