GodHatesGOP t1_iswa1hv wrote
Reply to comment by [deleted] in Older people who get five hours of sleep a night or less may face a far greater risk of developing two or more chronic illnesses, such as heart disease, cancer or diabetes, compared to people who sleep longer by Wagamaga
You might be suffering from Sleep Apnea. This is a regular occurrence with age as your throat muscles lose tone, they allow the tongue to slip lower than it should, thus blocking your air intake (initially partially which results to loud snoring then totally which results in not breathing), you our brain detects a massive spike in carbon dioxide (your blood becomes more acidic) and it rouses you from your sleep...but ...just long enough to tense up your throat muscles and get few breaths of air in....that happens 8x/hr so basically at most you get 20min of sleep in an actual hour.
If you have insurance then get a sleep study done. Easy referral, tell your primary physician that your wife complains about how loud you snore and that you wake up each morning feeling very tired.
Now there are two types of sleep studies which depend on how compliant you are as a patient.
The in home sleep study Pro
You take devices that are placed on a headband on your forehead and a device placed under your chin and across your chest. To measure your brainwave activity, oxygen ehilation oxygen saturation, breathing rate and any snoring.
You get to sleep in your own bed and your own sleep environment. The measurements are done for two nights in order to average it out.
Cons
Not as accurate in terms of brain activity as in the sleep lab environment
Sleep lab environment
Very accurate in terms of brain activity but not so much in terms of replicating the actual sleep environment and sleep hygiene.
If you don't have insurance;
Then grab a "do I snore" app on your smart phone. Turn it on and go to bed. When you wake up tomorrow look at the results.
If you snored a lot and if the snoring sounded very loud then you most likely have sleep apnea.
CVS and Walgreens now sell RESMED APAP machines and masks. You can get one and look up the clinical menu unlock key combo for each device. This will allow you to set pressures.
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