> In my case, getting my sleep apnea treated with a CPAP machine coincidentally greatly reduced the frequency of these episodes.
Orthogonal to the post here, but I just want to encourage anybody reading this who snores, or has a partner who says you snore or stop breathing occasionally, to go get a sleep study. I didn't have any of the hallmark symptoms, just descriptions from my wife, and my doctor seemed doubtful that I had sleep apnea based on my descriptions of my symptoms. But, he said, "I know better than to argue with your wife."
Turns out, I have severe obstructive sleep apnea (AHI >50), it's just that most of my apneas are what are known as hypopneas -- my blood oxygen drops, but I don't entirely stop breathing, I just have a partially obstructed airway. My sleep architecture is fine, which is probably why I never noticed extreme daytime sleepiness. But the dropping blood oxygen is still a serious health risk, and associated with a huge number of other conditions, from the obvious like heart conditions to the unexpected like fatty liver disease.
tl;dr, get a sleep study if you have any reason to think you have sleep apnea.
Orthogonal to the post here, but I just want to encourage anybody reading this who snores, or has a partner who says you snore or stop breathing occasionally, to go get a sleep study. I didn't have any of the hallmark symptoms, just descriptions from my wife, and my doctor seemed doubtful that I had sleep apnea based on my descriptions of my symptoms. But, he said, "I know better than to argue with your wife."
Turns out, I have severe obstructive sleep apnea (AHI >50), it's just that most of my apneas are what are known as hypopneas -- my blood oxygen drops, but I don't entirely stop breathing, I just have a partially obstructed airway. My sleep architecture is fine, which is probably why I never noticed extreme daytime sleepiness. But the dropping blood oxygen is still a serious health risk, and associated with a huge number of other conditions, from the obvious like heart conditions to the unexpected like fatty liver disease.
tl;dr, get a sleep study if you have any reason to think you have sleep apnea.