intentionally holding your breath while sleeping?

I told my room mate about the holding your breath problem. He said everybody does that. How would he know "everybody does that". I think that maybe he might need to be checked out too.

Now that I am a lot more aware of it (and it is nice to know it is more common then I thought!) I am paying more attention to it.
I think I caught myself doing it again last night (sleeping on my side).
Still trying to look into it, see what it is and what causes it.
The closest thing I have found so far it is could be catahrenia?
Even with that, not much info found yet, but still looking.

Count me in too!

I only realized it last night, just pryor to falling asleep. I snapped FULLY awake with a start! It was then that I realized that I had noticed the same thing several times in the past, ever since starting on the cpap. Since starting the cpap, I've payed a LOT more attention to my sleep habits! I don't know if I've done this my whole life, or if it's because of the cpap??? As far as I know, I've never done it while fully awake.

Me too. I do it after exhaling. I do it when I am awake. I am a mouthbreather. My AHI keeps going up and I wonder if it is because of the stopping breathing rather than an obstruction.

Guys, it's absolutely natural to do when you're changing positions in bed or lying there between sleep and wake. Everyone does it. There have been threads on it here before but I can't think of the search terms I'd use to find it. It's really nothing to worry about - it's normal.

I know that I've been holding my breath while sleeping because one of the following occurs:
- i wake up with a very bad, localized headache
- i wake up gasping
- i had hallucination dreams, where in the dreams i took drugs or was incapacitated in some sort of way (i relate it to be similar to a high caused by brain deprived of oxygen)

I do this when I'm awake as well, not nearly as often. But it particularly affects me while playing sports.
At a stopping point during a tennis match or karate sparring I often find myself exhaling powerfully, only then realizing that I'd been holding my breath during the exchange.

The key words in the title of this post are INTENTIONALLY and WHILE SLEEPING.
By definition, we do nothing INTENTIONALLY WHILE SLEEPING.

Holding breath while awake, for a wide variety of reasons, is not uncommon. The body deals with it, without any known sequelae. OSA, on the other hand, is a disease - the body does not deal (well) with it, and there are dangerous sequelae.

It is not uncommon to hold breath while in a "twilight" state, entering or exiting sleep.
It is not uncommon to hold breath while moving while sleeping.
It is not uncommon to hold breath while dreaming.
These, as far as we know, are not dangerous. The body deals with them. CPAP will not prevent them.

That's why the diagnostic criteria for OSA typically use an AHI limit of 5 to 10 events per hour, not zero.
Some level of apneas and hypopneas during sleep are normal (but not intentional).
It's the CAUSE of the apnea and hypopnea (and the frequency and the duration) which are of concern.
That's why a good sleep study measures abdominal and chest breathing efforts - to distinguish between obstructive apnea, and central apnea, which in SOME ways is can be thought of as an abnormal type of breath-holding during sleep.

Thanks, Velbor for clearly stating what's been bugging me all along -- that "intentionally" and "while sleeping" are a contradiction.

def. a great post Velbor, and thank you.

I have long since forgotten about this thread but still do find it interesting none the less.

I never did continue the research into catheria or this "issue". I think my self diagnosed ADD kicked in and I just moved onto the next thought that would be dismissed shortly thereafter.

In any event, seeing this post come back to light does rekindle that thought process. Why do we do it, and what causes it? I hardly think it would be considered "normal" even if everyone does it. The arguement that 5 to 10 apenas an hour is ok because they take these events into account is plausible, however we are still depriving our bodies of oxygen during this time. Surely this has to be detremintal to our bodies.

I never did mention it to the doctor when I was there last, and still, think it is an interesting discussion. I do have to say though, I found it somewhat comforting to see the amount of other people that noticed or shared in the same symptoms.

For what its worth, I have not repeated these issues in recent memory either.

CollegeGirl wrote:Guys, it's absolutely natural to do when you're changing positions in bed or lying there between sleep and wake. Everyone does it. There have been threads on it here before but I can't think of the search terms I'd use to find it. It's really nothing to worry about - it's normal.

i HAVE BEEn told about a sudden release of air, after not breathing momentarialy and last nite started to realize when attemting to sleep I was holding my breath for some unknown reason. I wonder if its a subconscience intention of trying not to bother others attempting to sleep in the same room, almost as if you were tiptoeing into a bedroom and didn't want to wake someone...??

I hold my breath, when I am super, super tired, as if I'm too tired to breathe, only time it happens.

And I thought I was the only weird one . .

I don't know when my type of breath holding began. If I am on the verge of sleep, but not yet there, if I hold my breath as long as I can, I slip into sleep. A strange thought occurred when I was using this technique . . how close are you to dying?

I began using Muffy's Sleep Hygiene tips; it changed my sleep habits and when I read this thread, I realized I wasn't doing the breath-holding to help me transition from wake to sleep.

Interesting topic.

Jan

I have this condition (which is known medically as catathrenia) and have had it for several years. I recently got frustrated with the lack of information/discussion about it. I decided to do something about it and have started a forum specifically for catathrenia so we can have more organized discussion about our condition instead of a few off topic posts in other forums. anyway, the website is http:// dvorak . mine . nu
come and join me and other squeaky beach balls.