Sleep Apnea

What is Sleep Apnea?

Sleep apnea is a potentially serious sleep disorder in which breathing repeatedly stops and starts. You may have sleep apnea if you snore loudly, and you feel tired even after a full night's sleep.

The main types of sleep apnea are:

  • Obstructive sleep apnea, the more common form that occurs when throat muscles relax.
  • Central sleep apnea, which occurs when your brain doesn't send proper signals to the muscles that control breathing.
  • Complex sleep apnea syndrome, also known as treatment-emergent central sleep apnea, occurs when someone has both obstructive sleep apnea and central sleep apnea.

What are the signs of apnea?

The signs and symptoms of obstructive and central sleep apneas overlap, sometimes making the type of sleep apnea more difficult to determine. LACK OF ATTENTION TO SNORING AND SIGNS OF SLEEP APNEA CAN KILL YOU!!  IT'S THAT SIMPLE!

The most common signs and symptoms of obstructive and central sleep apneas include:

  • Loud snoring, which is usually more prominent in obstructive sleep apnea
  • Episodes of breathing cessation during sleep witnessed by another person
  • Abrupt awakenings accompanied by shortness of breath, which more likely indicates central sleep apnea
  • Awakening with a dry mouth or sore throat
  • Morning headache
  • Difficulty staying asleep (insomnia)
  • Excessive daytime sleepiness (hypersomnia)
  • Attention problems
  • Irritability
We can have a sleep-study kit sent to your home for you to wear 1 or 2 nights.  You then send the kit back to the company that sent it to you.  The results are sent to us.  If you are diagnosed with moderate or light sleep apnea, after a consultation with Dr Munger, we can order out appropriate custom-made removable appliances to help correct your problem.  If you have severe sleep apnea, but are unable to use a C-Pap, we can also determine appropriate sleep apnea appliances for you. We offer several choices of custom-made appliances. Each appliance has adjustments that can be made so the appliance works for the patient.
If you are interested in having your insurance help pay for appliances, we preauthorize with your insurance company to help determine what your insurance will pay.