Have you found that you wake up in the morning feeling anything but rested? This can feel particularly troublesome when you don’t have any memory of waking up during the night. This is a common trait of sleep apnea. While you may wake up hundreds of times per night as a result of this sleep disorder, you may fall under the impression that you slept peacefully through the night. Is this starting to sound extremely familiar? If so, learn more about whether your strange daily symptoms (like unexplained exhaustion) are something we can help you resolve with treatment. Consider the following:
What Is Sleep Apnea?
This is a sleep disorder that occurs when your throat muscles over-relax while you sleep. You see, in a patient whose muscles remain active, the muscles support throat tissues. The tissues remain apart from one another, which allows for comfortable breathing throughout the night.
If you suffer from sleep apnea, your throat muscles relax, your throat tissues collapse against each other, and for just a moment you cannot breathe. The good news is that your brain forces your body to wake up and breathe, so it can receive sufficient oxygen. The bad news is that this can happen multiple times per hour. You may wake, gasp, and return to sleep so quickly that you do not recall the event in the morning. What you do recognize, however, is a set of uncomfortable side effects.
Watch For These Common Symptoms
Consistently disrupted sleep is sure to leave its warning signs throughout the day. Fortunately, if a significant other has not witnessed your nightly events, you can often rely on the following common symptoms to tip you off that you’re dealing with sleep apnea:
- Daily fatigue
- Mood swings
- Problems with concentration
- Sore throat in the morning
- Cottonmouth sensation in the morning
- Daily headaches
ABOUT YOUR KELLER, TX DENTIST:
Brent Cornelius DDS provides patients of every age with comfortable dental care. To learn more about our comprehensive treatments, which include general, cosmetic, restorative dentistry, and sedation dentistry, in addition to dental implants, contact us today at 817-431-4200. We offer compassionate care to patients from Keller, TX, as well as Roanoke, Trophy Club, Southlake, Westlake, North Richland Hills, and surrounding areas.
