Sleep onset central? - Im new here!!!!

Lately, I have been getting this thing I believe called, "sleep onset central" where I would drift off to sleep (not asleep yet, but in that transitioning stage) and then realize I am not breathing. Then, I would catch my breath, consciously realizing that I'm not getting any air. I am only 22! Can someone please tell me if this can go away? Is this normal? How can this be caused? I am in school and I do have anxiety about schoolwork (mostly), but I feel like my anxiety is now revolved around me not breathing. I used to be breathe normally and fall asleep with no problem. I never had this in the past and I'm honestly really scared now. Why am I getting this now and can it be cured???

whatiswrongwithme wrote: I am in school and I do have anxiety about schoolwork (mostly), but I feel like my anxiety is now revolved around me not breathing. I used to be breathe normally and fall asleep with no problem. I never had this in the past and I'm honestly really scared now.

Just sounds like common anxiety. Eat a good diet, have a regular exercise program, walk 30 minutes every day, practice good sleep hygiene (google a few good sources), socialize regularly, stay ahead in your schoolwork, etc.

However, if you do have sleep apnea, having a few central events just as you fall asleep and/or awaken is normal and nothing at all to worry about. Really.

Julie wrote:However, if you do have sleep apnea, having a few central events just as you fall asleep and/or awaken is normal and nothing at all to worry about. Really.

I don't believe I have sleep apnea, just the part where I catch my breath before I fall into deep sleep. It's been like this for a little more than a month and I would get it almost every day. How common is this sleep-onset central?

whatiswrongwithme wrote:How common is this sleep-onset central?

Everyone has it.

ChicagoGranny wrote:Eat a good diet, have a regular exercise program, walk 30 minutes every day, practice good sleep hygiene (google a few good sources), socialize regularly, stay ahead in your schoolwork, etc.

He's not going to do that.

whatiswrongwithme wrote:Lately, I have been getting this thing I believe called, "sleep onset central" where I would drift off to sleep (not asleep yet, but in that transitioning stage) and then realize I am not breathing. Then, I would catch my breath, consciously realizing that I'm not getting any air. ...(

Breathing while awake is controlled by the blood oxygen level while that while asleep by the blood CO2 level.

It is fairly common for the trigger points for each of these to not match exactly. During the transition between being awake and being asleep, control switches between these two control mechanisms. So, it is common during that transition for there to be a delay of a few seconds to quite a few seconds while the blood CO2 level control "catches up" and start you breathing in sleep mode. That is what you are experiencing and it is perfectly normal. The next time it happens, see if you notice no urgency at all in the need to breathe. It's just the body's way of getting back in synch.

I have not heard of a "cure" as the condition is part of the normal biology. The best thing is to learn to just ignore it and continue on to sleep.

JDS74 wrote:

whatiswrongwithme wrote:Lately, I have been getting this thing I believe called, "sleep onset central" where I would drift off to sleep (not asleep yet, but in that transitioning stage) and then realize I am not breathing. Then, I would catch my breath, consciously realizing that I'm not getting any air. ...(

Breathing while awake is controlled by the blood oxygen level while that while asleep by the blood CO2 level.

It is fairly common for the trigger points for each of these to not match exactly. During the transition between being awake and being asleep, control switches between these two control mechanisms. So, it is common during that transition for there to be a delay of a few seconds to quite a few seconds while the blood CO2 level control "catches up" and start you breathing in sleep mode. That is what you are experiencing and it is perfectly normal. The next time it happens, see if you notice no urgency at all in the need to breathe. It's just the body's way of getting back in synch.

I have not heard of a "cure" as the condition is part of the normal biology. The best thing is to learn to just ignore it and continue on to sleep.

Thank you for the information. You are making me feel a lot better, since this just started a little more than a month ago and has been terrifying every time I gasp/catch my breath. I just haven't gotten a peaceful sleep for a while When I tell other people about this situation, they tell me that it's bad and should get checked out (since it seems like they've never gone through it before). But what you're telling me is very reassuring.

Tricky Wash wrote:

whatiswrongwithme wrote:How common is this sleep-onset central?

Everyone has it.

not everyone.

palerider wrote:

Tricky Wash wrote:

whatiswrongwithme wrote:How common is this sleep-onset central?

Everyone has it.

not everyone.

How do people get it all of a sudden? I did have a cold for a month when I first got it, but I always get the cold from time to time. Now, I just catch my breath every time I drift to sleep and it's really depressing

whatiswrongwithme wrote:How do people get it all of a sudden? I did have a cold for a month when I first got it, but I always get the cold from time to time. Now, I just catch my breath every time I drift to sleep and it's really depressing

I couldn't tell you what's going on with you, but it's not something I've had happen, or heard that much about.

whatiswrongwithme wrote:

palerider wrote:

Tricky Wash wrote:

whatiswrongwithme wrote:How common is this sleep-onset central?

Everyone has it.

not everyone.

How do people get it all of a sudden? I did have a cold for a month when I first got it, but I always get the cold from time to time. Now, I just catch my breath every time I drift to sleep and it's really depressing

Question: In the last month or so have you been unusually stressed out? Is it taking longer to simply fall asleep than it used to take?

The reason I ask is this: Most people do NOT notice the small "glitches" that can happen in their breathing when they are transitioning from wake to sleep because they successfully make it all the way to sleep, and their breathing quickly stabilizes into normal sleep breathing. In other words, the small pause in breathing doesn't disturb most people who have them because they are part of the normal transition to sleep.

But all kinds of things can go funky when you're stressed out for whatever reason. One thing that is often affected by stress is the whole "falling asleep" process. When you find that you're lying in bed having a hard time getting to sleep, you often wind up focusing much more closely on your breathing that you do when you're not having any trouble falling asleep. And if you're focusing on your breathing while you are falling asleep AND you're a bit stressed out anyway, it's not uncommon to start noticing that pause in your breathing that you never noticed before. And since you never noticed it before, the very fact that you noticed it can startle you back to full wake. At which point it can become even more difficult to fall asleep because now you've just given yourself yet another thing to worry about.

All that said: If your sleep is really starting to suffer from the fact that you're having difficulty falling asleep because you're noticing the sleep onset centrals, you may want to talk to your primary care physician about what's going on. If you are not at particularly high risk for OSA, then your doctor may just give you some tips on how to minimize the stress you are under and some tips on how to avoid paying too much attention to your breathing when you are trying to get to sleep at the beginning of the night.

robysue wrote:

whatiswrongwithme wrote:

palerider wrote:

Tricky Wash wrote:

whatiswrongwithme wrote:How common is this sleep-onset central?

Everyone has it.

not everyone.

How do people get it all of a sudden? I did have a cold for a month when I first got it, but I always get the cold from time to time. Now, I just catch my breath every time I drift to sleep and it's really depressing

Question: In the last month or so have you been unusually stressed out? Is it taking longer to simply fall asleep than it used to take?

The reason I ask is this: Most people do NOT notice the small "glitches" that can happen in their breathing when they are transitioning from wake to sleep because they successfully make it all the way to sleep, and their breathing quickly stabilizes into normal sleep breathing. In other words, the small pause in breathing doesn't disturb most people who have them because they are part of the normal transition to sleep.

But all kinds of things can go funky when you're stressed out for whatever reason. One thing that is often affected by stress is the whole "falling asleep" process. When you find that you're lying in bed having a hard time getting to sleep, you often wind up focusing much more closely on your breathing that you do when you're not having any trouble falling asleep. And if you're focusing on your breathing while you are falling asleep AND you're a bit stressed out anyway, it's not uncommon to start noticing that pause in your breathing that you never noticed before. And since you never noticed it before, the very fact that you noticed it can startle you back to full wake. At which point it can become even more difficult to fall asleep because now you've just given yourself yet another thing to worry about.

All that said: If your sleep is really starting to suffer from the fact that you're having difficulty falling asleep because you're noticing the sleep onset centrals, you may want to talk to your primary care physician about what's going on. If you are not at particularly high risk for OSA, then your doctor may just give you some tips on how to minimize the stress you are under and some tips on how to avoid paying too much attention to your breathing when you are trying to get to sleep at the beginning of the night.

As a college student, I do have a lot of school work to focus on. However, I don't think I am stressed out by the amount of hw and tests I have. I do agree with you that now I have been focusing on my breath before I go to bed each night.That would probably be the only anxiety that I have because I realize that once my body relaxes, my breathing is more shallow, followed by a pause. And once I fall asleep, I do sleep like a baby throughout the night. I just hope this breathing thing is temporary :/

You should consider that this may actually be obstructive sleep apnea. Most people who are awakened from Stage 1 sleep will not even think they were asleep. If you are having obstructive apneas that are awakening you in this stage of sleep, you might not realize that you were already asleep when they happened.. This combined with what you have described as poor quality sleep are good reasons to talk to a sleep specialist about it. A sleep study would at least put all of your fears to rest even if it showed your sleep to be perfectly normal.

JDS74 wrote: Breathing while awake is controlled by the blood oxygen level while that while asleep by the blood CO2 level.

Except for in a select few people, the drive to breath is controlled entirely by CO2 levels awake or asleep. It is why free-divers who choose to hyperventilate (lowering CO2) levels will sometimes black out. The oxygen levels have dropped before the CO2 levels have risen far enough to give that urgent need to breath. It is also why there is no panic associated with asphyxia due to an inert gas like nitrogen or helium. The only difference between asleep and awake breathing as that in awake breathing, your voluntary nervous system can decide to not breath up until a certain level of CO2 is reached at which point, you no longer have a choice. While blackout is a frequent cause of death in seasoned free-divers, inhaling water is a common cause of death in new free divers for this very reason.

Tricky Wash wrote:

ChicagoGranny wrote:Eat a good diet, have a regular exercise program, walk 30 minutes every day, practice good sleep hygiene (google a few good sources), socialize regularly, stay ahead in your schoolwork, etc.

He's not going to do that.

I suspected this from the beginning.