Finding that special person you want to spend your life with is one of the most rewarding and exciting things you can accomplish. However, with half of marriages ending in divorce, romantic relationships can be fragile; in fact, sleep apnea can result in multiple issues between you and your partner. How can waking from lapses in breathing during the night harm relationships? Check out these four problems untreated sleep apnea can create with the person you fell in love with.
Annoyance Over Sleep Disruption
Sleeping next to your partner can help you feel safe, loved, and connected to someone special. However, if one of you snores, this person can keep the other awake and hinder their sleep as well. Things can get bad enough when one partner doesn’t get sufficient sleep and become even worse when both don’t! Snoring regularly can grow extremely frustrating and annoying to the point that you may consider sleeping in a different room to escape the noise, potentially introducing some separation or disconnection between partners.
Sexual Dysfunction
Although healthy romantic relationships rely on much more than just physical intimacy, failure in this area can put strain on a couple. Unfortunately, among other conditions, sleep apnea can affect a person’s ability to perform, most often causing erectile dysfunction and low libido. Instead of taking a blue pill and masking one of the many symptoms of the problem, if you address your sleep apnea, you may regain sexual function and be able to sustain a strong romance with your partner.
Moodiness
Being in a serious romantic relationship with someone means enduring their occasional moodiness or fatigue. You must be able to accept them at their worst as well as at their best. However, when deprived of essential sleep, you or your partner can lash out at each other about little things more often, creating rifts in the relationship. Healthy, calm disagreements and fights are normal now and then, but mood swings can prompt one of you to say hurtful things you don’t really mean. Getting restorative sleep your body and mind require enables you to have more emotional and mental control and allows you to have more peace with your partner.
Loss of Memory and Focus
Especially if you live together, partners must be able to share responsibilities and workloads. Love entails give and take, but if one partner fails to remember important information or can’t focus well when the other partner talks, the relationship can feel one sided and lead to dissatisfaction. Sleep deprivation doesn’t allow your brain to rest and prepare for the next day. As a result, memory and focus can suffer and cause misunderstandings, miscommunication, and frustration.
While untreated sleep apnea can result in these negative outcomes on your relationship, addressing the condition may help correct and heal it. To keep your delicate relationship happy and loving, you must address sleep apnea with experts who offer more than just CPAP treatment. Through a small, convenient, and comfortable oral appliance, you and your partner can both feel refreshed in the morning and continue enjoying life together.
About the Clinic
At Ohio Dental Sleep Solutions, Dr. Bridget Ryan finds the continuously evolving science surrounding sleep fascinating. She always knew she wanted to help patients with cutting-edge treatments and developments, which is why she decided to focus on sleep issues. She is a member of the American Academy of Dental Sleep Medicine and the American Board of Sleep Medicine as well as a member of the American Dental Association. If you are tired of being exhausted, call our North Olmsted office at 440-454-8200 or visit our website here to schedule an appointment.