Hello Steemit. I recently was faced with making an appointment to have a sleep study done so I can be prescribed a CPAP machine. Sleep apnea is when your airway in your throat closes for a couple of seconds to several seconds causing you to not get any oxygen from the lack of breathing. Some people can feel it happen and are awakened by it sometimes, like me, and others can't, and are usually told by someone watching them sleep like I've been told I do. Very freighting for the sleeper and witness. But being who I am I first need to know what causes sleep apnea and to see if I can fix it myself. So I started looking up conditions people had to go along with the sleep apnea and I found what pertained to me.
I am overweight
I have a large neck
I have moderately high blood pressure
I can have slightly high blood sugar
I am constipated
I have a poor diet
I have post nasal drip (it cause a sore throat)that only shows up at night and/or very tired and/or sleep deprived. I have no know allergies.
I get up 2-3 times at night to urinate. I never used to.
Armed with this list I started with fixing the high blood pressure by looking at the sodium content in the food I was eating and on a daily basis and I calculated I was consuming 4-5 times the recommended amount. So I cut out the fast food. With in 3-4 days I noticed the swelling in my left leg went down almost completely and the swollen feeling when laying down in my torso subsided. After doing this I stopped eating anything with sugar 3-4 hours before going to sleep and eventually any food 3-4 hours before sleep. I learned that moderate to high blood sugar levels raise your insulin and cause inflammation which can cause swelling in the body, including the brain and the soft tissue of the throat reducing the diameter of the pathway.
I would suggest everyone to go by a blood glucose meter and strips and test yourself on a regular basis. Check yourself before bed, after that sinful meal and even just in general just to see how different foods affect your readings. I bought the Relion Prime meter from Walmart (it's their house brand)for about $25, meter and 100ct test strips. It's very affordable and very accurate.The constipation addressed itself because I cut out the real bad food and replaced it lighter meals like salads and smaller food portions I prepared. I always have consumed lots of filtered water so that helped a bit as well.
I also take Walmart's brand of Claritin 10mg to address the post nasal drip on the off chance I may have developed allergies later in life and it appears to keep my nose clear. I also wear Walmart's extra strong nose strips, these help as well.
After doing all this I can say I am sleeping well and I am waking up refreshed. I no longer get up 2-3 times to urinate in the middle of the night. I sleep completely through until it's time to get up.
I believe all I did helped but addressing the blood pressure and blood sugar are the main components for the better sleep.
I hope this information can help even one person.
Thanks for your time.
This is apt information, but it so seems that the doctors almost never tell you things like this and make you to buy expensive medication or equipment.
I really wish it was different. I am lucky I am one of the people that can't rest until I find what I am looking for.
I also forgot a very important step. To aid in better sleep,... brushing, flossing, and gargling help tremendously! A dirty mouth is an acidic mouth which drains in your throat causing irritation and inflammation.
Update! I started using a nasal saline spray that's over the counter and it's working well. I stopped taking the claritin.
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