Silent sleep struggles: Millions have sleep apnea and don’t even know it

In this Wellness Wednesday, sleep apnea is a type of sleep disorder that affects nearly 30 million people in the U.S., but oftentimes symptoms can go overlooked. That was the case for one Boston resident. In high school, Kristen Cascio had no energy. She says she had headaches and had a hard time getting through the day. It's terrifying to look back on the time that I spent undiagnosed and that so many people spend undiagnosed because we didn't know what was going on in our sleep or we were searching for answers and the dots never connected because it has serious impacts not only on your day-to-day well-being but your long-term health. She didn't know she had sleep apnea. It's a type of sleep disorder where people repeatedly stop breathing during sleep. Symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea could be snoring, waking up choking or gasping, pauses in breathing at night, morning headaches, urinating two or more times during the night, having trouble sleeping. It can be related to long-term serious health conditions like high blood pressure and diabetes. Dr. Allison Cole is a sleep medicine specialist. She says Cascio's case is disturbingly typical as patients go years without knowing, with patients sometimes gaslit to believe it's something else. It can have a profoundly negative impact on your quality of life. If you're speaking just from the perspective of an otherwise healthy person suffering from obstructive sleep apnea, you're looking at lost time at work, not being able to focus at work or get your tasks done, feeling so tired that you're missing out on basic activities like being able to stay awake to watch your son's baseball game. Cascio eventually came to her tipping point. Early on in COVID, I was working from home as we all were and I was working my nine-to-five in my office which is just across the hall from my bedroom. I would kind of stumble in right before I was supposed to work, work till five and then go right back into my room and go to sleep. She kept track of how much sleep she got, how tired she was during the day and took that to a doctor, really taking control of her life. Cascio was finally diagnosed in her early 30s, now uses a CPAP machine at night. And you really don't have to suffer. What would you tell someone who might be going through the same thing and they don't know what to do? Absolutely. I would say be persistent. You know yourself the best. You're the expert of your own body and your own experience. Dr. Cole says if you have a partner, they should be watching for signs while you sleep. There's also a dental device which is an oral appliance that goes in the mouth to pull the bottom jaw forward and surgical options for treatment. Dr. Cole says if you're in the obese category, the GLP-1 medication, Zep-Bound, can assist with weight loss and that will ultimately improve obstructive sleep apnea. Cascio says don't be afraid to get a second opinion or ask for support. Project Sleep is a great resource.