There’s many reasons why you wander through the day bleary-eyed. Somnipathy, the medical term for sleeping disorders, affects approximately 40 million people in the United States. If you’re among them, you may automatically assume that you have insomnia. However, it’s estimated that about 80 percent of those with sleep apnea go undiagnosed.
That’s why CPAPCentral.com will compare these two disorders side-by-side so you can see which symptoms more closely match yours:
Sleep Apnea
- Definition- When your sleep is interrupted because you stop breathing.
- Cause- The causes can vary, depending on if you have Central or Obstructive Sleep Apnea. In Obstructive Sleep Apnea, a part of your soft palate collapses, blocking your airway. In Central Sleep Apnea, your brain doesn’t send the proper signals to the muscles that control your breathing.
- Symptoms: Loud snoring, choking or gasping in your sleep, daytime drowsiness, depression and issues with weight gain.
- Treatment: The most common way to treat sleep apnea is through Continuous Positive Airway Pressure, or CPAP. Other options can also include surgery or weight loss.
Insomnia
- Definition—When you cannot fall asleep, or you wake up a couple of hours after falling asleep and cannot go back to sleep.
- Cause—A variety of things can cause insomnia, including anxiety disorders, depression, stress, thyroid dysfunction, hormonal changes and other physical causes. Sometimes, lifestyle choices can affect insomnia, including alcohol and tobacco use.
- Symptoms—Laying awake in bed and unable to fall asleep, no matter how tired you are.
- Treatment: Treatments can vary according to cause. Sometimes, a drug can be prescribed for mental or physical causes. Other times, lifestyle changes will need to be made in order to address it.
If you suspect you have one of the above disorders, make an appointment with your doctor right away for a sleep study. CPAPCentral.com can supply you with everything you need to effectively treat sleep apnea. Our online resource center can give you the tools you need to educate yourself about this condition, and our online chat is available from Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.