You Slept All Night So Why Are You Still Tired

You went to bed on time and slept for seven or eight hours. Yet when the alarm rings, you still feel as though you have not slept enough. Your partner may complain about your snoring—or notice something more worrying: you become quiet for a few moments, then suddenly gasp, choke or take a deep breath.

You may not remember any of this in the morning, but your body does. It could be obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), a common sleep problem that can go unnoticed for years.What Happens While You Sleep

What Happens While You Sleep

Imagine breathing through a soft tube. If the tube repeatedly narrows or closes, air cannot pass through properly. Something similar can happen with sleep apnea. When you fall asleep, the muscles around your throat relax. In some people, the airway becomes too narrow or temporarily closes. Breathing slows or stops, and oxygen levels may fall.

The brain senses the problem and briefly wakes the body enough to breathe again. You then fall back asleep, and the cycle may repeat many times during the night. You may think you slept continuously, even though your body has repeatedly struggled to breathe. Sometimes family members notice these pauses before you do, because you are asleep when they happen.

Often, the person sleeping beside you is the first to notice the warning signs: very loud snoring, sudden silence followed by a gasp, restless sleep or repeated pauses in breathing. During the day, you may wake feeling unrefreshed, have a morning headache or dry mouth, struggle to concentrate, feel unusually irritable or become sleepy during meetings, while watching television or while driving. Sometimes the complaint is simply, “Doctor, I sleep enough, but I am always tired.”

Snoring is not always harmless, but not everyone who snores has sleep apnea. Loud, regular snoring—especially with breathing pauses or daytime sleepiness—deserves attention.

When it continues untreated, sleep apnea can be associated with high blood pressure, heart problems, abnormal heart rhythms, stroke and problems with blood sugar control. Sleepiness at the wrong time carries another danger. If you find yourself fighting sleep behind the wheel, take it seriously.

What If Your Sleep Could Be Checked in Your Own Bed

One reason people hesitate to investigate their sleep is the thought: “Do I really need to spend a night in a hospital connected to machines?”

At Naseem Surgical & Medical Center, we are introducing home sleep apnea testing. This allows selected patients to have their breathing assessed while sleeping in the comfort of their own home.

We use the Nox T3 portable sleep monitoring system, a small device that records important information during sleep, including breathing patterns, oxygen levels, heart rate, snoring and sleeping position.

You take the device home, wear the sensors as instructed and sleep in your usual bed and surroundings. The following day, the recording can be reviewed by a doctor for evidence of sleep apnea and to assess its severity. Home sleep testing is not the right investigation for every sleep problem, so a medical evaluation is important to decide whether it is suitable for you.

Listen to What Your Sleep Is Telling You

We often pay attention when our body gives us symptoms during the day. Perhaps we should pay the same attention to what happens at night.

If you snore loudly, wake up choking, have witnessed pauses in breathing, wake feeling exhausted despite enough hours of sleep or struggle to stay awake during the day, consider discussing your sleep with your doctor. Sometimes the most important question is not “How many hours did you sleep?” It is “How well did you breathe while you were sleeping?”