Holding my breath while sleeping, not apnea

[march]

I'm experiencing what I think is a "nervous breakdown" of sorts. An extreme stress response my body can't get out of. My worst symptoms are caused by sleeping and/or only at night, early morning. I'm low on quality sleep because of this. 

 

I can feel myself holding my breath as I'm sleeping. Usually around 2am. I'll sleep through it but can feel myself doing it. I'll awake with start sometimes holding my breath still or gasping for air around 4am (when the insane adrenaline type surges start). I also have episodes of Catathrenia but this seems different (no sounds come from the exhale). I'm med free, btw.

 

Anyone have any thoughts on this? Thank you!

[jt07]

And what makes you think this isn't apnea?

[march]

I was told by a dr that if I wake up still holding my breath it is not apnea. It's not an obstruction of my airway but some sort of brain issue. It happens when I sleep on my side too which is contradictory to apnea. Plus I don't snore. But maybe it's apnea! I sure don't know.  

[jt07]

There's more than one type of apnea. If I were you, I'd get a referral to a sleep doctor and have a sleep study done to find out what's really going on.

[ByePolarCoordinates]

I developed catathrenia while using Xyrem for narcolepsy. I had a sleep study done on it to make sure I wasn't also experiencing any form of apnea. My results came back fine. The catathrenia is marked by a long inspiration followed by breath holding during which groaning/moaning is heard. I have taken recordings of myself and most of the time when this happens I do not wake up, and occasionally, there is no sound that follows the long inspiration. I would be annoyed if it was causing frequent awakenings like you are experiencing. This isn't a form of apnea because you are still getting the oxygen you need, you are just delaying the time to the next inspiration. The only way to really make sure you aren't experiencing a form of apnea that is lowering your oxygen saturation is to get a sleep study done. To save money (or depending on if your insurance requires this first as mine did) - you could do an at-home sleep study. They basically send you equipment that monitors your breathing and you hook yourself up to it and perform it in the comfort of your own bed. I highly recommend pursuing this if you are concerned.