Symptoms of sleep apnea

Many people with sleep apnea do not know they have it, because the problems happen during sleep. A bed partner or family member often notices first.

Night-time symptoms

• Loud, frequent snoring, often with pauses followed by gasping, snorting or choking.
• Witnessed pauses in breathing during sleep.
• Restless sleep and frequent waking, sometimes with a sense of choking.
• Waking with a dry mouth or sore throat.
• Needing to urinate often at night (nocturia).
• Night sweats.
• Waking with a pounding heart or breathlessness.

Daytime symptoms

• Excessive sleepiness, including dozing off while watching TV, reading, in meetings or while driving.
• Morning headaches.
• Poor concentration, memory problems and irritability.
• Low mood or depression.
• Reduced sex drive.
• Feeling unrefreshed despite a full night in bed.

In children Snoring, mouth breathing, restless sleep, bedwetting, hyperactivity, poor school performance and behaviour problems. Enlarged tonsils or adenoids are a common cause.