Here's A Horrifying Picture Of What Sleep Loss Will Do To You

[rppper]

89. Yes and no....

I've seen people of all shapes and sizes with moderate to severe apnea, but if you're reasonably healthy you're probably ok. Besides being rough on your body and brain, apnea prevents you from getting the amount of deep N3 sleep and REM your body needs....think of it as diving into a pool, staying under for 30-45 seconds...when you hit the surface, you gasp for air. In sleep medicine this gasp is called an arousal...you wake up for a split second, fall back asleep and the cycle starts again, all night. It also causes leg kicks....plms or restless leg syndrome...jimmy legs on Seinfeld lol...these wake you up as well. In the short term your tired and easily winded, long term apnea can add stress to your heart, lungs and brain....seizures in your sleep....hypoxia....very nasty...

I tell everyone I know to get tested if you're in one of the risk groups, or even if you start feeling tired constantly....I see a lot of AFIB on older patients that cpap helps...get tested...it's worth it to find out if nothing else.