Symptoms
People with sleep apnea usually do not remember waking up during the night. Indications of the problem may be such vague symptoms as the following:
- Excessive daytime sleepiness.
- Morning headaches.
- Irritability and even impaired mental or emotional functioning.
- Snoring. Bed partners may report very loud and interrupted snoring.
- Heartburn. (Acid back up that causes heartburn, in fact, may be responsible for some cases of sleep apnea.)
Symptoms in Children
Sleep apnea occurs in about 2% of children. They may exhibit symptoms that differ from adults, including the following:
- Longer total sleep time than normal in some children, especially obese children or those with severe apnea.
- Snoring. (It should be noted that an estimated 3% to 12% of all children snore. However, not all of them have sleep apnea.)
- More effort in breathing (flaring nostrils, heaving chests, sweating). At night the chest may have an inward motion during sleep.
- Behavioral difficulties without any obvious cause, such as hyperactivity and inattention. (Some patients may even be misdiagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.)
- Irritability.
- Bed-wetting.
- Morning headaches.
- Failure to grow and gain weight.
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