Complaints & connections · borters.ch
Breathing repeatedly stops at night — that explains the daytime tiredness and strains heart and blood pressure more than many think.
Also known as: sleep apnea · obstructive sleep apnea syndrome · nighttime breathing pauses
Open in the tool — with search and all the links →This compilation is for information and replaces neither medical diagnosis nor treatment. If you have symptoms, see a doctor.
Repeated pauses in breathing during sleep, because the throat muscles relax and block the airway. Those affected usually do not notice it themselves — the partner notices loud, irregular snoring with pauses and gasping. By day: leaden tiredness, dozing off while driving or watching television, morning headaches, concentration problems and irritability. Because each pause puts the body on alert, blood pressure rises along with the risk of heart rhythm problems and stroke. That is why assessment in a sleep laboratory is worthwhile: a night-time mask often fixes the problem fundamentally — many describe it as the first restful sleep in years.
Untreated sleep apnoea reliably lowers testosterone. In men with lost drive and desire, treating the breathing therefore often brings more than any hormone.
Consistent times — even on weekends — stabilise the body clock and sleep quality most.
Bright morning light and dim evening light support the natural rise of melatonin.
Caffeine lingers for hours — in the afternoon/evening it disrupts sleep depth.
Raise the head end — with a wedge under the mattress or books under the bed legs, not with a stack of pillows.
Bedroom at 16 to 19 degrees, genuinely dark, no screen in the last hour.
Untreated pauses in breathing at night make people forgetful and unfocused by day — one of the causes that look the same and are treatable.
CPAP holds the airway open with pressure — it works on exactly the night it is worn, and no longer. So what counts here is not the prescription but the hours per night. Weight and sleeping on the side work alongside, and lastingly.
About one man in ten of middle age and one woman in twenty are affected; after menopause the gap closes. It goes unnoticed for years, because the pauses are not remembered — usually someone else notices them.
On the side the throat stays more open; alcohol relaxes the muscles further. It makes snoring quieter — it does not replace assessment of breathing pauses.
Loud, irregular snoring with pauses in breathing that end in a gasp or a rattle. This observation from outside is often the only pointer — the person themselves is asleep.
Eight hours in bed and still worn out, dozing off while reading, in front of the television, at the traffic light. The sleepiness during the day is the sign that decides how urgent treatment is.
A dull headache on waking that fades during the morning, a dried-out mouth and a sore throat from breathing through the open mouth.
Passing water two or three times a night without a bladder problem belongs to the picture: the change of pressure in the chest releases a hormone that makes the kidney excrete water. In men this is usually put down to the prostate.
High blood pressure that does not respond to several drugs, atrial fibrillation, a high blood sugar, irritability and problems concentrating. These companions are often the reason a measurement is done at all.
Grinding occurs more often together with night-time breathing pauses — it often follows the arousals. So with either, it is worth thinking of the other.
Pauses in breathing at night and a disturbed sugar metabolism strengthen each other. Anyone with the one should know about the other.
An underactive thyroid encourages the pauses at night and causes the same daytime sleepiness. It is simple to treat.
A permanently low oxygen can drive up the number of red cells. A high value without another explanation is a hint to ask about breathing in sleep.
Belongs alongside when breathlessness at night and swollen legs come together — then it is about the heart as well and not only about sleep.
Low values are common with raised body weight because the vitamin is bound in fat tissue. Correcting it makes sense; as a means of losing weight there are no studies.
Involved in the action of insulin inside the cell. With poorly controlled sugar it is lost through the urine — a circle that can be closed.
Metformin lowers the uptake measurably over years. With tingling in the feet under this treatment B12 belongs checked before it is put down to nerve damage from the sugar.
They slow the uptake of sugar from the meal and satisfy for longer. Pulses, oats, vegetables and wholegrain work differently from a powder out of a tin.
Low levels are more common with sleep apnoea; a causal link is not shown. Measured and replaced if deficient — it does not change the breathing pauses.
Shortens falling asleep but does not change the breathing pauses. More important is the pointer the other way: sleeping pills and alcohol in the evening relax the throat muscles and lengthen the pauses.
Effective when deficient; effects on sleep and stress plausible but moderate. Too much causes loose stool.
Clearly worthwhile and well supported when deficient — vegan, older adults, certain drugs. No energy boost without a deficiency.
The satiety signal from fatty tissue. Poor sleep dampens its effect — one eats more without being hungrier. That is how the circle between weight and night-time breathing closes.
The hunger signal rises after short nights. Together with the dampened satiety signal that explains the ravenous hunger on the day after poor sleep.
The pauses at night measurably worsen the action of insulin — independent of weight. So sugar and sleep belong in the same consultation.
Falls with untreated sleep apnoea and often rises again by itself under treatment. A low value in a man is therefore a reason to ask about sleep.
Losing 10 % of body weight reduces the number of breathing pauses by about 25 % in studies. In mild to moderate apnoea that can make the difference to the mask — not in severe cases.
Alcohol relaxes the throat muscles and measurably lengthens the pauses. The last 3–4 hours before sleep are the decisive time.
Independently of weight, regular movement lowers the number of breathing pauses in studies. Combined with weight loss the effect is greatest — 10 % less weight reduces pauses by about a quarter.
Training the throat and tongue muscles — also studied with wind instruments such as the didgeridoo — reduced pauses in small studies. It does not replace the mask in severe apnoea.