Worried That You May Actually Have Sleep Apnea? Realization Often Comes Slowly.

Part 1 of this series discussed how men rationalize their denial about having “Sleep Apnea“.

Today, in Part 2, the discussion revolves around starting to recognize that you might actually have sleep apnea, and the transition from denial to accepting the possibility.

Two new factors took me from absolute denial to grudging acknowledgement of the possibility:

• Meeting a new doctor at age 50
• Discovering that all my siblings either had or suspected they had Sleep Apnea

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Chronic Insomnia, Stress, Depression, Sleep Apnea: Why Has Getting a Great Night’s Sleep Become an Elusive Dream for Baby Boomers? And What Can You Do to Help Yourself?

Remember how much you played when you were a kid? Likely you had so much energy you played outside after school, and maybe even headed outdoors again after dinner; coming in only after your parents repeatedly hollered for you to come home. And didn’t they usually have to holler at least three times — because you pretended not to hear them?

Perhaps your favorite games were: “Tag,” “Red Rover,” “Kick the Can,” “Hide and Seek.” Or maybe kickball or softball in someone’s back yard. Then again, maybe you played that slightly more strategic and mentally challenging game, “Mother, May I?”

No matter what games you preferred, chances are:

• Once you got home, you fell asleep as soon as your head hit the pillow, totally spent.
• When you woke up in the morning you were alert, refreshed, and ready to get right back into it.
• Nobody gave any thought to having problems with sleep.

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