In addition to an inside look at her work on TV projects
like “Saturday Night Live” and “Parks and Recreation,” funnywoman Amy Poehler
also discusses her lifelong struggle to get a good night’s rest in her new book
“Yes Please.” Poehler has suffered intense snoring for years, at one
point writing that she is “convinced my body is trying to gently strangle me to
death.”
After undergoing a sleep study, Poehler was diagnosed with sleep apnea when
she was 40. Though she was prescribed a CPAP machine to restore proper
breathing during sleep, the comedienne – like many patients – has admitted to
lapsing in her use of the device.
Poehler writes that she comes “from a family of snorers” who
made a habit of recording audio of each other snoring as a way to prove how
loud and intense the noise was at night. Oftentimes family members are the ones
who have to break the news about snoring to the sufferer.
Snoring is often fodder for comedy, but it’s no laughing
matter when it keeps people awake at night or causes the sleeper to experience
symptoms like:
- Restlessness
- Waking up multiple times a night
- Poor quality sleep
- Drowsiness during the day
- Choking, gasping, and other interruptions to breathing
If you have family members who snore loudly or the people you
care about worry about your snoring, be mindful about the effect insufficient
sleep can have on your health. Snoring is also a potential indicator of sleep
apnea, which should always be treated as a serious medical condition.
Please contact
a local sleep doctor or call 1 (866)
727-6275 (1-8-NO-PAP-MASK) if
you and your family are concerned about your nightly snoring.