Here are some links that might be interesting:

A book: http://www.springerlink.com/content/05586200725421xn/

http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=2276742

Catathrenia (A) compared to expiratory snoring in a snorer patient (B).: http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/picrender.fcgi?artid=2276742&blobname=aasm.31.3.308a.jpg

Quote:

Catathrenia (A) compared to expiratory snoring in a snorer patient (B). The recordings are shown at the same time scale. Please note: 1) the different duration of the groaning sounds (microph.), 2) the prolonged expiration (oral, thoracic and abdominal respirograms), and 3) the bradypnoic pattern in catathrenia.

EOG: electro-oculogram; Mylohyoid.: mylohyoideus; microph.: microphone; Interc.: intercostalis; Oral Resp.: oral respirogram; Thor. Resp.: thoracic respirogram; Abd Resp.: abdominal respirogram; Intraoesoph. Press.: intraoesophageal pressure; SaO2: oxygen saturation; R.: right; L.: left.

It's not snooring: http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pubmed&pubmedid=18548821

Thanks for the links stillstanding.

The description of catatherenia in http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=2276742 describes exactly what I have.

Well, in Denmark the Catathrina is happening as well.
I have been holding my breath since I was 21. Now I am 34. In the beginning it did not bother me much. Lately it is becoming worse. I wake up during the night holding my breath. And it feels as if I do not want to stop doing it. Even though it is driving me crazy. I am starting to worry about sleeping, because I get so frustrated not being able to sleep calm and quietly. I refuse to sleep in rooms with other people than my husband.
I have always been swimming and diving a lot and loved this feeling of holdning my breath. I don´t love it any more!!!
I wonder if I would have more energy during the day, if I slept well. I feel as if I have less power than i would have if I did not suffer from Catathrenia.
I keep reading what you write in here - hoping somebody one day may have some god advises for us all. So please keep writing. I am interested in knowing how you handle it - are you frustrated as well? And does it make you sad that you have this strange problem which you can not control?
I am sorry that you have this problem, but happy that I am not all by myself!

Well, in Denmark the Catathrina is happening as well.
I have been holding my breath since I was 21. Now I am 34. In the beginning it did not bother me much. Lately it is becoming worse. I wake up during the night holding my breath. And it feels as if I do not want to stop doing it. Even though it is driving me crazy. I am starting to worry about sleeping, because I get so frustrated not being able to sleep calm and quietly. I refuse to sleep in rooms with other people than my husband.
I have always been swimming and diving a lot and loved this feeling of holdning my breath. I don´t love it any more!!!
I wonder if I would have more energy during the day, if I slept well. I feel as if I have less power than i would have if I did not suffer from Catathrenia.
I keep reading what you write in here - hoping somebody one day may have some god advises for us all. So please keep writing. I am interested in knowing how you handle it - are you frustrated as well? And does it make you sad that you have this strange problem which you can not control?
I am sorry that you have this problem, but happy that I am not all by myself!

I hold my breath too.  Have had 3 sleep studies done, first two said no sleep apnea, third one they did with a bi-pap and middle of Feb, 2009 I started on the bi-pap machine.  My problem is not getting rid of my pCO2, high blood gas levels of pCO2 have been noted for the last 3 yrs.   Problem I have is I do it during the day time and any waking hours.  I am not a deep breather and tend to chest breath.    

I also notices that my pulse/ox reading are still low 88-93%, but with the retaining of pCO2 it gives a false positive reading on the finger pulse/ox .  So even if my pulse/ox says 95%, it's really lower , because my blood gas readings are in the low 80%.  Anyone have this problem?   They are calling it hypoventalation, plus hyperventalation.  I also tend to want to breath in through my nose and out through my mouth.   Because of that the bi-pap isn't working so well for me, my pulse/ox readings during the time I have the machine on are dropping into the 80% .  I am at a point of not knowing what tDeo do .  Can anyone share their experiences with this problem and what has helped for them??
Debb

So it seems that after 2 years of replies, no real solutions have been discussed in this forum.  WHAT WE HAVE IS NOT APNEA.   I have done extensive testing (in 2008), like most others, and the only diagnosis to date has been, 'Sleep State Misperception,' ie. my mind does not recognize that my body is sleeping.  However, this too is incorrect because it fails to identify or place any significance in the 'holding of breath'.  To repeat a sleep study is very costly, and seems ridiculous, especially after reading other postings.  My general practitioner's final recommendation is that I see a shrink, to determine if it is possibly psychological in origin...IN RESPONSE TO OTHER WATER-ORIENTED PEOPLE: I nearly drowned twice as a child, and have been a lifeguard, whitewater paddler, etc.  Does make me wonder if their is a relationship between these events and this condition?!

Here are my stats:

- 27 yrs old
- male
- very active lifestyle, athletic
- participated in sleep study, full physical, EKG, etc.
- wake up almost nightly to my girlfriend asking me to "BREATH"
- wake up fatigued and with a 'weight' in my lungs
- often 'foggy' and tired throughout the day
- do not smoke, drink minimally
- can determine no real 'triggers'
- have tried mild anti-depressants (Lexapro), to no avail
- had sleeping troubles since childhood, but only identified the 'holding of breath' two years ago, when my girlfriend was able to explain to me what she witnessed during my sleep

I have not been able to find anything that helps other than Xanax (knocks me out completely), but I do not want to become dependent on it.  I hope this helps others, as I know this forum has at least effectively demonstrated that this condition EXISTS, and is more common than what my doctors have suggested.

I'm amazed at how long this thread has been going on. I didn't expect to find anything when I just randomly thought of searching for my symptoms. And I'm amazed at how many people have the exact same issues. I always thought I had trained myself to hold my breath because I have back pain. I've noticed when I inhale deeply, my back feels much better since it's expanding. I thought perhaps I had someone trained myself to do this at night and now can't stop it. I'm beginning to wonder if really I just had some strange disorder. It's very annoying and I wake up several times a night. During it's worst times, I actually wake up to the sound of me groaning. I tell my friends I make "the Grudge" sound when I sleep (that annoying throaty sound from the movie The Grudge)--it's not exactly that, but almost! I know I don't have sleep apnea, as I have never had a snoring problem and I don't have any airway obstructions when I sleep. I really have no clue what to do. CPAP seems useless as I don't have any airway problems.

Anyway, just wanted to put out there that there is another with this problem as well! My doctors think I'm crazy! I actually had a doctor say "It's impossible to hold your breath while your sleeping." I was like, "Watch me sleep sometime!"

echobedtime wrote:

I have not been able to find anything that helps other than Xanax (knocks me out completely), but I do not want to become dependent on it.  I hope this helps others, as I know this forum has at least effectively demonstrated that this condition EXISTS, and is more common than what my doctors have suggested.

I've noticed the same thing.  It seems that GABA-agonists like benzodiazepines, alcohol, barbiturates, etc. seem to improve my sleep significantly.

The problem is they are highly addictive and you develop tolerance rapidly.

I wouldn't recommened anyone taking benzos like Xanax for more than a week or two.  Tapering off a benzo is not something I'd ever want to subject someone else to.

I have a 3 year old son who does this even while falling asleep.  He does not make the strange noise mentioned here, but he takes a breath, holds it for several seconds then finally lets it go.  Then breaths twice only to start all over again.  Some nights he yells and rolls over,  not seeming to wake up.  When he has a really bad night of this, he is a mess the next day.  He can't focus, doesn't listen and won't stop moving.  Then he is over tired and won't go to sleep, exacerbating the problem.  Has anyone heard of a child doing this?  His pediatrician had me make a recording of him, but since the problem wasn't inhaling, she didn't seem to think it made a difference.  I have noticed that on nights when I give him Zyrtec, he sleeps more soundly and wakes up able to focus and sit still.  Could it all just be allergies???  I would just keep giving him Zyrtec, but I hate for him to be on medicine everyday at such a young age.

joyful greetings...this is an interesting thought.  i have moved around quite a bit in the last few years, during which time my condition has become worse.  since arriving in florida a short time ago i have developed sneezing fits obviously associated with allergies.  i am going to put your zyrtec concept to the test and determine its effectiveness in my case.  i agree though, any medication, at such a young age isn't desirable.  HOWEVER, this condition (which i now assume is some type of hypopnea) is even worse.  just my $.02.

To joyfull greetings,
My little sister use to do it as a child - holding her breath while sleeping and letting the air out together with a strange sound. I am not sure what age she was when she started doing it. She does not suffer from it any longer. I think it stopped when she was a teenager. My step mother would yell "Breath" during the nights and then she would stop for a while. But fortunately my sister has stopped doing it.

joyfulgreetings wrote:

I have a 3 year old son who does this even while falling asleep.  He does not make the strange noise mentioned here, but he takes a breath, holds it for several seconds then finally lets it go.  Then breaths twice only to start all over again.  Some nights he yells and rolls over,  not seeming to wake up.  When he has a really bad night of this, he is a mess the next day.  He can't focus, doesn't listen and won't stop moving.  Then he is over tired and won't go to sleep, exacerbating the problem.  Has anyone heard of a child doing this?  His pediatrician had me make a recording of him, but since the problem wasn't inhaling, she didn't seem to think it made a difference.  I have noticed that on nights when I give him Zyrtec, he sleeps more soundly and wakes up able to focus and sit still.  Could it all just be allergies???  I would just keep giving him Zyrtec, but I hate for him to be on medicine everyday at such a young age.

Has your son had a sleep study?

Has he been tested for primary alveolar hypoventilation?

I've had the same problem since my teens. Have had a sleep study and in my case I also have apnea. A CPAP machine cures it, but I don't tolerate CPAP well, and am actually more tired with it. (Research I've read shows that CPAP will cure catathrenia even if you don't have apnea). I'm exploring alternatives which are somnoplasty + oral appliance. There is very little research on catathrenia and it's very frustrating. Please join "catathrenia" yahoo group if you have this problem, and if you've figured out a way to beat it, PLEASE join and tell us about your experience. It is really ruining my life :(

Hello from Denmark.
I am 30, in good physical shape and no other health problems.
I am also certain that I have Catathrenia. At one point I suspected I had apnea but the symptoms didn't really seem to fit on me. I have done this at least since I was a teenager. I have noticed some of you mention either playing wind instrument (sorry don't know what it is called in english :D) or been swimming a lot and therefore had a larger lung capacity than the average. I had my lung capacity measured when I took a diving certificate and was told mine was also significantly larger than average. Maybe a large lung capacity is a factor? who knows.
Anyway I am so releaved that this thing has a name, I always felt like a freak when girlfriends complained about my wierd sounds at night. I like to sleep for 9 or 10 hours, though it is not very often time allows this so I have a hard time getting up in the morning. My ex tells me that I did this regularly, but not every night. I can notice that I am doing it if someone wakes me up, but rarely wake up by myself to notice it.
Martin

Dear Martin.

I am very interested to get in touch with other danes suffering from catathrenia.
I would like to share experiences with the problems coursed by the sleep problem, to share experiences with the help we might have gotten from the danish health sector and just to hear about other peoples feelings living with catathrenia.

You can reach me on:
carolinegormsen@hotmail.com

Hope to hear from you.

Best regards
Caroline