Sleep apnea affects many people. It has been typically thought of as a male disease and is correlated with snoring but we now know that female’s suffer from sleep apnea as well and often go undiagnosed. It is more common to occur in perimenopause and menopause, mostly due to the decrease in hormones. The prevalence of sleep apnea in women is 22% – which was a surprising statistic to me!
Snoring is not the only sign of sleep apnea. Consider restless sleep, fatigue on waking, unexplained weight gain, brain fog, nightmares, irritability and mood changes, frequent urination at night, dry mouth and headaches.
If sleep apnea is left untreated it can lead to cardiovascular disease and this risk is greater in women. If you have any of the above symptoms that you can’t explain or haven’t been able to treat then you should consider getting tested for sleep apnea, especially if you are in perimenopause or menopause.
If needed, a CPAP machine can be used to treat sleep apnea. Other things that can help (but not fully treat) include decreasing inflammation, determining food intolerances, treating vitamin and mineral deficiencies and proper sleep hygiene. Knowing you have sleep apnea is the first step!
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