sleepIsHell wrote:

I still don't understand WHY I have Obstructive Sleep Apnea. Nobody has really explained to me the physical cause. It seems if I knew what exactly was causing my Obstruction, maybe I could have a clue on how to solve it?

Do you have huge tonsils ? Just open your mouth wide and look in the mirror.
Do you have a small receding jaw ? Can you open your mouth nice and wide ?
Do you have a huge neck ?
Do you snore like mad ?
Have you ever had an endoscopy and got the ENT man to look inside your throat to see if everything is in order ?

Start looking for answers and you will figure out what causes your sleep apnea.


_________________
Cheers
Ram
http://www.vadclub.com

pmnorth wrote:

My father was a famous snorer, usually keeping anyone else in the vicinity awake through the night, maybe that should be infamous snorer. I seem to have inherited certain physical characteristics from him and began to snore in a similar fashion some 20+ years ago. Over that time I have also gained some weight and am now slightly into the obese range of BMI. While the weight gain is not solely responsible for the snoring I think it added to the apnea problem. I have found losing the weight harder than quitting smoking which I have done several times & am now smoke free for 7 years.

I think it can be the other way round also.

Snoring can cause sleep apnea. I was thin as a bean pole when diagnosed with sleep apnea caused by snoring. apneas cause hypertension and weight gain and can cause diabetes, stroke and high platelets. All these are related to adrenalin dumps caused by apneas and the immune system reacting to the dumps believing it to be some emergency like bleeding in an accident requiring more platelets to clot the blood..

I know I may have over simplified the explanation but in a nut shell this is true.

But then weight gain due to a life style of sodas means a big neck where soft palate tissues collapse and throttle airways causing snoring and apneas


_________________
Cheers
Ram
http://www.vadclub.com