Sleep Apnea: CPAP Machines and Side Effects

Sleep apnea is a condition that causes a person to stop breathing repeatedly during the night. A person can often stop breathing a hundred times during the night for a minute or longer. Lack of breathing at night can result in poor sleep, often leaving the person feeling tired and unmotivated the next morning. There are three types of sleep apnea: obstructive, central and mixed. The most common type diagnosed is obstructive.

A person diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea experiences some sort of blockage of the airway while sleeping. The blockage is often caused by soft tissue that collapses and closes when a person sleeps. Air is unable to flow correctly causing someone to stop breathing momentarily. A person diagnosed with central sleep apnea does not have a blocked airway, instead the brain fails to send a signal to the muscles for breathing. Mixed sleep apnea is a combination of obstructive and central sleep apnea. No matter which sleep apnea you are diagnoses with, your brain will eventually signal you to wake up to some extent so that you automatically resume breathing. Because of this constant arousal of sleep, a person will feel tired and sluggish the next day.

CPAP Machines

A sleep study is often done to diagnose someone with sleep apnea. The patient is often observed at a clinic or hospital where they are hooked up to monitors to count the number of times a person stops breathing during the night. If sleep apnea is the cause of not getting proper rest, your physician will often prescribe you a CPAP machine.

CPAP stands for Continuous Positive Airway Pressure. A CPAP machine is used at night while sleeping and is about the size of a shoebox. A tube runs along the machine to a face mask that covers the nose and mouth by strapping or pulling a band around the head so that is stays in place. Air is pushed out of the machine, into the tube and out of the face mask. Pressurized air flows into the airway passages preventing sleep apnea. Setting the right air pressure depends on how bad the sleep apnea is.

Side Effects

Side effects from a CPAP machine are minimal and often go away as you get used to using your machine. One side effect is claustrophobia. A mask over the face can make someone feel closed in and confounded. My step mom had this problem when she first began using her CPAP machine. To help with the feeling of claustrophobia, begin using the machine about an hour before bed. This will help you become accustomed to the mask. Dry nose and mouth are often a side effect that occurs because of the dry pressurized air being forced into the nose and mouth. To help with dry nose and mouth, use a CPAP humidifier or a saline nasal spray the following morning. Sometimes people who use CPAP machines may develop skin irritations or sores around the nose and mouth. This often occurs when a CPAP mask is too tight or not fitted correctly. Make sure you adjust the mask so that it fits correctly along the nose and mouth. Sleeplessness may also occur due to wearing the mask or hearing the constant humming of the CPAP machine.

www.sleepapnea.org
www.mayoclinic.com
www.medicinenet.com