Elbowing and sleep apnea

If you are a peaceful sleeper that doesn’t snore than you probably don’t have many experiences being elbowed at night by your partner. But if you do have a sleep disorder that is disruptive like snoring or restless leg syndrome than you probably have tested your partner’s patience at night. This can be especially true if you have the sleep disorder known as sleep apnea.  In fact it might be a good thing that someone is elbowing you at night.

The University of Saskatchewan asked 124 patients who were about to have a sleep  study if their sleeping partner ever elbowed or poked them to stop snoring or to wake them up because they had stopped breathing.  It is not surprising that asking these types of questions can help predict whether someone is suffering from sleep apnea.

This isn’t particularly shocking because most of us who have sleep apnea have not only been elbowed or punched at night but usually told the next morning that our snoring or grunting or gasping for air is very annoying and is not conductive to a relaxing sleeping environment.

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