Does this sound like a sign of sleep apnea? - Sleep Disorders Message Board

frog3 · 03-27-2006, 03:30 AM

I was taking a nap yesterday afternoon, as I didn't get enough sleep the night before, and there were a couple times when I woke up feeling like I couldn't breathe. I do have a lot of anxiety issues and have a tendency to wake up after having weird dreams, and at the time I just put it down to having dreamt that I couldn't breathe. But about an hour ago it occurred to me that it could be sleep apnea. I don't recall ever having this happen before, but I know people don't always notice. Actually, I was told that people don't notice. Does anyone know if it is possible to notice that you felt like you couldn't breathe? On the one hand I feel fairly confident that it was just a dream, but on the other hand I'm terrified that it wasn't. Does anyone have any opinions/ideas as to what was going on? My health insurance isn't great right now, and I'm not sure that I should look into getting tested unless I feel like it's a real concern.

Therag · 04-02-2006, 03:16 PM

I get the same thing happening to me. It's happened to me about 10 times in the past 4 years. Do you feel like you are choking on some thing, as if you have swallowed something really big? That's how I feel.

frog3 · 04-03-2006, 04:09 AM

Hi, thanks for responding! This is the only time I remember it happening to me, but it happened twice during this nap. No, I don't feel like I'm choking, I just woke up, had a slight feeling like I couldn't breathe, and then it went away and I went back to sleep. It was really weird. I have been under A LOT of stress lately, so I'm hoping it just had to do with that, but I'm not sure and a little concerned.....