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I stop breathing while falling asleep.
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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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.
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.
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1 ReactionRegarding 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!
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.