If you or someone you love has sleep apnea, obesity may be a contributing factor. Maybe you are kept awake by the horrendous snoring, snorting or get worried because sometimes your spouse sounds like they are choking. These are all signs and symptoms of sleep apnea and you should encourage them to go to the doctor or get yourself to the doctor if this is you.
The way obesity comes into play with sleep apnea is that the fatty tissue that has built up around the neck affects the neck muscles, soft palate, and the little flap in the back of your throat called the uvula. When you go to sleep, all the muscles relax and the fatty tissue relaxes also and closes off your airway. This is dangerous because at some point you may just stop breathing all together.
This is called respiratory failure and it is fatal. This does not happen frequently, but when it does happen, the best advice you can get is to get the treatment you need to prevent it from happening again. Talk to your doctor before it is too late. Sudden death can occur at any time.
The next best piece of advice I can give you about sleep apnea obesity is to lose the excess weight. If you lose just 10% of your total body fat you can decrease the seriousness of your sleep apnea by 30% and it just goes up from there. The more you lose the better off you will be and when you get to your ideal weight, or even just meet your weight loss goal, you may not have sleep apnea anymore.
How do you know if you have sleep apnea? If you do not have someone to tell you you snore, then ask yourself these questions:
- Do you ever wake up and your mouth is so dry you feel like you have to pry your tongue from the roof of your mouth with a pry bar?
- Are you always tired?
- Do you need more coffee than usual to stay awake during the day?
If you answered “Yes” to any of the questions above, It could be that sleep apnea is affecting the quality of your sleep and your life.
If you and your doctor agree that you may have sleep apnea, he or she will refer you to the respiratory care center of the clinic or hospital and get you fitted for a CPAP machine and mask. This will take some getting used to because you will have to wear the mask when you are sleeping. If you also make a lifestyle change and start to lose the weight, you probably will not have to use the machine for too long. It all depends on how quickly you can lose the excessive weight.
As soon as you lose the weight, sleep apnea obesity will be a thing of the past and you can get back to a normal way of life.