Sleep apnea is a serious breathing problem that interrupts your sleep. People with sleep apnea have short pauses in breathing while they are asleep. There are three types of sleep apnea:

• Obstructive sleep apnea
• Central sleep apnea
• Complex sleep apnea

Signs & Symptoms:

It is difficult to find out the signs and symptoms of sleep apnea as they occur only when one sleeps. But you can ask your bed partner to observe your sleep habits and signs.

1. Daytime sleepiness and you don’t know how: People with sleep apnea will suffer from dullness, sluggishness or sleepiness during the day despite of the time they have spent in bed. You may even fall asleep while doing various tasks such as working or driving.
2. Snoring and long pauses in breath while sleeping: Your Bed Partner is the first person to recognize something wrong with your sleeping habits. If you’re snoring aloud, chronically, making your partner awake, it can be a serious sign of sleep apnea and you should definitely talk to your doctor.
3. Morning headaches, depressed: Sleep apnea patients mainly suffer from morning headaches. Repeated pauses in breath during night time reduce the level of oxygen in brain, thus causing pain.
4. Going to Bathroom during night: Frequent nighttime urination is known as nocturia. Nocturia is a symptom of sleep apnea, which is also linked to aging. There are chances of sleep apnea if you consistently wake up during night to use the bathroom.
5. Overweight or obese: Around 67% people identified with Sleep apnea are overweight. The fat pads enclosing airway gets bigger with increasing weight, thus shortening the gap and making it hard to breath.
6. Hypertension: Hypertension is also related to sleep apnea. Your body goes into flight posture when you have pauses in breathing thus causing your blood pressure to fasten. This may happen throughout the night.

Everyone who snores does not suffer from sleep apnea and anyone who has sleep apnea does not snore. You have to better ask your bed partner or keep an eye at your loved ones sleeping habits just to be sure.