Dear Dr. Deb,
I just watched your piece on snoring and sleep apnea. My husband has sleep apnea but doesn’t believe how serious it is. He said he talked to our doctor about it and says she doesn’t seem concerned. How do I convince him this is serious? He just recently woke both of us choking. Said he was dreaming that he was drowning. It is starting to scare me.
Any advice may help.
Thank you.
Penny

Dear Penny,

You are absolutely right about the seriousness of it. His dreams of drowning are exactly what he is doing to his body, depriving it of oxygen.

Sleep Apnea is as common as diabetes but 85% of people with it are not diagnosed or treated.

I don’t know if you saw my blog but if you hit the link below it will take you to the full article that I wrote. Anything in purple is a link to the studies that support how dangerous it is.

Click here for Sleep Apnea Blog

In the blog I talk about being in the hospital with my Uncle with heart failure and the cardiologist telling us it was a result of the apnea. I did not know this and it may be that your physician does not know this link either.

Dr Mark Duetsch who I referenced in the article is an excellent physician and I would recommend that your husband sees him or any other pulmonologist or ENT to get him on the road to recovery.
Be persistent!
Thanks for writing!
Dr. Deb