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How Sleep Apnea Causes Exhaustion — Even After a Full Night's Sleep
You went to bed on time, got eight hours of sleep, and still woke up exhausted. Sound familiar? There are many possible reasons you may feel tired after a full night’s rest, including serious sleep disorders like sleep apnea.
Sleep apnea interrupts breathing while you sleep, making it hard for your body to reach the deep restorative sleep it needs to recharge.
At Respacare in Bridgewater, New Jersey, our sleep medicine experts, Dr. Nehal Mehta and Dr. Prashant Patel, specialize in identifying and treating sleep disorders like sleep apnea. Here’s what you need to know about how this condition robs you of true rest and what you can do about it.
Sleep apnea 101
Sleep apnea happens when you repeatedly stop and restart breathing while you sleep. These pauses can last seconds at a time and may occur dozens, or even hundreds, of times a night.
Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA)
OSA is the most common type of sleep apnea. During sleep, throat muscles relax too much, causing the airway to collapse and block the flow of air.
Central sleep apnea
Central sleep apnea is less common than OSA and occurs when the brain fails to send the right signals to the muscles that control breathing.
Mixed sleep apnea
Mixed sleep apnea is a combination of OSA and central sleep apnea.
Treatment depends on which type you have, but the goal is always the same: restoring healthy breathing patterns so the body can finally rest and recharge.
How sleep apnea causes exhaustion
If you have sleep apnea, your body never gets the deep, restorative sleep it needs. Here’s why:
Interrupted sleep cycles
Each time your breathing stops, oxygen levels drop. Your brain quickly rouses you to restart breathing, most often with no memory of waking up at all. This constant disruption prevents you from reaching deep sleep.
Stress on the body
Poor sleep stresses the body, increasing stress hormones. Further, this stress forces your brain, heart, and other organs to continue to work hard when they should be resting from the day and getting ready for the next.
The body can’t catch up
Poor sleep night after night catches up to you, leaving you groggy, foggy, and more tired in the morning than when you went to sleep.
When to seek help
If you suffer from ongoing daytime sleepiness, it’s time to get expert help. While it’s possible your exhaustion may be due to sleep apnea, we need to do a sleep study to confirm your diagnosis so we can create an effective plan.
At-home sleep studies are an option and can provide valuable information about your sleep. If needed, we may also request a sleep lab study for more detailed information.
Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy is the gold standard treatment for sleep apnea, using air pressure to keep the airway open. But we also offer the oral appliance SomnoGuard® and Inspire® neurostimulation implant therapy.
Lifestyle changes, like good nutrition and regular exercise, also help with the management of sleep apnea as well as your energy level.
If you have sleep apnea, or think you do, let us help you get the rest you need. Call us today or request an appointment online.
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