I stopped breathing in my sleep?

Question

A really weird thing happened to me about three times. When I first fall asleep I fee my self stop breathing. Then something tells me to start breathing again. I feel like I am going to die in my sleep if I don't feel myself stop breathing. What do you think could be wrong? Please give me all the information you can on this i'm worried. THANKS AND GOD BLESS!

Answer 1

It's probably sleep apnea, a common and highly annoying condition.  While rare, deaths have resulted.  You need to address this now, before chronic effects start to ruin your life.  The docs will almost certainly try to push CPAP on you - they do this because it's cheaper and less liability for them, but the degradation in your quality of life is devastating.  Get surgical correction if at all possible.

Answer 2

its Sleep apnea.

This means that you often stop breathing for 10 seconds or longer during sleep. The problem can be mild to severe, based on the number of times each hour that you stop breathing or how often your lungs don't get enough air. This may happen from 5 to 50 times an hour.

This topic focuses on obstructive sleep apnea, which is the most common type.

A less common type of apnea, called central sleep apnea, can occur in people who have had a stroke, have heart failure, or have a brain tumor or infection. Even though this topic isn't about central sleep apnea, some of the treatments discussed here may also help treat it. Talk with your doctor to find out more about central sleep apnea.

What causes obstructive sleep apnea?

Blocked or narrowed airways in your nose, mouth, or throat can cause sleep apnea. Your airway can become blocked when your throat muscles and tongue relax during sleep.

Sleep apnea can also occur if you have large tonsils or adenoids or a large uvula. During the day, when you are awake and standing up, these may not cause problems. But when you lie down at night, they can press down on your airway, narrowing it and causing sleep apnea. Sleep apnea can also occur if you have a problem with your jawbone.

In children, the main cause of sleep apnea is large tonsils or adenoids.

Sleep apnea is more likely to occur if you are overweight, use certain medicines or alcohol before bed, or sleep on your back.

See pictures of normal and blocked airways during sleep.

What are the symptoms?

The main symptoms of sleep apnea that you may notice are:

Being so sleepy during the day that you fall asleep while working or driving.

Feeling tired in the morning.

Waking up with a headache.

Your bed partner may notice that while you sleep:

You stop breathing.

You often snore loudly.

You gasp or choke.

You toss and turn.

Children who have sleep apnea:

Nearly always snore.

May have a hard time breathing during sleep.

May be restless during sleep and wake up often.

But children may not seem very sleepy during the day (a key symptom in adults). The only symptom of sleep apnea in some children may be that they do not grow as quickly as most children their age.

Should you worry about sleep apnea?

If you have sleep apnea, you may not be sleeping as well as you could. And you may be more likely to end up with serious problems such as:

High blood pressure.

High blood pressure in your lungs.

An abnormal heart rhythm, heart failure, coronary artery disease (CAD), or stroke.

Depression.

How is sleep apnea diagnosed?

Your doctor will probably examine you and ask about your past health. He or she may also ask you or your sleeping partner about your snoring and sleep behavior and how tired you feel during the day.

Your doctor may suggest a sleep study. A sleep study usually takes place at a sleep center, where you will spend the night. Sleep studies find out how often you stop breathing or have too little air flowing into your lungs during sleep. They also find out how much oxygen you have in your blood during sleep. You may have blood tests and X-rays.

How is it treated?

You may be able to treat mild sleep apnea by making changes in how you live and the way you sleep. For example:

Lose weight if you are overweight.

Sleep on your side and not your back.

Avoid alcohol and medicines such as sedatives before bed.

If you have moderate to severe sleep apnea, you may be able to use a machine that helps you breathe while you sleep. This treatment is called continuous positive airway pressure, or CPAP (say “SEE-pap”). Sometimes medicine that helps you stay awake during the day may be used along with CPAP. If CPAP doesn't work, or if your tonsils, adenoids, uvula, or other tissues are blocking your airway, your doctor may suggest surgery to open your airway.

Answer 3

You may have an infection. See a doctor.

Answer 4

Sounds like sleep apnea, yes you need to see a doctor.

Answer 5

You may have Sleep Apnea. It is common, especially for those of us who snore and are over weight. See your doctor, he/she may order a sleep study, you have to spend the night hooked up to a bunch of wires. They can tell for sure if you have it. I have had it for 15 years, have a cpap machine, where I sleep with a facemask attached to a breathing machine. Makes you more awake during the daytime and feel much better. Good luck.

Answer 6

you should talk to your doctor immediately.  

You may have sleep apnea...There are three types of apnea:

There are three types of apnea: obstructive, central, and mixed; of the three, obstructive is the most common. Despite the difference in the root cause of each type, in all three, people with untreated sleep apnea stop breathing repeatedly during their sleep, sometimes hundreds of times during the night and often for a minute or longer.

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is caused by a blockage of the airway, usually when the soft tissue in the rear of the throat collapses and closes during sleep. In central sleep apnea, the airway is not blocked but the brain fails to signal the muscles to breathe. Mixed apnea, as the name implies, is a combination of the two. With each apnea event, the brain briefly arouses people with sleep apnea in order for them to resume breathing, but consequently sleep is extremely fragmented and of poor quality.

go to www.sleepapnea.org to get more information