1. < Sleep Health

I stop breathing while falling asleep.

Posted by trippangie17 @trippangie17, Jun 10, 2012

Just as my body relaxes and I begin to fall asleep, I find myself not breathing. Sometimes I do fall asleep and wake up breathing fast. I then begin relaxing and my breathing slows down; I feel myself wanting to breath, but my body won't until I "wake" myself up enough to breath again.
I have a bi-pap machine for moderate sleep apnea, but I do it with machine on. I can't use a c-pap because I feel as though I'm being suffocated.
I was born not breathing. My apgar scale was 1 after 1 min. They did cpr for 20 min. before I began breathing on my own.
Anyone else with similar problems?

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Mentor
John, Volunteer Mentor | @johnbishop | Nov 3, 2023
In reply to @melisemarie23 "I am not sure what is going on with my breathing while sleeping. My mom says..." + (show)
@melisemarie23

I am not sure what is going on with my breathing while sleeping. My mom says it seems like I am not able to breathe through my nose (nasal passages clear) even when I am trying to in my sleep. She says I finally gasp for air and breathe through my mouth. She says I am doing this with every breath. I don't know what to use to test myself. I don't know where to go or what doctor to see or what treatment I can get to help. When I am awake, I suffer with my breathing as well due to allergies and asthma, but I feel like as I am drifting off to sleep, my body stops breathing in a continuous way. Please advise! Thanks!

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Hello @melisemarie23, I would like to add my welcome to Connect along with @tallyguy and others. I agree with @tallyguy that you should talk with your primary care doctor about your symptoms and possibly have an overnight sleep study done. I had one a few years ago and was diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea. I also have a FitBit Versa 4 and am impressed with all of the sleep data and information captured.

REPLY
Scott R L | @scottrl | Nov 3, 2023
In reply to @melisemarie23 "I am not sure what is going on with my breathing while sleeping. My mom says..." + (show)
@melisemarie23

I am not sure what is going on with my breathing while sleeping. My mom says it seems like I am not able to breathe through my nose (nasal passages clear) even when I am trying to in my sleep. She says I finally gasp for air and breathe through my mouth. She says I am doing this with every breath. I don't know what to use to test myself. I don't know where to go or what doctor to see or what treatment I can get to help. When I am awake, I suffer with my breathing as well due to allergies and asthma, but I feel like as I am drifting off to sleep, my body stops breathing in a continuous way. Please advise! Thanks!

Jump to this post

I had the same symptoms for years. I finally had a sleep study done and was diagnosed with severe sleep apnea.

I started using a CPAP and my life improved dramatically. The difference was truly astonishing.

Please get a sleep study. You don't know what you're missing.

REPLY
raye | @raye | Nov 3, 2023

Regarding stopping breathing while falling asleep using a bi-pap: I’ve used an AutoPap for 24 years. Mine is adjusted for my appropriate pressure range and to not use any ramping while I’m drifting to sleep. Maybe such an adjustment to your machine would be helpful? One can imagine that if you sleep before the ramping stops, the machine pressure would not be high enough to cover your breathing needs. Have you discussed this possibility with your sleep doc, or with your DME supplier?
Sweet dreams!

REPLY
rjjacobsen | @rjjacobsen | Nov 3, 2023
In reply to @melisemarie23 "I am not sure what is going on with my breathing while sleeping. My mom says..." + (show)
@melisemarie23

I am not sure what is going on with my breathing while sleeping. My mom says it seems like I am not able to breathe through my nose (nasal passages clear) even when I am trying to in my sleep. She says I finally gasp for air and breathe through my mouth. She says I am doing this with every breath. I don't know what to use to test myself. I don't know where to go or what doctor to see or what treatment I can get to help. When I am awake, I suffer with my breathing as well due to allergies and asthma, but I feel like as I am drifting off to sleep, my body stops breathing in a continuous way. Please advise! Thanks!

Jump to this post

As others have suggested, seeing a sleep medicine doctor ASAP is recommended. They may need to do a sleep study to either rule out or confirm sleep apnea and get treatment as needed.

As the best to you.

REPLY
brittni79 | @brittni79 | Jun 8 1:29pm
In reply to @mstara "I was having a horrible time sleeping at night and they sent me home with an..." + (show)
@mstara

I was having a horrible time sleeping at night and they sent me home with an "at home" test that I did in Phoenix at a friends house, it showed mild sleep apnea. They put me on a CPAP machine. I went through 1 year of being on a regular sleep pap machine with no resolution. I finally went to another doctor who put me through a formal study, also in Phoenix. This allowed for us to change the settings. However, I was having larger Central Sleep Apnea events, they decided to try me on 3 liters of oxygen while I am sleeping. This has allowed me to sleep better. It appears that I have High Altitude Sleep Apnea and/or Complex Sleep Apnea.

The only way to get put on an ASV machine would be to do a sleep study at altitude.

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Has anyone experienced doing deep breathing while falling asleep and when you fall asleep you wake up gasping for air? This only happens if I do deep breathing while falling asleep. I keep assuming that maybe my body isn’t used to getting so much oxygen so when it does it triggers to not breathe because it just got so much? Idk, I tried searching online everywhere and don’t see anything on this situation. It scares me

REPLY
2 replies
arthur57 | @arthur57 | Jun 9 8:18am
In reply to @brittni79 "Has anyone experienced doing deep breathing while falling asleep and when you fall asleep you wake..." + (show)
@brittni79

Has anyone experienced doing deep breathing while falling asleep and when you fall asleep you wake up gasping for air? This only happens if I do deep breathing while falling asleep. I keep assuming that maybe my body isn’t used to getting so much oxygen so when it does it triggers to not breathe because it just got so much? Idk, I tried searching online everywhere and don’t see anything on this situation. It scares me

Jump to this post

Never heard of this in particular but just my thought as a possibility? Deep breathing is normally done to help someone relax, reduces stress, anxiety, etc. Possible to me that it is relaxing your body including your throat muscles to a point that your breathing is affected which is similar to what happens to many with sleep apnea. Just my 2 cents . I do tend to have gasping for air issues when I take an over the counter sleep aid I have noticed. I'm guessing it may relax me just a little too much so I try and avoid taking these now. It also always happens within 30 to 40 or so minutes of falling asleep which is very odd, seems to be before I enter another sleep cycle. I have been tested for sleep apnea a couple of times and told I don't have it or if I do it's very mild. Best to you!

REPLY
1 reply
Scott R L | @scottrl | Jun 9 5:46pm
In reply to @brittni79 "Has anyone experienced doing deep breathing while falling asleep and when you fall asleep you wake..." + (show)
@brittni79

Has anyone experienced doing deep breathing while falling asleep and when you fall asleep you wake up gasping for air? This only happens if I do deep breathing while falling asleep. I keep assuming that maybe my body isn’t used to getting so much oxygen so when it does it triggers to not breathe because it just got so much? Idk, I tried searching online everywhere and don’t see anything on this situation. It scares me

Jump to this post

I was diagnosed with severe sleep apnea nearly 25 years ago.

This would happen to me. I knew that I would wake up gasping for air, so I'd try to prevent that by breathing deeply before falling asleep. It didn't work; sometimes I'd wake up gasping after just a few seconds.

Have you had a sleep study? I'd highly recommend it. Getting one (I actually had two) saved my life.

REPLY
1 reply
brittni79 | @brittni79 | Jun 10 10:29am
In reply to @scottrl "I was diagnosed with severe sleep apnea nearly 25 years ago. This would happen to me...." + (show)
@scottrl

I was diagnosed with severe sleep apnea nearly 25 years ago.

This would happen to me. I knew that I would wake up gasping for air, so I'd try to prevent that by breathing deeply before falling asleep. It didn't work; sometimes I'd wake up gasping after just a few seconds.

Have you had a sleep study? I'd highly recommend it. Getting one (I actually had two) saved my life.

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My doctor is going to order one. I’ve had no deep sleep in years and I feel exhausted and nauseous all day. It affects so much of my daily life. Thank you for your reply ☺️🙏

REPLY
1 reply
brittni79 | @brittni79 | Jun 10 10:33am
In reply to @arthur57 "Never heard of this in particular but just my thought as a possibility? Deep breathing is..." + (show)
@arthur57

Never heard of this in particular but just my thought as a possibility? Deep breathing is normally done to help someone relax, reduces stress, anxiety, etc. Possible to me that it is relaxing your body including your throat muscles to a point that your breathing is affected which is similar to what happens to many with sleep apnea. Just my 2 cents . I do tend to have gasping for air issues when I take an over the counter sleep aid I have noticed. I'm guessing it may relax me just a little too much so I try and avoid taking these now. It also always happens within 30 to 40 or so minutes of falling asleep which is very odd, seems to be before I enter another sleep cycle. I have been tested for sleep apnea a couple of times and told I don't have it or if I do it's very mild. Best to you!

Jump to this post

Thank you, weirdly my thought was I’m such a shallow breather that if I do deep breathing especially before bed then my body may not be used to so much air and tricks it thinking it has enough? Such a scary feeling though to think my brain and body have that disconnect. I know our bodies are intelligent but maybe it just needs to get used to me deep breathing? IDK

REPLY
Scott R L | @scottrl | Jun 10 11:08am
In reply to @brittni79 "My doctor is going to order one. I’ve had no deep sleep in years and I..." + (show)
@brittni79

My doctor is going to order one. I’ve had no deep sleep in years and I feel exhausted and nauseous all day. It affects so much of my daily life. Thank you for your reply ☺️🙏

Jump to this post

I'm glad to hear you're on track for a sleep study!

I'd never heard of them until one day when I took a nap and woke up sweating, gasping for air, my heart hammering like the end of the world. My wife drove me to the ER.

At the emergency room, the MD who treated me asked, "Do you have a high-stress job? Does your wife complain about you snoring? Have you gained weight recently?" Yes, yes, and yes.
He said, "You need a sleep study. You're the classic profile of someone with what's called Sleep Apnea." I'd never heard of it.

To make a long story short, after a few months I got a CPAP machine, and once I started using it, I got my life back.

Good luck!

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