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Why does my breathing stop for a while when I am asleep?
Question
Every morning when I wake up, I feel like I had not slept at all. Why do I feel like this? I have asthma and I am maintaining it with medicine. According to my wife, I snore very loudly when I sleep and sometimes don't even breathe for a little while. What should I do to overcome these problems?
Expert Answer
R
Ravi Singareddy, MDMar 01, 2007
Assistant Professor,
Sleep Research & Treatment Center, Department of Psychiatry,
Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine,
USA
Sleep Research & Treatment Center, Department of Psychiatry,
Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine,
USA
From your description it is possible that you might be suffering from sleep apnoea, which could result in the symptoms that you mentioned. Sleep apnoea is a condition where you stop breathing or air flow is decreased while sleeping. As a result there is a drop in the blood oxygenation levels during sleep, which potentially could lead to various adverse consequences on cardio/cerebrovascular system (such as heart diseases and stroke). In addition sleep apnoea leads to increased daytime tiredness and sleepiness possibly as a result of poor quality of sleep during night. Moreover, sleep apnoea may worsen underlying pulmonary conditions (asthma, emphysema), heart conditions (congestive heart failure, arrhythmias), and metabolic disorders (diabetes). Please have a comprehensive evaluation by a physician who is specialised in sleep disorders along with an overnight sleep study.
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