How does sleep apnea make you feel in the morning?

Posted by robertwills @robertwills, Dec 4, 2023

From wakening into the afternoon. Any descriptions of what it's like?

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Are morning headaches caused by sleep apnea consistent? Or can they come and go? Like just once every 10 days or so or two days in a row then none for another two weeks? Or once they happen it's daily?

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@robertwills

Are morning headaches caused by sleep apnea consistent? Or can they come and go? Like just once every 10 days or so or two days in a row then none for another two weeks? Or once they happen it's daily?

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There is a lot of variance between people who have sleep apnea, whether it's symptoms or how/what type of treatment works for them. I'm afraid it's a sometimes lonely journey of discovery, although it needn't be if the individual is willing to learn and to inculcate experiences as expressed by other sufferers.

Generally, if you would rather live, including living better, you must have treatment for sleep apnea if it is formally diagnosed (best done in an over night sleep lab, a process called a polysomnography). From there, a qualified respiratory therapist or some other physician/sleep expert should prescribe a treatment, almost always with a CPAP/VPAP/ASV machine (CPAP is continuous pressure, VPAP is variable pressure, ASV is an adaptive servo-ventilator used most commonly to treat central apnea or mixed/complex apnea).

Your headaches might be from another cause, but if you are not being treated properly (you have the wrong machine, it's not set properly, or your treatment needs to be reviewed because of a change in your circumstances), you should expect to have problems.

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@robertwills

Are morning headaches caused by sleep apnea consistent? Or can they come and go? Like just once every 10 days or so or two days in a row then none for another two weeks? Or once they happen it's daily?

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@gloaming has excellent advice.

When my sleep apnea was undiagnosed, I had constant headaches. I was taking aspirin three at a time, several times a day, every day.

Even after getting a CPAP, I had periodic, intense headaches, but that may have been my job, my commute, my poor diet, or any one of a number of other causes. Maybe even restricted blood flow to my brain that led to a stroke in 2018. Who knows?

But there are a lot of possibilities here, so you should probably see a professional to narrow down the cause.

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Would the fact that tiredness during the day fluctuates be not indicative of sleep apnea? Like for example, you are tired upon waking but then feel awake until several hours later in the afternoon you need a nap. Then you feel awake the rest of the day. Does this suggest that it is not sleep apnea?

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@robertwills

Would the fact that tiredness during the day fluctuates be not indicative of sleep apnea? Like for example, you are tired upon waking but then feel awake until several hours later in the afternoon you need a nap. Then you feel awake the rest of the day. Does this suggest that it is not sleep apnea?

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Yes, certainly, but it could be other things that also should be ruled out. Brain chemistry, endocrine system health, essential nutrients and electrolytes, a disease hitherto undetected, pulmonary health. I only add this for an attempt at completeness, not to suggest that you are necessarily barking up the wrong tree with respect to apnea; get the apnea checked out! Sleep apnea, if bad enough, has its hosts falling asleep at longer traffic lights!

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@robertwills

Would the fact that tiredness during the day fluctuates be not indicative of sleep apnea? Like for example, you are tired upon waking but then feel awake until several hours later in the afternoon you need a nap. Then you feel awake the rest of the day. Does this suggest that it is not sleep apnea?

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@robertwills
I have sleep apnea and 55, female. Your description sounds like my symptoms before diagnosis. It would be good to get a sleep study done and check blood for deficiencies/toxicities. I drink too much caffeine which doesn’t really help sleepiness and causes other symptoms and problems. If you are managing caffeine and screen time before bedtime and not having anything in your diet or supplements causing sleep issues, it may be sleep apnea which is really important to diagnose/treat.

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@robertwills

Would the fact that tiredness during the day fluctuates be not indicative of sleep apnea? Like for example, you are tired upon waking but then feel awake until several hours later in the afternoon you need a nap. Then you feel awake the rest of the day. Does this suggest that it is not sleep apnea?

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It seems like you have a lot of questions and concerns about sleep apnea - do you think that you have sleep apnea? As everyone says in their responses, you should probably get checked out for sleep apnea.

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@robertwills

Would the fact that tiredness during the day fluctuates be not indicative of sleep apnea? Like for example, you are tired upon waking but then feel awake until several hours later in the afternoon you need a nap. Then you feel awake the rest of the day. Does this suggest that it is not sleep apnea?

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Unless your partner hears you stop breathing for 34 seconds and then take a deep breath, I don't think you can try to diagnose sleep apnea from how you feel.
At the least do a home study, can find some that are not too expensive.
You will be surprised .

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@gloaming

Yes, certainly, but it could be other things that also should be ruled out. Brain chemistry, endocrine system health, essential nutrients and electrolytes, a disease hitherto undetected, pulmonary health. I only add this for an attempt at completeness, not to suggest that you are necessarily barking up the wrong tree with respect to apnea; get the apnea checked out! Sleep apnea, if bad enough, has its hosts falling asleep at longer traffic lights!

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I was very sleepy and had my blood tests done and it shows very low levels of cortisol and I e been referred to endocrinologist so you never know to be honest. Best way is to get checked for everything really, good luck! 🤞

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Like when you have to wake up at a certain time in the morning and you had 8 hours of sleep? Is it had to wake up? Do you feel lousy? Do you feel much worse than when you believe you didn't have sleep apnea? An hour later are you able to go back to sleep?

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