I was relieved to see I'm not alone out there with the "leaky beach ball" syndrome.  My wife tells me I sound like a groaning whale and she usually has to wake me up a few times every night to tell me to stop.  It also seems worse when I sleep on my stomach.  I hadn't noticed it until recently, but now and then I wake up to find myself holding my breath.  It seems to get worse when I'm stressed out, but other than that I have no idea what's causing it.  My wife is in medical school so she's on the hunt for what's wrong with me.  I'll definitely post if we figure it out.  Best of luck...

Its so fantastic to read that other people hold their breath (i.e. not sleep apnea, but something else).  I have exactly the same symptoms as you describe - holding my breath, letting the air out slowly whilst making loud noises.  And it tends to happen only during the 2-3 hours before I wake up, rather than all night.  It happend more when I'm stressed, or already tired.  I have been to my GP and have been referred to a sleep clinic but think it will be ages before an appointment comes through.  Would love to hear if anyone manages to find out what this is and what can be done about it - its drving my partner insane and I'm fed up of feeling so tired all the time.

I have the same squeaky beach ball thing you all have! I am 31 and in very good shape. I have been doing it for over 10 years and I call it stress induced sleep apnea, although I do the same as you guys. I breath and then hold my breath and let it out very slowly making weird noises. My wife always nudges me to breath at night! I wish we could find a doctor to treat this! I just had my devated septum and adnois and tonsails out. None of that worked as i don't have obstructive sleep apnea. One thing i have started to notice is chronic high blood pressure as well for the past 10 years. I think this is a result of this syndrome.

I had a sleep study also, didnt show any apneas but many hypopneas.  Why wouldnt that be considered a hypopnea?  Isnt that the same thing?  I am on cpap for the many hypopneas I was having during the night.  Was told by the pulmonologist and rheumatologist it is just as dangerous as apneas.

Hi -- my husband does exactly the same thing.  Sleeps soundly for 4-5 hours -- no snoring, no breathing problems.  But then, probably when REM starts, he will take in a big slow breath and then hold it; when he finally exhales, he makes noises, sometimes like a balloon, and other times I think he actually employs his vocal chords.  At any rate, I've studied central sleep apnea, seen graphs of volummetric flows that characterize CSA, and  it just doesn't seem to match up with what my husband does.  He's had two sleep studies that both concluded he doesn't have apnea, though he's sure he never really fell asleep.  I don't have an answer for you -- but you're not alone.  We didn't have a great experience with the doctor (not a neurologist) who oversaw the sleep studies, but we may try again with a neurologist.

I too have this breath holding when I am dreaming or very sound asleep.  I let air out slowly with a pitched "squek" that only my wife hears.  Once in awhile I will catch the ending of it, but most of the time I am told I am doing it and not aware of it.  In the morning I can sometimes feel that my lungs are sort or "sore", hard to describe, but I know I have probably been doing it!  I also have had difficulty finding information as to what this problem is.  I think it needs to be studied further.  Let me know if anybody knows about any research pertaining to this sort of "apnea".
Thanks

I was thinking that if i taped my mouth shut i may force myself to breath out of my nose.
It sounds weird, but i wonder if that would work. That way i am not breathing through my mouth
and able to exhale through it. It will force me to breath through my nose.
Does anyone think that will work or will i sophocate? ha..

[quote="eyeofbr"]I too have this breath holding when I am dreaming or very sound asleep.  I let air out slowly with a pitched "squek" that only my wife hears.  Once in awhile I will catch the ending of it, but most of the time I am told I am doing it and not aware of it.  In the morning I can sometimes feel that my lungs are sort or "sore", hard to describe, but I know I have probably been doing it!  I also have had difficulty finding information as to what this problem is.  I think it needs to be studied further.  Let me know if anybody knows about any research pertaining to this sort of "apnea".

I deal with the same issue you have all been describing.  There is definitely no difficulty taking a breath, it's that the release is delayed, prolonged and squeaky.  In my case, it is also sometimes released in little bursts--letting some air out, holding the rest, then letting some more out.  My wife noticed this and told me about it, and I became more aware of it.  I inquired about sleep apnea to my doctor, and he stated that my symptoms sound more common of stress than of apnea (which, as several of you noted, involves a difficulty inhaling air).  I've since noticed that this problem usually is prominent when I'm going through periods of life stress, and as one of you also noted, tends to happen in the morning within a few hours of waking up.

Finally I find people with the same symptoms as me! I too have the "leaky beach ball" syndrome and have been teased about it mercilessly by my friends since I began college. I am a 21-yr old, fit young woman and I have (apparently) been having this breath holding dilemma for as long as my mother can remember, but I only discovered it when I was 15. I've had my thyroid checked (no problem), sleep study done (no apnea), ENT doctor (claims he doesn't know what it is...maybe my vocal cords collapse together in sleep and thats why i make the sqeaky noise? BIG help (NOT) and I don't know what else to do. I live in college dorms and I know it annoys my roommate! I apparently do it about 4-5 hours a night and I would say about 2 or 3 days a week I wake up with a "heavy" feeling in my chest like I just haven't been breathing enough or something. I occasionally catch myself waking up holding my breath. I've read that some people associate this with stress or anxiety, but I have been on anti-anxiety meds since i was 17!! Please if anybody has any ideas or a doctor finally figures out whats up...post it here!

I think this has also caused my high blood pressure. I am a fit 31 year old who has done this holding my breath thing for over 10 years. I now have developed high blood pressure and now I am on Medication for it. My cardiologist feels this could be a result of my "Apnea" which i am not sure this holding my breath thing is.. But, it makes sense as i eat healthy and no one else in my family has high blood pressure.

Wow! I am not the only one after all! I have also had a sleep study with inconclusive rersults - although strange unexplainable happenings occured during the REM porion of my sleep pattern. Everything previously mentioned has happened to me also. I wanted to add that I think it may be anxiety related. I also feel so embarrassed by the noises I make that I never what to go camping or share a room with anyone other than my wife who is aware of the problem and is very understanding (but also sleep derived!   ) It will truly be a miracle if this thing would go away - I am only 26 and completely drained physically and emotionally  

I am another that has this breath holding while sleeping. Everybody wants to call it apnea but it is not. Apnea is like not breathing enough, forgetting to breath. I get plenty of oxygen and sleep great! I am not tired during the day. People who don’t have it don’t understand. Instead of breathing 10 normal breaths a minute, I take incredibly deep breaths – like I would if I were to swim under water-about 5 times a minute, maybe less. And much like when swimming, I get plenty of air but the way I breath differs because I can only breath when I am above the water. I have been aware of it since college because it bothered my room-mate. Now it bothers my husband. My daughter does it too. I know apnea is bad for you but I don’t know if this is bad, if what I say about getting enough oxygen is correct. I just wish I didn’t make the noises on the long exhale.

I’m not overweight, exercise regularly, am 45, had no traumatic events in my life, am not stressed, and have good blood pressure.  Just to be clear, I take in a very deep breath and fill my lugs to capacity, then hold it (don’t exhale), but some air leaks out so it makes a groaning sound for 5 to 10 seconds when I then let it all out at once. Then repeat. I do not “forgetâ€� to breath. I’m not sure how much of the night I do it but it is for many hours. But I sleep well and am not tired during the day so this is more of a curiosity to me

  Okay, I'm confused.  The symptoms you all are describing apply to me as well.  I HAVE been recently diagnosed with Sleep Apnea.  I haven't gotten a copy of my reports yet (pre and post CPAP) and haven't boned up on the terminology, but when I stated to the tech that hold my breath, she stated "right, THAT IS sleep apnea!"