Suggest Treatment For Obstructive Sleep Apnoea Symptoms

Posted on Wed, 21 Oct 2015

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Wed, 21 Oct 2015 Answered on

Thu, 12 Nov 2015 Last reviewed on

Question : my husband says i stop breathing in the middle of the night and he pokes me to start me breathing and it happens a couple of times a night what would cause this and is it serious

Answered by Dr. Divakara (59 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Could be due to Over weight.

Detailed Answer:
HI

Thanks for posting your query.

There are few conditions which can cause this kind of halt while breathing. These are :

1. Obstructive sleep Apnoea : Usually happens in overweight individuals where due to excess fat deposition in the neck compresses the airway causing arrest of breathing .

2. Central Sleep Apnoea : This happens due to some problems in brain.

We need to evaluate for the cause of your problem . In that regard I advise a test called Sleep Study . Kindly get this test done and revert back with reports.

If you are overweight start reducing your weight.

Now regarding whether it is serious or not , the symptom by itself is not serious but the cause of your symptom could be mild to serious.

Sleep apnoea is persistent for years can lead to hypertension, heart problem or excessive drowsiness in daytime leading to accidents . But don't panic , just get tested and revert back with report.

Hope this information was useful to you.
Any clarifications feel free to ask.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Vinay Bhardwaj