Sleep Apnea and Alcoholic beverage Consumptions

"Why limit your drinking? As I see it, you are making a good case for drinking at breakfast..."

Great suggestion jzap! I might start having breakfast. Now if I can only get my bosses to understand the logic!

From what i could find in the literature, alcohol doesn't seem to have much of an effect.

There was little or no effect of alcohol on other sleep stages, arousal index, apnoea index, apnoea/hypopnoea index, mean or longest event duration, mean or worst arterial oxygen saturation, with or without CPAP, either for the full night or for the first 2 h. There was no change in the pressure requirement for CPAP (full night: control 11.9+/-0.9 vs alcohol 12.5+/-0.9 cm H2O; first 2 h: 10.9+/-0.6 vs 11.1+/-0.8 cm H2O). Moderate alcohol intake (in the form of vodka) has little effect on breathing or saturation during sleep in subjects with mild-to-severe obstructive sleep apnoea, and no effect on the pressure required for continuous positive airway pressure in order to prevent apnoea, snoring, and flow limitation.Without CPAP, alcohol produced a small non-significant decrease in the percentage of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep (control 11+/-2 vs alcohol 8+/-1% (mean+/-SEM)), but with CPAP there was no such effect

Eur Respir J. 1996 Nov;9(11):2371-7.
Influence of moderate alcohol consumption on obstructive sleep apnoea with and without AutoSet nasal CPAP therapy.
Teschler H, Berthon-Jones M, Wessendorf T, Meyer HJ, Konietzko N.
Source
Dept of Pneumology, Ruhrlandklinik, Medical Faculty, University of Essen, Germany.
Abstract
Snoring worsens with high alcohol consumption. It is unclear whether moderate alcohol intake worsens sleep and breathing in subjects with obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS), and whether alcohol increases the pressure requirement for nasal continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP). Fourteen adult males with untreated OSAS but without heart or lung disease were studied (age 53+/-9 yrs, body mass index (BMI) 33+/-5 kg x m(-2) (mean+/-SD). The subjects underwent overnight polysomnography on four occasions: control, alcohol, CPAP, and alcohol + CPAP. On the alcohol nights, the subjects drank 1.5 mL x kg(-1) body weight (BW) vodka (40% alcohol by volume) (blood alcohol with and without CPAP 0.45+/-0.1 and 0.47+/-0.2 mg x mL(-1) (mean+/-SD)). On the CPAP nights, the pressure required to prevent apnoea, snoring, and silent inspiratory airflow limitation was determined using an autotitrating nasal CPAP system (ResCare AutoSet). Alcohol and control nights were performed in random order. Without CPAP, alcohol produced a small non-significant decrease in the percentage of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep (control 11+/-2 vs alcohol 8+/-1% (mean+/-SEM)), but with CPAP there was no such effect (control 15+/-2 vs 17+/-2%; CPA x alcohol interaction p=0.015). With CPAP, slow-wave sleep in the first 2 h increased slightly with alcohol (control 39+/-6 vs alcohol 51+/-4%; p=0.004). Arousal index without CPAP increased slightly with alcohol (control 43+/-5 vs alcohol 49+/-6 events x h(-1); p=0.02). There was little or no effect of alcohol on other sleep stages, arousal index, apnoea index, apnoea/hypopnoea index, mean or longest event duration, mean or worst arterial oxygen saturation, with or without CPAP, either for the full night or for the first 2 h. There was no change in the pressure requirement for CPAP (full night: control 11.9+/-0.9 vs alcohol 12.5+/-0.9 cm H2O; first 2 h: 10.9+/-0.6 vs 11.1+/-0.8 cm H2O). Moderate alcohol intake (in the form of vodka) has little effect on breathing or saturation during sleep in subjects with mild-to-severe obstructive sleep apnoea, and no effect on the pressure required for continuous positive airway pressure in order to prevent apnoea, snoring, and flow limitation. These results cannot be extrapolated to other doses or forms of alcohol, or to subjects with concurrent heart or lung disease.

Sheriff Buford wrote:I must say that alcohol is a big player influences the people I deal with on a daily basis.

Sheriff

Are you real Sheriff or just anything else? I can imagine alot of people with drunkenness you may be dealing with on weekends and Friday evening. Man, It must be a very tough job.



mcpascaln

jzap wrote:Why limit your drinking? As I see it, you are making a good case for drinking at breakfast...

Exactly! Alcohol is pretty uniformly known to worsen sleep quality, even if your AHI doesn't go up, you will probably sleep worse. But a glass of wine with lunch - or a mimosa at breakfast - is not going to do anything to your OSA.

johnthomasmacdonald wrote:From what i could find in the literature, alcohol doesn't seem to have much of an effect.

There was little or no effect of alcohol on other sleep stages, arousal index, apnoea index, apnoea/hypopnoea index, mean or longest event duration, mean or worst arterial oxygen saturation, with or without CPAP, either for the full night or for the first 2 h. There was no change in the pressure requirement for CPAP (full night: control 11.9+/-0.9 vs alcohol 12.5+/-0.9 cm H2O; first 2 h: 10.9+/-0.6 vs 11.1+/-0.8 cm H2O).
Eur Respir J. 1996 Nov;9(11):2371-7. Influence of moderate alcohol consumption on obstructive sleep apnoea with and without AutoSet nasal CPAP therapy.
Teschler H, Berthon-Jones M, Wessendorf T, Meyer HJ, Konietzko N.
Source
Dept of Pneumology, Ruhrlandklinik, Medical Faculty, University of Essen, Germany.
Abstract

May be that study is way old now [1969]. Many now a new finding supports a different conclusion. Other than that, the information shared seems to be very surprising to me. Iam going now to resume drinking but in moderation

Five years onward, I continue drinking but in moderation. No issue. Sometimes, will get good sleep with or without two battles of beer. Often tend to limit that to about three bottles. That is all I can share. What's your experiences or updates since the start of this OP?



mcpascaln

Prior to CPAP if I drank snoring was always worse. If I drink now ahi could be higher or lower then normal . But hey that's what a APAP is for I guess lol