Sleep Apnea

I come from a long line of Sleep Apnea sufferers. This isn’t a getting to sleep type of problem but more of a disorder of the breathing mechanism- either the breath is paused or there is a reduction in airflow. And an apnea is referred to as the period of time that the breath stops or is reduced.

My dealings with it occurred whilst I was pregnant with my second daughter. Then soon after her birth my symptoms disappeared. The rest of my family are not so lucky. Mine was more of the obstructive type – where the brain sends the signal to the muscles involved with breathing and then the muscles respond as best they can but they are unsuccessful because of some type of obstruction. Therefore the airflow is not adequate for the bodies needs and waking occurs. The obstruction was caused by my increased weight gain during pregnancy and the awkwardness that some pregnant mother experience whist sleeping. Being a stomach sleeper just makes being pregnant and sleeping very challenging.

For the rest of the family, they deal with Central Sleep Apnea or a combination of both. Central sleep apnea occurs when the brain does not initially send the signal to sleep; therefore the muscles don’t get any signal at all.

Diagnosis after years of struggling was a much welcomed relief. They all attended a sleep lab to correctly diagnose which type that they were dealing with and then what level of intervention was required. It was a long road of changing habits of a life time, but when a good night’s sleep and feeling rested resulted from their hard work and effort there was no going back. The use of a mask to deliver oxygen was used initially to reset the central sleep apnea and other devises to help with the obstructive portion were then used.

The long term effects of sleep apnea are debilitating. High blood pressure, history of stroke, congestive heart failure, insomnia, mood and mental disorders can all be worsened by any of the forms of sleep apnea.

I can’t recommend enough after seeing patient after patient struggle with sleep, and watching loved ones go through the pain of caused by sleep apnea, to go and investigate the possibility of sleep apnea as a cause of their troubled sleep. After looking after their spinal health through Chiropractic and making recommendations of changing their sleep posture and bed, sometimes other measures are required