Excessive daytime sleepiness is a common issue that can have a significant impact on a person’s quality of life. It is often a symptom of underlying sleep disorders such as sleep apnea. Understanding the relationship between sleep apnea and excessive daytime sleepiness is crucial in addressing these issues effectively.
Sleep apnea is a condition characterized by pauses in breathing or shallow breathing during sleep. These disruptions can fragment sleep, leading to poor quality rest at night. As a result, individuals with sleep apnea often experience excessive daytime sleepiness due to the inadequate sleep during the night.
When the airway becomes blocked or collapses during sleep in obstructive sleep apnea, the brain triggers a brief arousal to resume breathing. These recurrent awakenings prevent the individual from entering deep, restorative stages of sleep, like REM sleep, causing daytime tiredness and sleepiness.
If you suspect you have sleep apnea and are experiencing excessive daytime sleepiness, it is essential to consult a sleep specialist. A sleep study, such as a polysomnography, can help diagnose sleep apnea, allowing the appropriate treatment to be initiated to improve daytime alertness.
Hypersomnia refers to a condition characterized by excessive daytime sleepiness, long nighttime sleep duration, or difficulty waking from sleep. Differentiating between hypersomnia and other causes of excessive sleepiness involves recognizing specific symptoms and patterns of sleep behavior.
Idiopathic hypersomnia, a subtype of hypersomnia, has no known cause. However, underlying medical conditions, medication side effects, or other sleep disorders like sleep apnea can contribute to excessive daytime sleepiness. Developing healthy sleep habits and seeking medical advice are crucial in managing hypersomnia and improving daytime wakefulness.
A sleep specialist can conduct comprehensive evaluations, which may include a multiple sleep latency test, to diagnose hypersomnia accurately. This specialized assessment helps differentiate hypersomnia from other sleep disorders and guides tailored treatment approaches to address excessive daytime sleepiness.
Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a neurological disorder characterized by uncomfortable sensations in the legs and an irresistible urge to move them. Individuals with RLS often experience difficulties falling asleep and may also have daytime sleepiness due to disrupted nighttime rest.
Obstructive sleep apnea, a common sleep disorder, can significantly impact daytime alertness due to breathing interruptions during sleep. Managing obstructive sleep apnea through continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy can improve nighttime breathing and alleviate excessive daytime sleepiness.
Practicing good sleep hygiene, such as maintaining a consistent sleep schedule, creating a calming bedtime routine, and ensuring a comfortable sleep environment, can positively influence sleep quality. These habits aid in preventing sleep disturbances and reducing daytime sleepiness.
Circadian rhythms are internal processes that regulate the sleep-wake cycle and influence various biological functions throughout the day. The body’s natural circadian rhythm dictates when we feel alert or sleepy, affecting daytime energy levels and overall wakefulness.
Shift work, jet lag, and irregular sleep schedules can disrupt the body’s circadian rhythms, leading to inconsistencies in sleep patterns and increased daytime sleepiness. These disruptions can affect the body’s ability to maintain a stable sleep-wake cycle and result in daytime fatigue.
If circadian rhythm disturbances contribute to excessive daytime sleepiness, consulting with specialists in sleep medicine can provide valuable insights and strategies. Behavioral interventions, light therapy, and adjusting sleep schedules may help realign circadian rhythms and improve daytime alertness.
Individuals with bipolar disorder may experience disruptions in sleep patterns, including insomnia or hypersomnia, as part of their condition. Excessive daytime sleepiness may result from these sleep disturbances and mood fluctuations, impacting overall daytime functioning.
Medical conditions such as depression, chronic pain, or neurological disorders can disrupt normal sleep cycles and lead to daytime sleepiness. Understanding the underlying health issues contributing to excessive daytime sleepiness is essential in developing targeted treatment plans for improving wakefulness.
If you experience persistent daytime sleepiness that interferes with daily activities, it is crucial to seek medical evaluation. Healthcare providers can conduct assessments, including the international classification of sleep disorders, to identify potential causes of excessive sleepiness and recommend suitable interventions to enhance daytime functioning.
A: Excessive daytime sleepiness is defined as the inability to stay awake and alert during the major waking periods of the day, resulting in persistent drowsiness and the need to nap frequently.
A: Excessive daytime sleepiness may be caused by sleep problems such as insomnia, insufficient sleep, sleep deprivation, sleep apnea, or certain medical conditions.
A: Daytime sleepiness is more than just feeling tired; it is an overwhelming urge to sleep during the day, regardless of how much rest you have had at night.
A: Yes, excessive daytime sleepiness may be a sign of an underlying medical condition such as sleep apnea, narcolepsy, or periodic limb movement disorder.
A: The severity of daytime sleepiness can be assessed using tools such as the Epworth Sleepiness Scale or the Stanford Sleepiness Scale to determine the level of alertness and propensity to fall asleep.
A: Treatment options for excessive daytime sleepiness may include lifestyle changes, improving sleep hygiene, cognitive behavioral therapy, medication, or in severe cases, treatments for underlying sleep disorders.
YOU CAN ALSO CALL US DIRECTLY AT (469) 685-1700
My 1st visit to Simple Sleep Services was a great experience. Very attentive staff & did not wait long to be called back or for the doctor to come see… read more me. Had a very inquisitive discussion and looking forward to having drastically improved sleep based on outlined plans for the next several weeks.
Dr. Akkad spent his time with me and listened to my concerns and answered all my questions.
Great care, sincerity, knowledge, and professionalism all around. Thank you. 😊😊😊🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾
Excellent experience everyone there is very welcoming and knowledgeable. As an active duty service member my entire experience has been great! Thank you all very much.
Love Dr Akkad and his office!!! He fixed my problem of sleep apnea the first night I got my mouth guard!!!!! I have been battling Sleep apnea for over… read more 30 years with many different doctors and just as many CPAP machines. He has changed my quality of life forever and for that I so appreciative. I don’t ever leave reviews but for this I wanted to help other people as well. Please if you suffer from sleep apnea go go see Dr Akkad, Simple Sleep Solutions..
Dr. Akkad is such an amazing and caring doctor! I highly recommend Dr. Akkad to everyone! His staff are great too! … read more Thank you!
The educational information on the walls, the friendly and caring staff and Dr. Akkad’s positive energy and understandable way of communicating a complex subject, made for a very pleasant and… read more productive appointment. Worth the 1 hour drive for this and future appointments!
Great product. Great service. This is my second oral appliance with Simple Sleep. They are great as always.
Great experience. Explained the process very well and made me feel at ease.
The team is amazing, kind, knowledgeable, and their customer service is unmatched.
Very friendly and professional, the visit was fast and they answered all my questions, it was an excellent experience.
I started with Simple Sleep four years ago because my wife said I snored too loud. I heard about Simple Sleep on the radio and made an appointment. … read more The staff there was great and Dr Akkad took the time to explain how and why the mouthpiece works. Since then, no more snoring complaints. I also cannot say enough good things about the staff. All are friendly, professional, and knowledgeable.
Staff was very professional and so friendly!! I felt very validated in my consultation and was able to get a referral to getting a sleep study done. Highly recommend!!
Everyone is welcoming from the start. Dr Akkad is very clear about what the solution is and how everything works. I’m so excited about my new mouth price!
Super friendly and comfortable
Simple Sleep Services
We firmly believe that the internet should be available and accessible to anyone, and are committed to providing a website that is accessible to the widest possible audience, regardless of circumstance and ability.
To fulfill this, we aim to adhere as strictly as possible to the World Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 (WCAG 2.1) at the AA level. These guidelines explain how to make web content accessible to people with a wide array of disabilities. Complying with those guidelines helps us ensure that the website is accessible to all people: blind people, people with motor impairments, visual impairment, cognitive disabilities, and more.
This website utilizes various technologies that are meant to make it as accessible as possible at all times. We utilize an accessibility interface that allows persons with specific disabilities to adjust the website’s UI (user interface) and design it to their personal needs.
Additionally, the website utilizes an AI-based application that runs in the background and optimizes its accessibility level constantly. This application remediates the website’s HTML, adapts Its functionality and behavior for screen-readers used by the blind users, and for keyboard functions used by individuals with motor impairments.
If you’ve found a malfunction or have ideas for improvement, we’ll be happy to hear from you. You can reach out to the website’s operators by using the following email
Our website implements the ARIA attributes (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) technique, alongside various different behavioral changes, to ensure blind users visiting with screen-readers are able to read, comprehend, and enjoy the website’s functions. As soon as a user with a screen-reader enters your site, they immediately receive a prompt to enter the Screen-Reader Profile so they can browse and operate your site effectively. Here’s how our website covers some of the most important screen-reader requirements, alongside console screenshots of code examples:
Screen-reader optimization: we run a background process that learns the website’s components from top to bottom, to ensure ongoing compliance even when updating the website. In this process, we provide screen-readers with meaningful data using the ARIA set of attributes. For example, we provide accurate form labels; descriptions for actionable icons (social media icons, search icons, cart icons, etc.); validation guidance for form inputs; element roles such as buttons, menus, modal dialogues (popups), and others. Additionally, the background process scans all the website’s images and provides an accurate and meaningful image-object-recognition-based description as an ALT (alternate text) tag for images that are not described. It will also extract texts that are embedded within the image, using an OCR (optical character recognition) technology. To turn on screen-reader adjustments at any time, users need only to press the Alt+1 keyboard combination. Screen-reader users also get automatic announcements to turn the Screen-reader mode on as soon as they enter the website.
These adjustments are compatible with all popular screen readers, including JAWS and NVDA.
Keyboard navigation optimization: The background process also adjusts the website’s HTML, and adds various behaviors using JavaScript code to make the website operable by the keyboard. This includes the ability to navigate the website using the Tab and Shift+Tab keys, operate dropdowns with the arrow keys, close them with Esc, trigger buttons and links using the Enter key, navigate between radio and checkbox elements using the arrow keys, and fill them in with the Spacebar or Enter key.Additionally, keyboard users will find quick-navigation and content-skip menus, available at any time by clicking Alt+1, or as the first elements of the site while navigating with the keyboard. The background process also handles triggered popups by moving the keyboard focus towards them as soon as they appear, and not allow the focus drift outside it.
Users can also use shortcuts such as “M” (menus), “H” (headings), “F” (forms), “B” (buttons), and “G” (graphics) to jump to specific elements.
We aim to support the widest array of browsers and assistive technologies as possible, so our users can choose the best fitting tools for them, with as few limitations as possible. Therefore, we have worked very hard to be able to support all major systems that comprise over 95% of the user market share including Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Opera and Microsoft Edge, JAWS and NVDA (screen readers).
Despite our very best efforts to allow anybody to adjust the website to their needs. There may still be pages or sections that are not fully accessible, are in the process of becoming accessible, or are lacking an adequate technological solution to make them accessible. Still, we are continually improving our accessibility, adding, updating and improving its options and features, and developing and adopting new technologies. All this is meant to reach the optimal level of accessibility, following technological advancements. For any assistance, please reach out to