Unable to breathe

My boyfriend wakes up many nights unable to breathe. I feel helpless and know if I call 911 he'll be finished by the time I finish telling them what is going on.

Tonight he drank to much and this time combined with his episode he nearly choked on his own vomit. I was so scared and can't find anything on the Internet to help me.

What should I do during these episodes.

007rivettes wrote:Tonight he drank to much and this time combined with his episode he nearly choked on his own vomit.

never let a passed out drunk person sleep on their back.

For an episode like that, he needs to get up and stay vertical for awhile. I used to wake up choking, sometimes until I vomited. I learned to jump out of bed quickly, and drink some water if I could to calm it down before I got to the point of vomiting. I have inhaled acid reflux, and it hurts really bad.

That said, it sounds like he seriously needs a sleep study and cpap machine. I have not have a single choking fit when using my cpap machine. Fall asleep without it, and I might. It may be hard to convince him, as sleep apnea creeps up on you, destroying your sleep so slowly that you don't realize how bad it is until you have a great night and feel the difference. I didn't think I was that bad until I had my sleep study. I was severe in terms of events, and I felt great after 5 hours of sleep with the cpap machine. What a huge difference!

007rivettes wrote:My boyfriend wakes up many nights unable to breathe. I feel helpless and know if I call 911 he'll be finished by the time I finish telling them what is going on.

Tonight he drank to much and this time combined with his episode he nearly choked on his own vomit. I was so scared and can't find anything on the Internet to help me.

What should I do during these episodes.

1) Call 911
2) Tell your boyfriend to get help. If they can't handle drinking, they have a problem that needs to be addressed.
3) If they need help with sleep, there need to get to a doctor who can assess what the issue is, get a sleep study if necessary etc..

007rivettes wrote:My boyfriend wakes up many nights unable to breathe. I feel helpless and know if I call 911 he'll be finished by the time I finish telling them what is going on.

Tonight he drank to much and this time combined with his episode he nearly choked on his own vomit. I was so scared and can't find anything on the Internet to help me.

What should I do during these episodes.

Supine sleeping after excessive drinking can be lethal. If you google "aspiration of vomit" and "alcohol" you'll find a lot of information. You are right to be scared. And if your boyfriend does have untreated sleep apnea his risk of harm is even greater.

You asked what you can do when he is having an episode (possible apnea event) -- you could try to wake him and if he's not already on his side, get him to turn to his side. But this is hardly a real fix because his sleep will still be crap. And so will yours if you're keeping vigil all night.

Can you persuade him to talk to his doctor about a sleep study? And if drinking too much is a regular thing, he also needs to seek help for that. Together or separately, untreated sleep apnea and untreated alcohol abuse can wreak havoc on a life.

Are you thinking his episodes of stopped breathing are sleep apnea? Other things could cause problems, like reflux or vocal cord spasms. Do you think recording him in distress would influence him to seek medical help for whatever is going on and to not get so drunk as to vomit? A lot depends on how open he is to doing something about his situation. If it turns out he does have sleep apnea and seeks treatment, this board is an excellent place to get help getting started.

Thank you for all your help. I convened him to see a doctor and I remind him to sleep in his side every night. He doesn't drink like that unless he's with his boss so I told his boss he better not let my man drink like that again and noted to him if it happens again he will lose me.