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Managing sleep apnea

Sleep apnea can be serious and life threatening. Effective treatment plan can help to control your condition and improve your quality of life. 

Immediate treatment of sleep apnea is extremely important as it can prevent and control further complications such as heart attack, stroke, heart disease, and high blood pressure.

However, taking responsibility to control your own condition is the most important way for you to deal with sleep apnea.

The following are self-managing steps that are highly recommended:

1.    Lose weight if you are overweight or obese. Even if you lose a little bit of weight, it helps to reduce excessive tissue in your mouth, nose or throat.
2.    Stop smoking if you are a smoker. Nicotine in cigarettes causes the muscles behind your throat to relax. If you stop smoking, these muscles are less likely to collapse at night and block the airway passages. 
3.    Avoid excessive alcohol intake and avoid taking sleeping medications. Alcohol and sleeping pills relax the muscles on the back of your throat, which will interfere with breathing.
4.    Adjusting your sleeping pattern. Sleeping on your side or on your abdomen, this is better than sleeping on your back. It helps keep your airways open. You may sleep on special pillow, which may help to keep you from sleeping on your back.
5.    Keep your nasal passages open at night. If needed, you may use nasal spray or other allergies medications to keep your nasal passages open while you are sleeping. You should consult your doctor before start using any nasal spray or medications.
6.    Getting enough sleep will help to keep you from developing sleep apnea.
7.    If you use a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), you should use it all night, every night. If you stop using it, the condition will immediately return.