“Are snoring and sleep apnea the same thing?”

Sleep apnea occurs when you have pauses in your breathing. It is not the same as snoring, although loud snoring is commonly present in patients who have sleep apnea. Talk to your doctor about screening you with a STOPBANG and an Epworth Sleepiness Survey to see if you need to be tested for sleep apnea.

It is possible to have snoring without having sleep apnea. Snoring is vibration in the back of your throat due to air moving past. Sleep apnea is when there are actually episodes of 1-APNEA (when breathing stops completely, typically due to throat tissues blocking the airway completely) and/or 2-HYPOPNEA (where the throat is closing off enough for the oxygen level to drop during your sleep). Sleep apnea is usually caused due to the throat tissues blocking the airway. Loud snoring is usually the first clue that the throat is getting blocked off during sleep. Other symptoms include a "snort" that wakes you up, headaches in the morning, and feeling tired during the day. Most people with sleep apnea do not realize that they have sleep apnea. Usually, a family member notices the snoring and "snorting" or "gagging" episodes during sleep. ALSO, it is possible to have "central" sleep apnea, where the brain simply forgets to breathe while you are sleeping. Any sort of sleep apnea is dangerous and can cause serious health problems. The only way to know whether loud snoring is due to sleep apnea is to get it checked with a sleep study. They do have sleep study monitors that you can take home and "wear" overnight in your own bed if there is a low chance that you have apnea. This is much simpler than getting the study where you have to sleep overnight at the facility.

That’s an excellent question! Snoring is not the same as sleep apnea although people with sleep apnea often snore. Sleep apnea is much more serious since this causes people to stop breathing and lack of oxygen can have significant effects such as daytime sleepiness, falling asleep while driving, and possibly heart problems like pulmonary hypertension.

From your description, I do not think you have sleep apnea. If you have any of the symptoms I mentioned of sleep apnea or someone has seen you stop breathing, you might need to get tested.

No. Sleep apnea is basically not breathing for short periods during sleep. The person gets little rest and usually has a problem with being unable to stay awake during daytime.