Understanding Severe Sleep Apnea

By: Ayu Wuryandari

Most of people who have sleep apnea, even severe sleep apnea, do not realize that they have a problem. Even, they do not know that they suffer a kind of insomnia. Sleep apnea is a sleep disorder characterized by loud snoring and interruptions of breathing. You may not realize at all that you are experiencing hundreds of episodes every night when you are gasping for breathing. If you have severe sleep apnea, it is your sleep partner who first knows the indications.

Sleep apnea can be categorized into three types. They are obstructive sleep apnea, central sleep apnea, and mixed sleep apnea. The obstructive type is more caused by the hindrance of your airway, the central type is caused by the failure of your brain to manage your respiratory system in order to work well, while the mixed type is the combination of the two type mentioned before. Obstructive is the type with the most sufferers while the mixed is the type with the least sufferers. Whatever the type is, sleep apnea should be treated properly to prevent it from being severe sleep apnea. When the sleep disorder has become severe sleep apnea, it will make you suffer high degree of sleep loss.

There are several things you can do in an attempting to deal with the minor sleep apnea that are most common. They are very useful to overcome the disorder and to prevent it from being severe sleep apnea.

Avoid consuming alcohol, nicotine, caffeine, and any other sedative close to your bedtime. These substances improve the probability of airway hindrance during your sleep. Sleeping on your side is a solution too. When you are sleeping this way, your throat may collapse less likely involuntarily. You can use a specially shaped pillow which will endorse you to sleep on your side. If you do these methods you will not only overcome the sleep apnea, but also prevent the severe sleep apnea.

However, if you have severe sleep apnea, and the tips mentioned above do not help you, you should immediately see your doctor. Your doctor may suggest you to wear a kind of mask which called CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure). This device is connected to a machine which provides you with air that has been pressurized to make sure that your airway remains open to help you breathing continuously.

Recently, these device has been more comfortable to wear and more silent to sleep near. Nowadays, the device has been perfected with “bi-level PAP” machine which reduce the quantity of supplied air pressure while you are breathing out, and thus making it easier to use. While the “auto PAP” machine adjusts the air pressure as required, not just feeding you with the same stream of air pressure. These devices can protect you from severe sleep apnea.

There is another product to overcome sleep apnea which called Oral devices. They are designed for facing mild to moderate cases, not the severe sleep apnea. Doctor may prescribe some form of oral devices such as a tongue retaining device. This device will open your airway by bringing forward your lower jaw or tongue. This is simple and easier to use than a CPAP machine. However, you must be fitted by a dentist for these devices.

For an effective and permanent result in coping with severe sleep apnea, surgery can be the choice. But you have to discuss with your doctor intensively about this. Because of this method has risk of complications and infections. The surgery may be done by removing tonsils, adenoids, or excessive tissue near the back of the throat or inside your nostrils. For some patients, the surgery even brings them some worse symptoms. This is why you should talk to your doctor for a long time before deciding to take this solution.

I wrote a guide you may be interested in reading: and sleep disorder treatment

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