Not Sleeping Well During the Pandemic? Try These 3 Tips

May 27, 2020

As busy and sleep-deprived as our lives were pre-COVID-19, there have been mass accounts of sleep issues during this pandemic. Have you been experiencing trouble sleeping during the last two months? Well, rest assured (pun intended) that you’re not alone! Nothing could prepare us for the anxiety, uncertainty, and worry that comes with a global crisis.

However, getting adequate shut-eye with a rampant virus is going on is critical. Sleep boosts your immune system, strengthens your body’s defense system and can even aid in making vaccines (when it comes available) more effective.

In addition to positive effects for the body, a solid night’s rest can improve mood and brain function. We’re so used to making plans and constantly moving, so being asked to slow down and deal with an uncertain future can make you feel anxious and potentially depressed. In other words, we can use all of the mood enhancers we can get!

What can you do to get back to a night of healthy sleep?

Set your schedule.

Set a routine wake-up time even if you’re working from home or currently unemployed. It’s crucial to keep your body on a steady schedule. This also means making time to wind down before bed and going to bed around the same time every night.

Reserve your bed for bedtime.

Working from home means you can probably work anywhere in your house, but leave the work out of the bedroom. Your brain needs to be able to separate work from rest.

Stay active.

Make sure to get outside and go for a walk, jog or bike ride to release your mind of any anxiety and stress related to the pandemic. This will help you sleep better at night!

Like everything, this too shall pass. But in the meantime, take care of your mind and body. If you need additional help sleeping, contact Sleep Rehab for a consultation. We’re here for you!

Your Brain Without Sleep

March 3, 2020

The alarm goes off. You hit snooze. Can it really be time to get up already? After a night full of tossing and turning and barely getting a total hour of sleep, it’s going to be a rough day. But as much as you feel like you won’t be able to keep your eyes open during the day, it’s not just your body that is exhausted, your brain is too and you might not be as sharp as you need to be today.

In a study published on nature.com, researchers found that not getting an adequate amount of sleep at night makes it challenging for your brain cells to communicate effectively. When your brain cells can’t communicate effectively, it makes it more difficult to concentrate or focus.
The study focused on 12 individuals who were required to stay up all night. During the night, researchers monitored their brain activity by asking them to perform certain tasks like categorizing animals and objects. As the people became more exhausted, it became more challenging for them to perform the tasks, and their brain cells seemed to be slowing down.
“We were fascinated to observe how sleep deprivation dampened brain cell activity,” lead study author Yuval Nir, a sleep researcher at Tel Aviv University in Israel, said in the statement. “Unlike the usual rapid reaction, the neurons responded slowly, fired more weakly and their transmissions dragged on longer than usual.” 
When your brain cells slow down, it can take you more time to process information. The researchers compared the effects of lack of sleep to those of drunk driving. Delayed responsiveness, taking longer to realize what they are seeing, etc.
So next time you wake up exhausted and feel a dip in your performance at work or in your daily life, it’s time to get a wake-up call! Schedule a consult with Sleep Rehab today to sleep better tonight and live your most productive life tomorrow.

Can Sleep Apnea Affect My Other Medical Conditions?

February 4, 2020

A true Sleep Rehab patient story, originally published on YouTube

Mrs. Dillard wasn’t feeling very rested in the morning and was snoring more often than before, as reported by her husband. In addition to some allergies she was experiencing, she went in for a consult with her Ear, Nose, and Throat (ENT) doctor. The ENT doctor, after a check-up, noticed some irregularities in her current medical condition thus recommending a professional sleep test by Sleep Rehab.  She and her husband both came into the Sleep Rehab office for Mrs. Dillard’s first sleep test, and sure enough, Sleep Apnea was diagnosed.

However, she wasn’t the typical patient that Dr. Fedosky usually sees, because of her lack of the usual symptoms – Mrs. Dillard wasn’t crippling exhausted upon waking, nor was her snoring out-of-control and unbearable. But, her Sleep Apnea was in fact, making her other medical conditions worse and there was no question that it needed to be fixed.

Sleep Apnea can worsen other medical conditions like, but not limited to:

  • Propensity for strokes
  • High blood pressure
  • Arrhythmia of the heart
  • Heart disease

So, by controlling Sleep Apnea, you can also potentially control these other medical conditions, as they can be linked.

We are happy to report that after working with Dr. Fedosky and the Sleep Rehab team, Mrs. Dillard was relieved of her former tiredness and even snoring (which makes for a very happy husband!) and her Sleep Apnea is now controlled.

See the full patient story of Mr. and Mrs. Dillard below! Do you identify with Mrs. Dillard and interested in having a sleep test performed? If you believe you may be experiencing unusual symptoms for Sleep Apnea or looking for a doctor that can help you, contact Dr. Fedosky at Sleep Rehab today.

New Study: Correlation Between Age Acceleration & Sleep Apnea

December 30, 2019

As a sufferer of Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA), you might be experiencing quite a few side effects including trouble breathing in the middle of the night, waking up unusually exhausted, and others. However short-lived those effects may be, there are other effects of not sleeping through the night that may cause long-term damage, including your lifespan.

Image via abc.net.au

Could untreated sleep apnea result in shaving years off of your life? According to a 2019 study by Oxford, it certainly could.

In this article titled, Sleep Disordered Breathing Associated with Epigenetic Age Acceleration, tested with 53% female and 47% male and an average age of 67.8 found that disruption in your breathing while asleep not only changes your circadian rhythm causing exhaustion, but it also aids in age acceleration.

The scientists that published the article concluded: “Increasing SDB (sleep disordered breathing) [a side effect of OSA] severity and sleep disruption was associated with epigenetic age acceleration, independent of measured confounders.”

Epigenetics refers to the changes that can happen in DNA because of lifestyle and environmental factors that can affect how genes behave. When you don’t get enough sleep, your DNA could be aging faster than it normally would.

In the study, one of the authors stated, “Traditionally, we don’t give as much attention to sleep as we do to exercise or smoking,” says Dr. Li. “But it’s another modifiable risk factor, like smoking, physical inactivity, or poor diet.”

The good news is, epigenetic aging is reversible when treated and could improve cardiovascular and neurobehavioral health.

Although there is no cure for sleep apnea, recent studies show that successful treatment can reduce the risk of heart and blood pressure problems.” – National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke

At Sleep Rehab, located in the Dallas area, we can provide treatments that have proven time and time again to treat your sleep apnea with the possibility to slow the age acceleration that OSA has caused. These treatments are non-invasive, non-pharmaceutical and non-surgical. No CPAP required. Contact us today to learn more and get started.

 

 

A Letter to the Snoring Spouse

December 2, 2019

My dear [insert name here],

I’m writing this letter during yet another sleepless night. I have been awoken to what sounds like a massive, growling bear beside me in the wee hours of the morning. Wide-awake now, I’m unable to fall back asleep. Work is just a few short hours away. It’s going to take a truckload of coffee to get through the day, I can already tell. Now, this letter is not a sudden decision. It’s taken a lot of deep contemplation on my part as to how to tell you this:

The snoring has got to stop.

That might sound harsh and you know I love sleeping beside you every night, but I’m not sure I can take it any longer. I’m not sure if we can take it any longer.

It’s apparent that you’re not getting a full night’s rest, either. The disruptive, loud, snoring and breathing pauses can’t be healthy for you and they wake you up, too. In fact, I know it isn’t healthy because I’ve been doing some research. However, with the research, I have discovered that there are solutions (that don’t require one of us sleeping in the guest bedroom!). Plus, these solutions I’ve found aren’t surgically-invasive or pharmaceutical. How perfect is that?

First, you’ll go through a sleep test to determine what the cause of the snoring is. From there, you’ll be presented with a variety of sleep appliance options. Dr. Fedosky will talk you through each one and carefully identify which will work best for you. And, guess what? We’re not the only couple going through this problem, Sleep Rehab has helped other couples just like us get a better night’s sleep.

I’m excited about this solution, and I hope you are too. It’s time we both sleep through the night, next to each other. When you’re ready, we can request an appointment.

With love,

Your Exhausted Spouse

The Science Behind Snoring & How to Fix it

November 4, 2019

Your dog does it, your hamster can do it, and even that hummingbird in your backyard can do it. We’re talking about snoring. And while it is one of the more common animal behaviors, do we know what causes it? Turns out a variety of factors could be causing your, or your sleeping dog’s, snoring. It also turns out you don’t have to go night after night snoring – there is a solution!

 

According to Lynn A. D’Andrea, a sleep specialist at the University of Michigan Medical School, “[Snoring] is the combination of turbulent airflow through the hypotonic airway structures that results in the harsh vibratory noise known as snoring.”

But get this – snoring is not an illness. It is merely a symptom and you may be experiencing snoring because of something else. One of the more common causes of snoring is obstructive sleep apnea (60-70 million Americans experience this), which is a disorder causing gaps or pauses in a person’s breathing during sleep. Obstructive sleep apnea and snoring leads to fatigue, waking up exhausted and overall less quality of sleep. Sound familiar?

If your partner has requested you sleep in the other room nightly, or you find yourself dozing off at work, it might be time to take care of your snoring and sleep apnea.

Thousands of Americans find solutions like the CPAP machine, medication and surgery to be effective, but you don’t need to connect to a machine, take pharmaceutical drugs or go under the knife to remedy your snoring.

At Sleep Rehab, our Board Certified Professionals use non-invasive, non-surgical and non-pharmaceutical solutions and come up with a customized treatment plan for you. Contact us today to find out your options and stop this snoring today!

Will a Sleep Apnea Appliance Work for Me?

August 8, 2018

Woman waking feeling restedNo treatment is right for every patient, but if you’re suffering from sleep apnea, oral appliance therapy can offer significant improvement in the quality and quantity of sleep. Many patients with sleep apnea struggle to adjust to treatment using the more traditional continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy. For these patients and those who don’t achieve adequate improvement in sleep using CPAP alone, an oral appliance may provide effective treatment to help you get a good night’s sleep.
(more…)

Sleeping with Someone who Snores

April 23, 2016

Filed under: Sleep Apnea — Tags: — drfedosky @ 6:39 pm

snoresIf you had to guess the percentage of couples that sleep separately at night because one person snores, what would you say? Perhaps you’re a romantic, so you’ll guess low at five percent. Or maybe you’re more of a realist, so you think 10 or 15 percent might be accurate. Well, studies indicate that some 25 percent of couples are willing to report that they sleep separately, so researchers believe the actual percentage is likely much higher. Moreover, that snoring can be a sign of a more serious condition called sleep apnea. If you sleep with a snorer (or if you don’t because you’re in another room), then contact Sleep Rehab. Dr. Fedosky and his team treat sleep apnea in Dallas, TX, and the surrounding communities, so everyone can sleep well and together.

(more…)

« Newer Posts