The main symptoms of sleep apnea are loud snoring, tiredness, and daytime sleepiness. Other symptoms can include:

• Restless sleep
• Waking up choking or gasping
• Morning headaches, dry mouth, or sore throat
• Waking up often to urinate
• Waking up feeling unrested or groggy
• Trouble thinking clearly or remembering things
• Some people with sleep apnea don’t have symptoms, or don’t realize that they have them.

Yes. Some things that might help:

• Try to avoid sleeping on your back, if possible. This might help some people.
• Lose weight, if you have excess body weight.
• Get regular physical activity. This might help you lose weight. But even if it doesn’t, being active is good for your health.
• Avoid alcohol, especially in the evening. Alcohol can make sleep apnea worse.

Treatment can include:

Weight loss – As mentioned above, weight loss can help if you have excess weight or obesity. But losing weight can be challenging, and it takes time to lose enough weight to help with your sleep apnea. Most people need other treatment while they work on losing weight.

It can be. Risks include:

• Accidents – People with sleep apnea do not get good-quality sleep, so they are often tired and not alert. This puts them at risk for car accidents and other types of accidents.
• Other health problems – Studies show that people with sleep apnea are more likely than others to have high blood pressure, heart attacks, and other serious heart problems. Some people also have mood changes or depression.
• CPAP – The most effective treatment for sleep apnea is a device that keeps your airway open while you sleep. Treatment with this device is called “continuous positive airway pressure” (“CPAP”). People getting CPAP wear a face mask at night that keeps them breathing