Symptoms of Sleep Apnea
Sleep apnea is hard to diagnose because it occurs while you’re asleep, but throughout the day, you may notice symptoms like:
- Extreme Daytime Sleepiness: Struggling to stay awake during work, driving, or daily activities.
- Morning Headaches: These headaches are typically brief, lasting between 30 minutes to an hour.
- Waking Up Gasping for Air: If you often wake up gasping for breath, it could indicate sleep apnea.
- Dry Mouth on Waking: People with sleep apnea often breathe through their mouths, leading to dryness.
- Difficulty Staying Awake While Driving: Falling asleep behind the wheel is a dangerous symptom of daytime sleepiness.
- Waking Up Feeling Unrested: Even after a full night’s sleep, do you feel exhausted when you wake up?
- Mood Swings and Irritability: Lack of quality sleep can lead to emotional disturbances.
- Memory and Concentration Issues: Fragmented sleep affects cognitive functions.
- Weight Gain or Difficulty Losing Weight: Constant fatigue can make it hard to focus on healthy habits.
3 Types of Sleep Apnea
There are three types of sleep apnea; obstructive sleep apnea, central sleep apnea, and complex sleep apnea. In all types, you’ll stop breathing for periods of time while asleep before your brain panics and awakens you to resume breathing. But your breathing stops for different reasons and will require different treatments.
Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA):
This is the most common form, occurring when an obstruction in the airway prevents oxygen from reaching your lungs. The obstruction is usually caused by:
- Relaxed soft tissues in your airway (like your tongue and soft palate)
- Enlarged tonsils and adenoids
- Nasal blockages
Nearly 80% of sleep apnea cases go undiagnosed, often leading to severe complications. It’s estimated that 10-15% of women and 15-30% of men have obstructive sleep apnea, with tens of thousands of people in Detroit affected.
Central Sleep Apnea:
Unlike obstructive sleep apnea, central sleep apnea occurs when your brain fails to signal your lungs to breathe. This type is rare, affecting less than 1% of the population. Treatment typically involves a CPAP machine.
Complex Sleep Apnea:
This is a combination of obstructive and central sleep apnea, often developing when someone with obstructive sleep apnea becomes dependent on a CPAP machine. Treatment is also usually with a CPAP machine.
The Importance of Treating Sleep Apnea
Sleep apnea affects both your brain and body, often in ways you might not immediately realize. During sleep, your brain performs crucial functions like storing memories, processing information, and clearing out toxins. Fragmented sleep prevents these vital processes, leading to memory fog, difficulty concentrating, and even early-onset dementia in severe cases.
Your body also relies on sleep to repair cells and restore energy. Without restorative sleep, you’ll wake up tired and depleted, which affects both your physical and mental health.
Sleep Apnea Treatment that Works: Dr. Jeffrey Haddad’s SLEEP APNEA PRECISION APPROACH™
Do you suffer from constant fatigue, loud snoring, or wake up feeling unrested? You may have sleep apnea. Dr. Jeffrey Haddad pioneered the SLEEP APNEA PRECISION APPROACH™. It’s a life-changing treatment for those who suffer from sleep apnea. His proprietary sleep apnea treatment technique has helped thousands of people over the span of 20 years and it can help you too. Using his time-perfected SLEEP PRECISION APPROACH™, he’ll find the principal cause of your sleep apnea and treat it by evaluating your airway, breathing patterns, and improve your overall sleep quality.
Call Dr. Jeffrey Haddad at (248) 480-0085 or make an appointment online to get your life back on track.
Affects Your Brain and Body
You might be tempted to think, “Oh, I just didn’t get enough sleep last night,” when you first start experiencing sleep apnea symptoms. But as time goes on, the lack of and fragmented ‘sleep’ you get each night will become unbearable during the day. Your quality of life will diminish, and you could start to experience negative emotional symptoms.
Fragmented sleep affects your brain and body in ways you likely haven’t thought about. During sleep, your body and brain perform essential functions to get you ready to perform at an optimal level the next day.
Your brain stores memories, categorizes information, and rids itself of toxic chemicals that build up from brain function throughout the day. Without enough time in each stage of sleep, your brain can’t perform these functions, and you’ll start to experience mood disturbances, memory fogginess, difficulty concentrating, and more costly effects such as early-onset dementia.
Your body has important functions too. While you sleep, it works to repair cells and restore your energy by releasing hormones and proteins. Without this, you’ll wake up tired and void of energy.
Sleep Apnea and TMJ Link
About half of obstructive sleep apnea sufferers have TMJ, and all are prone to developing TMJ. At the Michigan Center for TMJ & Sleep Wellness, our interdisciplinary training and thorough approach ensure that every patient under our care receives therapeutic treatments that promote your whole body’s health.
Find Sleep Apnea Symptom Relief in Detroit
While reading this, did you find yourself counting your sleep apnea symptoms? If so, call (248) 480-0085 or make an appointment online. Dr. Jeffrey Haddad is a neuromuscular dentist who can help you get better sleep and relieve your symptoms while promoting whole health.
Patient Testimonials
Jennifer Reeser
I originally came to Dr. Haddad’s practice as I was diagnosed with Severe Sleep Apnea and had been prescribed a CPAP. After months of trying to wear it, I was having a hard time tolerating it and started looking for other options. My Primary Care Doctor referred me to Dr. Haddad for an evaluation. It was there I was fitted for an Oral Sleep Appliance using some very advanced computer technology. I didn’t notice any major changes immediately; however, I knew to expect that as I was told by the team that inflammation takes time to go down in the first month or so.
The team followed up with me a few months later to see how I was doing in the Sleep appliance; at that time, I was feeling amazing (aside from some unrelated neck tension). They informed me we would do another sleep study to see how the sleep appliance was effectively treating my Severe Sleep Apnea. The results showed my numbers had gone down from stage III to a stage II (severe to moderate) The sleep appliance comes with advancement trays, so I was told to move into the next set. A few months later we did another sleep study and showed substantial changes in my numbers! According to the titration study I was now a stage ! (Mild) Sleep Apnea patient.
My numbers went from a 77 AHI to a 6.5 AHI. I feel much better and well rested even with less hours of sleep! I’m so happy that I found the Michigan Center for TMJ and Sleep wellness. Their team is very knowledgeable and friendly, and I highly recommend them for anyone looking for alternative options to treat their sleep apnea.
Kelly Wale Bellore
My husband was suffering with sleep apnea and it was scary listening to him stop breathing at night. The sleep appliance that Jeff and his team made eliminated his sleep apnea and help both of us sleep well! Our insurance covered a good portion of the appliance and the office staff is so friendly and professional! I highly recommend Jeff and his team to anyone who is suffering like my husband was!
Douglas Bayne Jr
Can’t say enough about Dr Haddad and the team. I suffer from severe sleep apnea and my snoring was not good for my home life. I tried the cpap machine and couldn’t do it . I’m a stomach sleeper and it just is not comfortable. The sleep appliance I received was just what I needed. Immediately stopped snoring the first night. Slept through the night without multiple wake ups. I feel energized in the morning and I can take the appliance with me everywhere. Thanks again to Dr Haddad, Christine and the whole team ! Changed my life
Jill Johnson
The night appliance has changed my life! I now am able to sleep minimally 7 hours, uninterrupted. No pain, no clenching. What a game changer – this appliance is worth gold!!!!
