How do I know if I have sleep apnea?

Video Overview

How do I know if I have sleep apnea? Clues that you might have sleep apnea include snoring. About 60 percent of people who snore have obstructive sleep apnea. Other things that might clue you off to that possibility are fragmented sleep. Normally we should wake up zero to two times a night use the restroom from zero to one time a night. We see a lot of restroom frequency and fragmented sleep in patients that have sleep apnea. With treatment, with something like CPAP, we often eliminate bathroom trips and eliminate awakenings. People with obstructive sleep apnea frequently complain of daytime sleepiness, but not always. Some individuals have spouses who have witnessed pauses in their breathing and/or gasping for breath. Now, on rare occasions, somebody has caught themselves being aroused by a snore and/or being aroused by a sensation of gasping for breath. But, that is a minority of our patients. So, if you think you might have sleep apnea, there is a variety of things you can do to figure that out. There is an overnight oxygen monitor, checking for oxygen desaturation associated with these pauses in your breathing and there are overnight sleep studies which will give us some information as well.