During normal breathing, air passes through the throat on its way to the lungs. The air travels past the soft palate, uvula, tonsils, and tongue. When a person is awake, the muscles in the back of the throat tighten to hold these structures in place preventing them from collapsing and/or vibrating in the airway.
During sleep, the uvula and soft palate frequently vibrate causing the distinctive sounds of snoring. Any person who is a loud snorer and is observed to have breath holding during sleep should be suspected as having sleep apnea. Sleep apnea is diagnosed with a sleep study. I would suggest that you see your doctor regarding this problem. Fatigue can be related to snoring.
Symptoms of Sleep Apnea
Sleep apnia is a condition associated with breath holding. Most patients with sleep apnia will be very loud snorers. Sleep apnea is a chronic medical condition and symptoms of sleep apnea include chronic fatigue, morning headache, sudden death, and car accidents. In general, surgery for sleep apnea is only about 50% successful.
However, you would need to talk with your surgeon regarding your specific situation. Surgery is usually recommended only after medical therapy has failed. If your main concern is the snoring, then either the laser procedure or the new Somnoplasty carries about an 85% success rate for resolution of the snoring.
Sleep Symptoms – Insomnia
Insomnia, which is the inability to sleep satisfactorily or to have any sleep at all, is one of the most common sleep disorders. It is characterized by restlessness, sleep interruptions, decreased sleeping time than the usual, or sometimes complete wakefulness.
It is not uncommon for people to suffer at least an occasional night of almost non-existent sleep. The causes of insomnia differ from person to person. What made a student insomniac varies from what caused a shift worker or a traveler or an employee to acquire such sleeping disorder.
