Continued from previous message...

   The hundreds of awakenings that disturb the nights of individuals
   with upper-airway apnea are too brief to be remembered in the
   morning.  People usually blame "unrefreshing sleep" for making
   them feel "tired all the time."  The extreme loss of sleep does,
   of course, contribute to daytime sleepiness, but it's not the
   only reason for this common complaint.  Sustained low levels of
   oxygen in the brain cause body-wide deterioration, interfering
   not only with thinking, but also with sexual functioning and
   other behaviors.

   As the disorder worsens, usually over a period of years,
   additional symptoms are likely to appear.  They may include
   one or more of those listed below:

   Unusual body movements during sleep range from forceful thrusts
   of arms and legs to thrashing about like a beached whale.  In
   the morning, some people acknowledge, "The bed looks like a
   battlefield."  Bed partners complain of blows and kicks that
   cause bruises or force them out of bed; this, along with the
   noisy snoring, often leads them to sleep in separate beds or
   even separate bedrooms.

   Sleepwalking may occur at least occasionally in people with
   upper-airway apnea.  Sometimes the person merely stands up and
   then abruptly collapses back into bed.  In the morning he may be
   found propped on an elbow or leaning against the head of the bed
   or an adjacent wall, or perhaps even asleep sitting on the floor
   next to the bed, having unconsciously sought an upright posture
   to make breathing easier.

   Blackouts or episodes of automatic behavior occur several times
   daily during waking hours in the majority of people with severe
   sleep apnea.  These episodes last from just a minute or two to
   several hours, during which a person might continue to perform
   familiar tasks, such as driving or assembly-line item-sorting.
   If involved in conversation, he probably will be incoherent and
   won't remember later what he said.  This behavior occurs because
   the person is repeatedly falling asleep and waking up.  The
   waking permits the activity to continue; the intermittent
   sleeping dulls the memory of it.  Automatic behavior may cause
   traffic and industrial accidents.  Because it's a result of
   extreme sleepiness, it plagues people with narcolepsy, too.

   Intellectual fogginess in the daytime is sometimes linked with
   automatic behavior.  Some people complain that they are unable
   to concentrate.  Some complain of feeling disorented,
   particularly right after awakening, as state described as sleep
   drunkenness.  Confusion resulting from sleep apnea may cause
   some older people to be considered senile.  Some children with
   this disorder have been labeled dull, lazy or retarded.

   Hallucinations may occur when a person is fighting sleep.  These
   bizarre illusions actually are bits of dreaming sleep that intrude
   into wakefulness.  While a person is driving, he may brake abruptly
   to avoid a truck that turns out to be imagination.  Hallucinations
   are also characteristic of narcolepsy.  They often make it hard for
   a person to separate real events from imagined ones and may lead him
   to question his sanity.

   Personality changes are among the most disturbing symptoms of sleep
   apnea.  Depression, anxiety, marked irritability and aggressiveness
   --all may be problems.  Some people show sudden jealousy, suspicion
   and irrational behavior.

   Loss of interest in sex affects both men and women with sleep apnea.
   Men may find it increasingly hard to have or to keep an erection;
   this symptom occurs in men in their thirties and forties, as well as
   in older men.

   Morning headaches, in the front of the head or all through the head,
   may contribute to a general malaise upon awakening.  They generally
   disappear by noon, but if a person with sleep apnea takes a long nap,
   headaches and general discomfort are likely to return.

   Bed-wetting may start in children who have been dry for years, as
   well as in adults.  Younger adults are likely to wake up during the
   night feeling the need to urinate; older people may have "accidents."

   No one person is likely to have all of these symptoms, but most people
   will have several.  The nighttime problems obviously are unknown to
   the sleeper; reports from a spouse or roommate are needed to document
   them.  At first, daytime complaints usually don't seem severe enough
   to merit a trip to the doctor.  Often the person makes no connection
   between his daytime complaints and his sleep.

   ___ SLMAIL v5.1  (#SLO409KEDG15G098)
    - Origin: Paul's Waka Waka BBS 206-783-7979 Seattle, Wa. (1:343/117)



--- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+