Featuring Paul Sweeney, Registered Respiratory Therapist (RRT)

Duration: 1 minute, 21 seconds

If you have high blood pressure, and are living with this condition, you should make yourself aware of the common signs and symptoms of sleep apnea.

The most common sign and symptom of sleep apnea is snoring and witnessed apneas at night. So, if you have a bed partner that while you’re sleeping notices that you stop breathing or you choke at night, that’s probably the biggest indication.

Other signs and symptoms would be if you’re waking up at night, commonly you have to use the bathroom a lot, more importantly if you’re tired in the daytime. If you’re waking up and you’re feeling unrefreshed, you’re sleepy in the daytime, these are all common symptoms.

You can have night sweats, you can have headaches, you can have heartburn, but if you think some of these signs and symptoms fit your issues, go to your family doctor, and they can do a simple home test to test you for sleep apnea or they can send you to a local sleep specialist that can investigate it further.

If you think you have signs and symptoms of sleep apnea, the easiest thing to do is go talk to your family doctor. They can do a simple home test, or if needed they can send you to a local sleep specialist that can test you overnight to determine if you’ve got this condition.

Presenter: Mr. Paul Sweeney, Sleep Specialist, Vancouver, BC

Local Practitioners: Sleep Specialist