A Sleep Disorder? Me? But I LOVE sleep and I get tons of it!
Yes, this was so confusing to me. I sleep a full 8 hours a night (I know because I count it). However, I was still waking up tired, feeling sluggish throughout the day and felt like I had no energy..but I thought well, I have two babies, they might not wake me up at night but they sure keep me busy during the day. That explains it.
When a specialist saw me he automatically asked about my blood pressure. High.
Energy? Low. I was still carrying my pregnancy weight and my neck usually gets fuller when I pack on the pounds. I was sent to do a sleep study, where they monitored me overnight and for an entire day afterwards. I was forced to nap every hour…sounds like heaven right? They wake you up after 20 minutes, so it’s short lived and kind of annoying.
Mild Sleep Apnea, was what the doctor said. I stoped breathing just twice but had over 20 partial episodes. That many wake ups were keeping me from going into the deep NREM, slow wave sleep that my body needs. I was also severely anemic which was causing me to have restless leg spasms, also contributing to more wake ups at night. Needless to say my sleep quality is crappy.
Let’s talk a bit about sleep apnea:
Sleep Apnea is a breathing related sleep disorder. It causes breathing to repeatedly start and stop.
There are two types of sleep apnea that we can experience: Obstructive sleep apnea when the muscles in the back of the throat fail to keep your airways open and Central sleep apnea, which is when the brain fails to properly control breathing during sleep. The most common type of Sleep Apnea is Obstructive Sleep Apnea.
What does it look like in babies: Central Sleep Apnea as mentioned is when the brain stops sending signals to breath, this can often be because of a newborns immature central nervous system. This kind of sleep apnea can be fatal and researchers are now exploring the link between this apnea and SIDS. This is why deep sleep in newborns should be short.
The second kind of Sleep Apnea - Obstructive sleep apnea is true to its name, it’s when something is blocking the airway, for children it can be many things such as abnormalities or enlargement of the tonsils, adenoids, palate or pharynx.
Does your baby snore? Baby’s are loud sleepers and can often sound like they’re snoring, especially if they have a cold. If your baby is always snoring and loudly then that’s probably something that should be checked out with their physician. Snoring signals an obstruction in the airway during sleep and can point to Obstructive Sleep Apnea. This causes your child to constantly stop breathing and awaken from sleep. This severely interrupts the quality of sleep, not allowing your child to go into a deep NREM sleep and have many night wakings as a result. Making them sleepy and overtired the next day. It also has some severe long term effects.
So if your baby snores and has many wake ups at night. Is overtired, no matter how many hours of sleep they get, lethargic and/or is having behavioural difficulties or just plain miserable. Always steer on the side of caution and get them checked out. It can very well be nothing but it doesn’t hurt to see an ear, nose and throat specialist. I always screen for snoring in all my clients intake assessments, to ensure that this is not a cause of disturbed sleep.
As for me, I find it comical that my life revolves around sleep and here I am getting lower quality, disrupted sleep despite all the sleep knowledge I have. But these are thing I cannot control..to a certain extent.
Here are a few things I’m doing to recover and hopefully eliminate the apnea and get better rest. naturally.
I have great sleep hygiene, I don’t look at my phone past 8pm (for those that know me, they can attest to this), I read before bed, my room is dimly lit an hour before I go to sleep, I don’t drink coffee in the afternoon or evening (I have one a day in the morning) and well I indulge in wine only on the weekends…the occasional fancy dinner or when it’s been a rough day lol.
I take iron supplements now, try to work out and stay active at least 5 days a week and if I’m feeling drained I take a 20 minute nap in the middle of the day (when I can fit it in). I also try to never drive when I’m tired. I try my best to work towards not having to rely on medication or ventilators. I prioritize sleep because I physically and mentally need it and in a way it’s made me more passionate about sleep, because I know what it’s like to be tired all the time.
I continue to work on my health but what really drives me is my passion for getting other families rest. I know what it’s like and when I can get one tired mama, baby and family sleeping, it makes me happy and I can rest easier (easing your loud mind can have a huge effect on sleep and positive happy emotions work wonders!)
So if you suspect you might have sleep apnea (loud snoring, occasionally waking with a gasping or chocking sensation, tired, lethargic, morning headaches, high blood pressure) or your baby is showing signs (snoring, heavy breathing during sleep, restless sleep, unusual sleep positions, daytime sleepiness, sleepwalking or night terrors) go get checked out.
I’m lucky I have a mild form that can be treated and hopefully eliminated with some lifestyle changes but some have more severe and chronic forms of this disorder and it can really impact their quality of life and health overall.
Now if you don’t have sleep apnea and have ruled that out for baby, there could be many other causes of disrupted sleep and this is where I can help. Book a call with me and let’s chat about your situation and come up with a game plan to get it resolved asap because good quality sleep not just important. It’s life!
