I have sleep apnea and can speak to that also.
If you get less than 8 hours of sleep a night, and you wake rested and ready to go, then it is probably just the way you should sleep - no problem.
On the other hand, if you wake to feel tired and "fuzzy" regardless of how much sleep you get or don't get, until your first cup or two of coffee, that morning run, or maybe a quick shower. Then it would help if you got a sleep study done.
Sleep studies are simple today, not like the one I had done a decade ago. Today you typically get a device you wear on a finger one night while you sleep at home or in a hotel room. The device records your sleep pattern, which the sleep doctor then evaluates.
Sleep apnea is very prevalent; many people have it and don't know it; they think being tired in the morning is just normal. It isn't.
Sleep apnea can kill you or contribute to the worsening of numerous "old age ailments."
Sleep apnea is a condition where you wake up (almost) numerous times per night. "Almost" means you don't remember it because you are not entirely awake. Your sleep gets interrupted because you STOP BREATHING.
If you STOP BREATHING five or more times per hour, you have Sleep apnea. In my case, I was stopping about; 20 times per hour - every 3 minutes, I stopped breathing until I partially woke and then started breathing again, over and over.
The IMPORTANT thing is you do NOT know this is happening. It happens in your sleep.
If diagnosed, you are given a CPAP or BiPAP machine depending on how severe and what kind of stoppages you are having.
CPAP machines cost a couple hundred to a thousand dollars or so. However, Medicare, the VA, and most other forms of insurance cover it.
The CPAP machines are virtually silent. Next, you wear a face mask, which is the hardest part of the treatment, finding a comfortable mask that fits and you can sleep wearing. Some people take a few days to get satisfied with the mask. Some take a few months to find a suitable mask and be able to sleep comfortably.
Once you have a machine and use it every night, it is not long before you start feeling much better in the mornings.
Typical results of using a CPAP machine are, like in my case, going from being woken 15 to 20 times (some people are as high as 100 times) per hour. To being woken/stopping breathing 1 to 2 times per hour. The machine has a display that tells you how you slept last night and your average over the past weeks or months.
My PCP with the VA is a geriatrics specialist. She says that waking up tired is NOT normal for growing older. So get that idea out of your head. You should be waking up, as we use to say, rip-roaring and ready to go. If you are not, then talk to your PCP. Get their advice, and they will likely want you to take a sleep study.
Sleep apnea is a silent killer. I am not trying to panic anyone, just passing on the information and recommending talking to your PCP.
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