Maggie Evans 
Sleep apnea is one of the most commonly untreated afflictions that can affect your ability to sleep soundly. Without treatment, you’ll be experiencing lots of frustrating, exhausting side effects. However, knowing if you’ve developed sleep apnea can be a tricky, anxiety-inducing situation if you do not have the facts. Finding a medical professional that can determine a diagnosis is essential, but you should avoid this step unless you have at least a few symptoms that point to you potentially having sleep apnea. To help assure yourself that you’re protecting your body from sleep disruption, here are eight signs that you might have developed sleep apnea:
1. Loud Snoring
Snoring is one of the classic, most common examples of a sleep apnea warning sign. Especially if you’re not overweight, frequent, loud snoring can be a major sign of sleep apnea. This particular symptom/warning sign is associated with obstructive sleep apnea, and signals that your body is having a difficult time breathing in and out without obstruction. Not only can this damage your heart, but it can increase the frequency of you waking up at night. The added frustration of the way snoring can disturb any sleeping partners you have is important to note as well.
2. Daytime Sleepiness
Have you ever had eight hours of sleep, but when you wake up, you still feel incredibly tired? Daytime sleepiness is a clear sign that while you may be sleeping, your sleep is not as deep or rejuvenating as it needs to be. Unfortunately, this symptom is also associated with sleep apnea (although not a specific type of sleep apnea). As you treat your sleep apnea, you’ll get the unobstructed, peaceful sleep you deserve.
3. Difficulty Remaining Asleep
Waking up in the middle of the night and being unable to fall back asleep is incredibly frustrating (especially if you were right in the middle of an awesome dream). Many grating side effects come along with constantly waking up in the middle of the night as well, with an increased risk of insomnia being especially notable. If you have sleep apnea, a lack of treatment can frequently lead to this unfortunate side effect.
4. Frequent Irritability
Speaking of unfortunate side effects, sleep disruption is nearly certain to cause irritability. If you’re experiencing this nasty side effect day in and day out, your entire life will begin to be affected. While frequent irritability becomes a side effect on top of a side effect, it can still be a major sign that you’re developing sleep apnea.
5. Difficulty Concentrating
Without the right amount of peaceful, uninterrupted sleep, your mind will not be able to function at full force. Along with this, your ability to concentrate will be severely diminished. A lack of concentration will become another blowback from your sleep apnea if left untreated and will prevent you from having success at both work and in your personal life. Thankfully, treating your sleep apnea will help relieve these pesky symptoms. In the meantime, keeping your body healthy and fit can help you prevent sleep apnea altogether.
6. Having a Dry or Sore Throat in the Morning
Allergies are a common cause of both dry mouth and sore throat, but it’s far from the only condition that frequently creates these symptoms. If you do not have allergies and constantly find yourself waking up to bothersome problems with your throat, nose, and mouth, it may be an aftereffect of the sleep-disrupting nature of sleep apnea.
7. A Sensation that You’ve “Stopped Breathing” at Night
The most bothersome side effect that can be caused by sleep apnea, the experience of suddenly waking up with a gasp is enough to make anyone anxious. Not only does this signal that you might be experiencing moments where you completely stop breathing, but it’s a sign that your anxiety levels while sleeping has increased. If you’re finding yourself burdened with this symptom, be sure to immediately start the process of determining if you have sleep apnea.
8. Frequent Urination at Night
Are you finding yourself waking up to pee at night much more frequently than normal? Maybe you’re waking up with a feeling that you need to pee, but finding that your body is simply fighting against a peaceful night’s rest? If either of these frustrating experiences are happening to you, it’s possible these symptoms are being caused by sleep apnea.
Consistently Peaceful Nights of Sleep are Possible
If you find yourself diagnosed with sleep apnea, getting a CPAP machine is highly recommended. Not only will it help treat your sleep apnea, but it will give you the peace of mind that you’re on the right path toward recovery. Just make sure you do your research to ensure you’re getting the most effective CPAP machine.
Many people experience these symptoms and simply ignore them. Not only will this route keep you from having the peaceful sleep you need to function, but untreated sleep apnea can significantly affect your health (and even shorten your life if it becomes severe enough). To ensure you’re able to live life to the fullest, you must seek help for sleep apnea and disruptions if you’re experiencing any of the symptoms on this list on a bothersome frequent basis.
