Repetitive Sleep Onset Central Apneas

[Starone]

Hello all. I hope your holidays were fun and good

I have been trying to fall asleep tonight and I can't I use a nopal machine and with it on as soon as I fall asleep I have a central apnea. This also happened last night and after hours of struggle I was able to fall asleep and then I was sleep fine. But tonight I just panic and take a deep breath each time I get an arousal.

What should I do and why all of a sudden I have this?

[Starone]

Please help. What can I do?

[Julie]

Having one (only) central, or even a few when first falling asleep is common and nothing to worry about. I would only worry if you consistently had at least double digit ones all night.

[Bons]

I've had two sleep doctors convince me that sleep onset centrals are normal and not something to get overly worried about. They are not the same problem as centrals that occur at other times during sleep.

[JohnBFisher]

Here is an article that explains why during sleep onset and during awakening central sleep apneas occur:

Ventilation is unstable during drowsiness before sleep onset
http://jap.physiology.org/cgi/reprint/99/5/2036

As bons noted, if these only occur during sleep onset it is not a problem. Being aware of them, is an issue. If they continue to alarm you, you might want to discuss this with your sleep doctor. You might need a fast acting, short duration sleep medicine, such as Sonata (or the generic of it), to help you fall asleep and pass that wake/sleep boundary.

Hope that helps.