13 NEWS investigates the dangers of Sleep Apnea.

TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) — Your snoring is doing a lot more than putting your partner on the couch.

“Just because you think you sleep well at night, doesn’t mean you don’t have Sleep Apnea,” explained Cotton O’Neil APRN Angie Brockmann.

Sleep Apnea is when a person’s breathing stops and starts repeatedly while they’re asleep.

A few pauses during the night are actually normal, but more than five times an hour is a concern.

Brockmann has seen some of the most severe cases.

“I’ve seen people as much as 160 times an hour and they had no idea. They’re like ‘I sleep fine!’ Like no…you are not sleeping fine,” said Brockmann.

Each lapse of breath causes your brain to wake up and send a message for your body to respond.

So even if you’re getting 8 hours a night, you still wake up tired, irritable and unable to focus because your brain never got to rest.

“It’s just so hard to make them understand, because they sleep through the night, that they have a hard time believing they’re not breathing at night,” said Brockmann.

If left untreated, Brockmann says feeling tired will be the least of your concerns. It can also lead to high blood pressure, weight gain, memory loss, heart problems — and at worst:

“There is a risk of sudden death with untreated sleep apnea,” said Brockmann.

Since it can’t be diagnosed during a normal office visit, doctors will refer you to a sleep center where you’ll do exactly that – sleep.

13’s Tori Mason visited Stormont Vail’s Sleep Center to experience the bedtime process.

Patients are instructed to come to the sleep clinic near bedtime. Sleep technologists then spend an hour attaching 26 sensors all over your body.

All of those sensors are measuring vitals like brain activity, eye movement, blood pressure and heart rate so doctors can best diagnose a potential sleep disorder.

“The eye movements here are in blue, then the channels down below are the brain waves in black,” said Stormont-Vail Sleep Center Manager Jenny Kwong.

Specialists collect data throughout the night that’s later evaluated by your doctor. Then, it’s on to treatment.

“Some people don’t realize they feel bad until they feel better,” said Brockmann.

Opening the airway is key. Weight loss or sleeping on your side might help, but Brockmann says, CPAP therapy is the most effective way to treat Sleep Apnea.

“Continuous Positive Airway Pressure. It’s pressurized air that’s continuously going and it splints your airway open so you can’t have any blockage or apneas. It’s more uncomfortable to not breathe at night than to have your airway open,” said Brockmann.

CPAP machines are typically covered by insurance and new technology has allowed for smaller masks and quieter machines.

So quiet, that your partner might even come back to bed.

After all, they’d much rather listen to your assisted breathing, than hear you struggle to breathe at all.