Because sleep apnea has the potential to be a life threatening condition, it's important to know the symptoms of sleep apnea in order to catch the problem before it's too late. Literally meaning without breath, apnea is when your snoring is interrupted by periods of breathlessness lasting 10 seconds or more. In many cases, this loss of breath is followed by an audible gasp for air. While some symptoms of sleep apnea are easily disguised as something else, such as morning headaches, forgetfulness or trouble concentrating, others are more specific to the disorder.

Esophageal reflux, getting up several times in the same night to urinate (nocturia), heavy sweating and decreased sex drive are all common symptoms of sleep apnea. If you experience one without any of the others, it isn't likely to be caused by the sleeping disorder. On the other hand, if you're experiencing several of these symptoms it may be time to make an appointment with your family doctor. When caught in time, sleep apnea is less likely to have fatal consequence. The most common cause of death related to sleep apnea is an increase in pulmonary pressures that are related to one side of your heart. If left untreated, it can result in congestive heart failure.

Even if you never have troubles with your heart, sleep apnea can still do a number on you. One of the other symptoms of sleep apnea is depression, irritability and changes in behavior. These three can combine to make a normally sane person act completely crazy and out of character. The symptoms just listed are particularly troubling, considering that many times people won't associate them with sleep apnea at all. The misdiagnoses and treatments that follow may mask the symptoms for awhile, but they will do nothing to treat the sleep apnea condition that is causing them all.