The Connection Between Weight Gain and Sleep Apnea in Weatherford

There is nothing more frustrating than eating healthy and exercising, yet not losing weight. If you find that’s a struggle for you, do you also find that you have trouble sleeping at night? Do you suffer from chronic fatigue or headaches? Believe it or not weight gain has been linked with a sleep disorder called sleep apnea. Here we’ll discuss the connection between weight gain and sleep apnea in Weatherford.

What is Sleep Apnea?

Sleep apnea is a dangerous sleep disorder that actually causes you to stop breathing multiple times throughout the night due an obstructed airway. What happens is that when your oxygen levels drop, your brain signals your body to wake up and reset so to speak. When your airway is obstructed this can actually happen hundreds of times throughout the night, although you probably won’t be aware of it. This explains however, why you don’t feel rested throughout the day or you may wake up with headaches.

Some other symptoms of sleep apnea include difficulties concentrating or focusing on tasks throughout the day, depression or irritability, and weight gain. Sleep apnea can also contribute to other health conditions such as heart failure, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and high blood pressure.

How Does Sleep Apnea Contribute to Weight Gain?

Sleep apnea and weight gain are actually a vicious cycle because extra weight contributes to causing sleep apnea, while having sleep apnea makes it difficult to lose weight. The chronic fatigue caused by sleep apnea may make it difficult for you to have enough energy to exercise causing you to gain weight. Additional weight makes sleep apnea worse, and so on.

How is Sleep Apnea Treated?

Continuous positive airway pressure therapy or a CPAP machine is typically the standard of care recommended to patients who suffer from sleep apnea. Some patients find it difficult to use this machine at night because it’s loud and requires you to wear an uncomfortable mask while you sleep. That’s why many patients are turning to their dental providers for help.

At Weatherford Dental Sleep Medicine, Dr. Deborah A. Romack specializes in helping patients effectively treat sleep apnea. Dr. Romack understands that every patient’s situation is unique and must be treated as such. She custom designs oral appliances designed to open airways and help patients breath at night while they sleep. Sometimes an oral appliance is combined with CPAP therapy in sever cases.

Don’t suffer through another night without sufficient sleep! Contact Weatherford Dental Sleep Medicine to learn more about how we can help you.