I don't know if anyone has mentioned this in the thread yet but not all apnea is obstructive there is also central apnea which would be just not getting the signal to breathe. Most of us have obstructive.

I have the exact same problem.  I'm 25 years old now, but have been doing this since my very early teens.  I exercise five days a week and am currently around 12% BF.  Stress makes the problem much much worse.  On nights that I dream, I sometimes wake up and "catch" myself holding my breath.  On nights like that, I am sure to wake in the morning up feeling especially bad.

I believe I've found a term for the condition, though there really doesn't seem to be any futhur information on it.

Catathrenia

I read the full text of the article a couple years ago, I just wish I had saved a copy of it or had access to Neurology.org today.

Another article on Catathrenia which describes our symptoms, but nothing about cause or treatment.

http://www.sleepeducation.com/Disorder.aspx?id=40

My husband has this same problem.  He takes a breath and squeaks it out slowly - but only in broken squeaky sounds.  The sounds have changed over the years but the length of time letting out that single breath has lengthened and also he appears to be in discomfort at certain points during the episodes because he'll very slightly gasp and take an extremely shallow breath at the same time as kicking his feet and moving his hands (like a reflex to something uncomfortable).

I have actually recorded him on my digital voice recorder so he could hear it and know what's going on.  All he knew is that he wakes up out of breath a lot.  This has been going on for 8 years and he is now 30 and in great health as a former college athlete (although with a family history of heart problems).

Has anyone found out anything about this?  I can't imagine what a treatment would be for this type of thing.  It always wakes me up so I just tell him he's squeaking and he rolls over.  But then it happens again later.  The whole thing usually starts right around 4:00 am and sleep position really has no bearing on it.  It also happens every night.

It would be nice to find the root of the problem here.  He has no traumatic issues in his past and didn't start this until a few years after we met (so I know it hasn't been going on forever).

My husband has the same problem.  He holds his breath, and even sometimes during the day.  It is certainly aggrivated and appears more when he is really stressed.  I have been asking his family to see if they know anything and it turns out his Dad has something similar.  Has anyone asked to see if their parents or sibblings have it to?

I am unsure as to where to take my husband to get help.  It can't be apnea because he will hold his breath during the day.  It could be stress... but it is so unvoluntary at night.   Where is everyone starting to try to get this solved?

As far as I know I have been holding my breath while sleeping for more than 10 years.  It doesn't have any negative effect on my sleeping and I wake up every day with enough sleep.  Like some of the other descriptions I read, I take a deep breath and hold it, only letting small amounts of air escape until I let it all escape in a whoosh like exhale.  This bothers my bed partners more than me as I rarely know that I am doing it.  Is there any info available on this condition.

You all are definitley not alone.   I do the same thing.  I think it may have to also do with anxiety.  I suffered many years with anxiety and panic attacks.  Sometimes I am just sitting there watching tv or thinking of something I must do and I feel my self holding my breath.  I do not think it is linked to heart trouble because I am 28 and do the same thing and also had echocaridograms and halter monitors to check out my heart and it all came back fine...  there are so many disorders that are not talked about and this may be one.   I understand your frustration though... it is terrible to not know why.  Good luck.   Let me know if you figure anything out that may help us all.

I am a 53-year-old woman, not overweight, in fairly good shape, have extremely low blood pressure, and have suffered from this "ailment" all my life. I, too, take a big breath, hold it for awhile and then groan as I let it out. It almost always starts around 4:00am, though it will begin earlier in the night if I am tired and/or stressed. I believe this disorder has a genetic component - as a child I heard my father doing it too. Until I found this forum, I believed that I had apnea, though about 15 years ago when I had a sleep study done, they confirmed that I did not appear to have apnea. One thing that concerns me is that my father suffered from heart disease. Although he was in excellent physical shape his entire life, he had his first (of three) open heart surgery at the age of 45. I always felt there was a connection between what I thought was his apnea and his heart trouble. He eventually died of congestive heart failure at the age of 74.
I am slated to see an excellent sleep specialist and undergo another sleep study in March so will keep an eye on this forum and re-post if I learn anything that might be of interest to any of you. I am also going to ask my husband to record an episode (it certainly wakens him often enough!) and take it along with me when I visit the doctor.
Thanks so much to those of you who've posted your comments and descriptions. It's wonderful to at least become somewhat educated about this disorder!!

Wow, I'm really glad to see others with the same sleep problem I have.  I'm 23, and my family, college roommates, and now my wife have had to deal with my nocturnal breath-holding and moaning. Up until now, I thought this "leaky beach ball syndrome" was just a laughable/annoying idiosyncrasy, but I'm really having a hard time getting restful sleep. Since this is a forum full of people with the exact same thing, let's try to vary some of our routines and see how that affects our sleep. I'm going to try some things like eating right before bed, going to bed really early, spending a half hour purposefully relaxing before bed, and keeping track of when something stressful is on my mind. I'll ask my wife if she can make a quick note of it when she nudges me out of my moans.  If we post our patterns here, maybe we can develop some anti-catathrenia remedies.

It may not fall under the exact definition they have for sleep apnea, and it might still be a similar thing. Doctors don't know a lot about sleep apnea, really. If, (and I'm just saying IF,) you inhale, and then you have an obstruction that closed after you inhaled,  that would stop you from breathing out, and may cause the squealing like a leaky balloon. The air squeezing past an obstruction. That is actually what makes the sound when a baloon IS squeaking.  In addition, central sleep apnea may mean that your brain would not signal you to exhale... Not just that you don't get a signal to inhale. The label may be different, or they may not even have a label yet, but if you think about the mechanics of breathing in, and then an obstruction closing off your airway, the description would be the same. I think you should go to one of the newer sleep clinics. They test you for several sleep disorders at once, and the computer would register ANY pause in breathing, and someone just may be able to explain it. Sleep apnea has just become a big area of medical study in the last several years, and the methods of detecting it have improved. Even if that isn't what it is, if you have proof that you do stop breathing, you may be able to press for an answer.

Herb,

If you've got good insurance, see a pulmonologist and go for a sleep study.  You might find out a lot about your condition.


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Just wondering if any of you are the original poster.  It was hanging awile for quite a long time before you folks saw this and added on the great posts.  The OP was a guest so I can't let them know there are now answers to their questions  

Vicki


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That which does not kill you makes you stronger-Friedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich must of had apnea.

And that's just another reason for every guest to register! You will see all the graphics you are missing, you will have access to chat and you can send and receive IMs. (And still maintain your anonymity.)


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My husband does the same thing and I'm just now researching and it looks exactly like sleep apnea.  But you guys have gotten me scared.  Everything you describe happening is just like the symptoms of it.  How can you have gone undiagnosed?  What exactly is the criteria for being diagnosed with this?  If you ARE holding your breath while sleeping, and are excessively tired during the day, etc.- then don't you have it??  I mean what's the secret symptom that we don't know about that you guys don't have?  It doesn't make sense.  It's not like they give you a blood test and either you have it or dont... it's a diagnosis based upon the occurance of several symptoms.

Probably oversimplified, but the way I think of it...

Sleep apnea causes difficulty breathing IN, while catathrenia causes difficulty breathing OUT.