Sleep Apnea

[Munchlet]

Ok I'm trying not to panic on this and just wanted to get some opinions if possible.

I snore quite badly at night, never used to but I am overweight which I am slowly losing through weight watchers and I also have hayfever/allergies so suffer from sniffles and post nasal drip etc quite frequently

A couple of a weeks ago I woke up and it literally felt like I'd swallowed a fly or something as I was coughing when I woke and it was a real tickly cough on one side of my throat. I had a drink and went back to sleep.

Then last night exactly the same thing happened. Now over the last couple of weeks I have had a bit of a cold and been sneezing producing more mucus than usual but I stupidly googled it and Sleep Apnea came up.

I didn't have a panicky feeling which it says you normally get with Sleep Apnea and it definately feels like my throat has dried out (I'm obviously sleeping with my mouth open) and as I inhale it causes a tickle and makes me cough but just wondered if anyone had any experience of sleep apnea?

I don't have a racing heart or anything like that it is just literally like something tickles my throat which makes me cough and when I wake my throat is just really tickly and dry and I have to cough a couple of times and have a drink to sort it out.

Sorry post is a bit rambly just wanted to try and get some opinions.

thanks

[rb1978]

I've had experiences similar to this. First noticed it a couple of years ago. I was waking up in the middle of the night gasping for air - as in literally I actually couldn't breathe. One night, the worst one, I really thought my number was up.

I'd heard of sleep apnea thru someone I know - who suffers from severe anxiety - who thought she might have it at one point.

Anyway, I told the doctor what was going on and that I was terrified to go to sleep at night in case I woke up suffocating. He told me sleep apnea tends to affect people who are very overweight - I'm just slightly overweight so he didn't think it was that. There was a short questionnaire he ran through with me. I can't remember the questions, wish I could, but it was one of those things where if you answered Yes to enough questions, you may have sleep apnea. I think there were questions about napping and sleeping in the day etc...

In the end another doctor worked out what was causing it with me - I was taking meds that had a sedative effect and also dissolvable mirtazapine before bed. The dissolvable mirt was drying out my throat and then I couldn't wake myself up til the last possible moment when it got too dry because of the sedative.

I do occassionally get it still even though I changed my meds.

This last week I've had a cold and it's happened a few times where I've woken up just as you describe - coughing and gasping and having to have a drink. I suspect it's the cold and all the catarrh causing it and I suspect it's the same thing triggering it with you if you'd just got over a cold.

[Munchlet]

Thank you for replying, I just keep thinking if it is sleep apnea that's really dangerous, I'm just hoping it stops once I get rid of this cold.
thanks again