Many people with obstructive sleep apnea symptoms are unaware of their disrupted breathing during the night unless pointed out by a bed partner. They often feel tired or irritable throughout the day and have trouble concentrating at work or school.

Untreated, the disorder can lead to heart disease and other serious health problems. Symptoms can include:

1. Frequent urination

If you’re constantly waking up to pee at night, it could be a sign of sleep apnea. Frequent urination happens because your body is trying to get more oxygen by peeing more often.

When a person has obstructive sleep apnea, there are many pauses in breathing during their sleep. These pauses last from a few seconds to a minute or more. They can happen 30 times per hour in severe cases of sleep apnea.

Having these pauses can affect your blood pressure and heart rate. It can also interfere with your ability to think and concentrate. It can even lead to a higher risk of catching a cold or other infections. This is because poor quality of sleep can weaken the immune system. It can also make you feel tired and irritable during the day.

2. Loud snoring

In addition to snoring, sleep apnea may cause loud, raspy breathing. This is because the soft tissues in the mouth and throat, such as the adenoids, tonsils, and uvula relax during sleep, narrowing the airway. The air that is squeezed through these narrowed tissues causes them to vibrate and create a grumbling, rattling sound known as snoring. The more severe the obstruction, the louder the snoring.

However, not everyone who snores has sleep apnea. Loud snoring is a potential warning sign, but it can be difficult to diagnose sleep apnea with just that one symptom. Additional symptoms like daytime sleepiness, headaches, irritability, and difficulty concentrating can also indicate that you may have this sleep disorder. You can schedule an appointment with an ear, nose, and throat (ENT) specialist to learn more about this condition.

3. Excessive daytime sleepiness

Excessive daytime sleepiness is one of the most common symptoms of sleep apnea. It may lead to problems at work, school or driving, as well as mood changes and memory impairments. Some people with obstructive sleep apnea also experience jerking movements in their body while asleep, as they struggle to breathe and make choking sounds. Others have loud snoring, which they and their bed partner often notice.

They may also have a tendency to fall asleep during normal waking hours, or even while driving or working on dangerous machinery. This can lead to accidents and injuries. Those with central sleep apnea, which causes breathing to become shallow or stop, often don’t remember the events that occurred while they were sleeping. This type of sleep apnea usually occurs during Stage 1 and REM sleep.

4. High blood pressure

High blood pressure and sleep apnea often go hand-in-hand, and it’s important to talk with your doctor if you have both conditions. Symptoms of both include dizziness when you wake up, as well as a feeling like you’re choking or gasping. Other symptoms include a sore throat or dry mouth, which can be caused by sleeping with your mouth open, irritability, fatigue and trouble concentrating.

Severe sleep apnea can cause you to stop breathing 30 times or more per hour during an eight-hour sleep cycle. These pauses in breath are called apnea events and can happen at any stage of sleep. They can be accompanied by snoring and can lead to irritability, fatigue, concentration problems and heart problems such as arrhythmias (abnormal heart rhythms). You may also notice that you sweat more at night.

5. Heart disease

According to researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center, there is a clear link between sleep apnea and cardiovascular conditions like heart disease. People with obstructive sleep apnea experience repeated episodes of partial or complete upper airway obstruction, reducing or stopping oxygen flow. Excess weight, a thick throat, large tonsils, and other factors increase your risk for this condition.

People with central sleep apnea have problems with their brain sending the correct signals to their breathing muscles. This condition can cause loud snoring and restless sleep. It can also lower levels of oxygen in the blood, which can lead to inflammation and affect your heart and other organs. Untreated sleep apnea can raise your risk for health problems like high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes and headache syndromes.