San Francisco and Marin CA
Getting insufficient sleep can damper your mood but it’s also not good for your health and marriage. These changes could ultimately impact your mental health and overall well-being, as well as have a negative impact on your partner or spouse. A common cause of sleep loss is sleep apnea. If you snore or have sleep apnea, you could suffer from sleep loss, fatigue, low libido, and mood swings that affect your marriage. Not to mention, your snoring could be disrupting your partner’s sleep too. Today on the blog, find out how your sleep habits could be ruining your marriage and what to do about it.
What causes sleep loss?
Sleep loss has many causes, but obstructive sleep apnea is a common reason for lost sleep or sleep deprivation. Sleep apnea occurs when the airway becomes blocked with soft tissue, either the tongue or anatomical features like tonsils and adenoids. Blocked or restricted airflow decreases blood oxygenation, which disrupts the brain’s deepest sleep cycle, causing the body to awaken from a deep sleep. These instances, referred to apneic episodes, may occur as many as dozens of times per hour. These frequent awakenings lead to chronic daytime fatigue, weight gain (or trouble losing weight), low libido, and increase the risk of health conditions like heart attack, stroke, and insulin resistance. While these issues may seem like they only affect the individual with sleep apnea, they can also affect the partner or spouse in different ways.
How does sleep apnea affect relationships?
For starters, loud snoring can directly impact your partner’s sleep. And a lack of quality sleep bears similar risks as sleep apnea itself like an increased risk of heart disease or stroke. Additionally, living with untreated sleep apnea may cause mood swings, depression, or irrational behavior that affects your marriage and relationships with friends and family. Sleep loss can also cause a low libido, affecting intimacy between you and your partner. Unfortunately, these behaviors could also impact your marriage as tension rises, putting a strain on the relationship.
How to tell if you have sleep apnea
Sleep apnea is known as a silent killer because you cannot tell by looking at someone whether they have it. An airway screening in Marin at Glen Park Dental can help determine your level of risk associated with obstructive sleep apnea. Our dentists can assess your airways to determine if you suffer from an airway restriction that could be caused by sleep apnea and refer you to undergo an official sleep study if necessary. But be on the lookout for symptoms like snoring or gasping for air while sleeping, daytime fatigue, weight gain, mood swings, low libido, concentration issues, or memory loss. If you experience any of these symptoms, schedule a sleep apnea screening at Glen Park Dental.
Sleep Apnea Screenings in Marin and the Bay Area
You shouldn’t have to live with chronic fatigue and poor sleep quality or allow a sleep breathing disorder to affect your marriage. If you believe that you may have sleep apnea or would like to schedule an airway screening today, contact Glen Park Dental by calling (415) 585-1500.
