Sunday, October 3, 2010

Catathrenia and sleep apnea

Unlike 20 years ago, sleep apnea is a well known disorder. Whether the number of people overweight has contributed to this or not, you hear quite a bit about sleep apnea and its symptoms. Usually it is the person who is sleeping with the sleep apnea patient who first recognizes that there is a problem. The loud snoring, grunting and gasping for air is a sure tell tale sign. If you have sleep apnea then the only way that you know that there is a problem is the restless night that you have. After you gasp for air and wake up you immediately fall back to a light sleep, this pattern goes on all night. But are these symptoms definitively sleep apnea. They might be something else like Catathrenia, also known as nocturnal groaning.


According to Wikipedia Catathrenia is a “rapid eye movement sleep parasomnia consisting of end-inspiratory apnea (breath holding) and expiratory groaning during sleep, is distinct from both somniloquy and obstructive sleep apnea. The sound is produced during exhalation as opposed to snoring which occurs during inhalation.”

What can you do to cure Catathrenia?

First of all Catathrenia is not life threatnening nor is it as serious as sleep apnea, where the problem is during the inhaling of air not the exhaling. Some have suggested that the cpap machine might help with this disorder but not everyone is of that belief.

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3 comments:

  1. I've had catathrenia for 15 years now. I've tried CPAP, and like all other catathrenia sufferers I've talked to, it is not a solution for me.

    There's a Yahoo Group for catathrenia sufferers to share experiences, suggestions and support. Visit http://groups.yahoo.com/group/catathrenia

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  2. Thanks
    I appreciate the information
    David

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  3. Great lens I am sure will be helpful for many and solving problem of snoring for others. Keep up a good work for Sleep Apnea Cures.

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