Ashwin Lewis
Choking in your sleep can be a frightening experience, and it can be caused by various factors. One common cause is sleep apnea, a sleep-related breathing disorder that occurs when the airways collapse and become blocked, leading to choking or gasping for air. Other causes include acid reflux, abnormal swallowing, and excessive alcohol consumption. To prevent choking while sleeping, it is recommended to sleep with your head elevated, sleep on your side, and maintain a healthy weight. Seeking medical advice and treatment for underlying conditions is crucial for improving sleep quality and overall well-being.
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What You'll Learn
Sleep with your head elevated
If you're choking in your sleep, it could be a sign of a serious condition called obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). This is when your airway collapses and becomes blocked, causing you to stop breathing and often resulting in a loud choking or snorting noise as your body wakes you up to restart your breathing. OSA can lead to other significant physical and mental health problems, including high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and depression. Therefore, it is important to seek medical advice if you think you might have OSA.
One way to help prevent choking in your sleep is to sleep with your head elevated. This position uses gravity to your advantage to improve your symptoms if you have gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). GERD is a chronic condition where stomach acid flows back up into the oesophagus, and it is estimated that up to 20% of the US population has it. When you lie down, gravity helps keep the digestive acid in your oesophagus, so sleeping with your head elevated can help reduce GERD symptoms, including choking on reflux. You can achieve this by using a wedge pillow or by keeping the head of your bed raised at an angle.
Sleeping with your head elevated can also help prevent choking on saliva. When you sleep, saliva can pool in the back of your mouth and flow into your lungs, causing you to choke. By sleeping with your head propped up, saliva can flow down your throat, reducing the risk of choking. You can also try sleeping on your side instead of your back to keep your airway open and prevent choking.
If you think you might have OSA, you can order a home sleep test to get diagnosed and start receiving treatment. Treatment options for OSA include using a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine, which provides continuous airflow while sleeping, and wearing an oral mouth guard to keep your throat open during sleep.
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Avoid heavy alcohol use
Alcohol is a depressant. Consuming too much alcohol can slow muscle response. Being unconscious or incapacitated from consuming too much alcohol can cause saliva to pool in the back of the mouth instead of flowing down the throat. To avoid choking in your sleep due to heavy alcohol use, it is best to drink alcohol in moderation.
Drinking excessive amounts of alcohol can cause you to be unconscious or incapacitated, which can lead to choking on your saliva. When you are in a deep sleep, your airway closes, and you stop breathing, so your body wakes you up to open the airway and restart your breathing, which might result in choking, a snort, or a gasp. This results in poor quality sleep. If you drink heavily, you may wake up gasping for air and choking on your saliva. An older study suggests a link between abnormal swallowing and obstructive sleep apnea. Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is when breathing pauses while asleep due to a narrow or blocked airway.
If you think you have OSA, you should consider ordering a home sleep test to be diagnosed and receive the right treatment. These home sleep tests are small, watch-like devices that are worn on your wrist overnight. They provide extraordinarily detailed information about your sleep, which is a vital step in diagnosing OSA.
In addition to drinking alcohol in moderation, you can also try sleeping with your head propped up so that saliva can flow down your throat. Sleeping on your side instead of your back can also help. You can also try raising the head of your bed by a few inches to keep stomach acid in your stomach.
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Manage acid reflux
If you are choking in your sleep, it could be a sign of sleep apnea. This occurs when your windpipe collapses, restricting your breathing while you sleep. Sleep apnea is a serious condition, and 85% of people who have it are undiagnosed. If you think you have sleep apnea, you should order a home sleep test to get diagnosed and treated.
However, if you are choking in your sleep due to acid reflux, there are several things you can do to help prevent it. Firstly, understand why acid reflux occurs. One reason is that when you are lying down, gravity is not helping to send rising digestive acid in your oesophagus back down into your stomach. Another reason is decreased swallowing at night, which can make it harder for your body to push acid reflux back into your stomach.
- Elevate your head with a wedge pillow or by raising the head of your bed. This helps to use gravity to your advantage to reduce acid reflux.
- Avoid eating certain foods or drinking certain beverages that trigger your symptoms.
- Maintain a healthy weight, especially if you have excess weight in your abdomen, as this is a risk factor for acid reflux.
- Quit smoking, as this is considered a risk factor for acid reflux and can cause more severe symptoms.
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Treat sleep apnea
Sleep apnea is a serious condition where a person's breathing pauses during sleep. This can happen due to a narrow or blocked airway, or because the brain fails to signal the muscles that control breathing. The condition can cause choking, snoring, and gasping for air or breath during sleep, resulting in poor sleep quality and daytime fatigue.
If you think you have sleep apnea, the first step is to consult a doctor or a specialist. A sleep study test or a home sleep test can help diagnose the condition. Sleep apnea can be life-threatening, so it is important to seek professional advice and not self-diagnose.
There are different types of sleep apnea: obstructive sleep apnea, central sleep apnea, and complex sleep apnea. Obstructive sleep apnea is the most common type, occurring when the soft tissue in the back of the throat collapses and blocks the airway. Central sleep apnea is less common and involves the central nervous system. Complex sleep apnea is a rare combination of the two.
Treatment options for sleep apnea include the use of a CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) machine, which provides continuous airflow while sleeping. This machine sits on your bedside table and blows air at low pressure through a tube connected to a mask, gently holding your airway open. Oral mouth guards can also be used to keep the throat open during sleep.
Lifestyle changes, such as maintaining a healthy weight, avoiding sleeping on your back, and raising the head of your bed, can also help manage sleep apnea.
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Avoid sleeping on your back
If you're waking up choking, it could be a sign of sleep apnea. This is a serious condition where your airway collapses, restricting your breathing. It can be difficult to diagnose yourself as the symptoms occur while you're asleep, but your bed partner may be able to help by tracking your choking sounds and pauses in breathing. If you think you have sleep apnea, you should order a home sleep test for a diagnosis.
If you only experience choking when lying on your back, this could be because your airway is naturally narrower in this position. To avoid sleeping on your back, you could try sewing a tennis ball into the back of your pyjamas to keep yourself on your side, or holding yourself in position with triangular-shaped pillows.
Another way to avoid sleeping on your back is to raise the head of your bed by a few inches. This can be helpful for reducing choking caused by acid reflux, as it keeps stomach acid in your stomach. It can also help with choking on saliva, as sleeping with your head elevated can improve saliva flow.
If you're choking in your sleep due to sleep apnea, the gold standard treatment is a CPAP machine. This is a small box that sits on your bedside table and blows air at low pressure through a tube that connects to a mask, gently holding your airway open from the inside.
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Frequently asked questions
There are a few possible causes of choking in your sleep. One common cause is sleep apnea, a sleep-related breathing disorder that causes pauses in breathing during sleep. Other potential causes include acid reflux, abnormal swallowing, or choking on saliva.
If you suspect you have sleep apnea, it's important to consult a doctor or specialist for a proper diagnosis and treatment plan. Treatment options for sleep apnea may include lifestyle changes, medications, or therapy, or the use of a CPAP machine, which provides continuous airflow while sleeping.
Acid reflux occurs when stomach acid flows back into the oesophagus and mouth, often worsening when lying down due to the lack of gravity helping to keep acid down. To prevent choking due to acid reflux, try sleeping with your head elevated, avoiding trigger foods and drinks, and maintaining a healthy weight.
Choking on saliva can be prevented by sleeping with your head propped up, sleeping on your side, and avoiding excessive alcohol consumption or sucking on candy, which can increase saliva production.
If you experience regular breathing difficulties during sleep or wake up choking frequently, it is important to consult a doctor to identify and address the underlying cause. Choking in your sleep could be a sign of a serious condition, so don't hesitate to seek medical advice.
