[AndyNemmity]

I tend to believe it's tied quite closely to memory and emotional states. I had very bad sleep apnea that was untreated, and for the time that it was untreated my memories are extremely vague compared to most.

I also had very high anxiety which is completely gone now. Now that I use a machine to sleep my memory is sharp again.

I also eat much less now, so I believe that calories were a way the body would attempt to counter act the lack of rest.

These are just my thoughts, I honestly don't have any scientific background on it. Just my own experiences.

[lamby]

How did you discover you had sleep apnea?

[Hydraulix989]

Probably through an overnight clinical sleep study.

[fredrik-j]

Another option is to perform a sleep study at home. You borrow a wearable device that records your sleep quality, breath, ECG, etc. You wear it over night, then turn it in for analysis.

Common symptoms of sleep apnea are if you're regularly tired without apparent reason or experience a reduced ability to concentrate during daytime, or if your surrounding complains that you snore loudly.

[Hydraulix989]

Careful though, as HST can under-report events, resulting in a lower AHI score than if you got the clinical PSG.

[ctolsen]

Interesting that you had the similar experience to mine – I had years of depression, panic attacks, and anxiety that vanished virtually overnight with sleep apnea treatment.

I don't use a machine though, just a brace.

[meowface]

Note that sleep apnea can also lead to oxygen depletion, so it could be difficult to discern which of those symptoms were caused by brain damage from lack of oxygen vs. sleep deprivation.

[Hydraulix989]

It's mostly sleep deprivation though. I graduated with a 3.7 from a top 5 school in CS after I was treated. My apnea was SEVERE before treatment: 30 apneas per hour.

I doubt I had any brain damage, though my study only recorded a min SpO2 of 90%.

[AznHisoka]

Before CPAP, How many times do you actually remember waking up in middle of night?

[Hydraulix989]

Once or twice. Usually you don't consciously wake up in a way that allows you to remember it whenever you have an apnea, you just go into a lighter and less restorative sleep stage.

[ctolsen]

From someone else with apnea: absolutely none at all.

I didn't have to use CPAP to treat it though, so other people's experiences might be different.

[AznHisoka]

How did you treat it?

[ctolsen]

I use a mouth guard, it turned out to be sufficient.

[im3w1l]

What machine do you use?