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Just doing a bit of flyby 3 years later - so happy to see this place is alive and well and still helping people. Congrats and thanks to everyone involved!
Reggie
Hi Karl - yes I agree this important for new people finding this thread - you are not alone, it has happened to other people, it is not a forever thing, and you will get over it. At this moment it's a nightmare for you, but in a matter of weeks or months you will be OK. It could be a breathing technique, a CPAP machine, a sleep aid prescription, or something else but you will get past this and you will be OK just like the rest of us who have come thru this thread like a skipping stone.\
Hi all,
OP here from 3 years ago.
I'm just flying by some old forums, I can't believe it's been 3 yrs since my posts above. I have never had a recurrence of the sudden onset transitional central sleep apnea. I still do believe that it was the Wim Hof method that trained my body to be comfortable with some higher CO2 levels while transitioning to sleep and this was the solution, but I haven't had to repeat the technique since solving my issue. I have experienced other sleep issues related to work stress and anxiety recently that even my deep breathing and relaxation techniques could not solve. That was a shocking event for me - those techniques have served me so well for 20 years! The ultimate solution to my recent insomnia issues was a prescription of Zopiclone from my family doctor. It is amazing, it initiates sleep onset extremely well for me, and if I awaken the return to sleep is also quite easy. It does require a good 7-8 hrs of sleep runway so you can't take it at 2am and expect to be up for work at 7am, but it is pretty easy to plan accordingly. At this point, looking back, I believe Zopiclone would have solved my original sudden onset sleep apnea problem those many years ago. So if you don't want to try Wim Hof or it didn't work for you, or you are at the end of your rope with apnea hitting you as you transition to sleep, maybe check into Zopiclone. I know this is a horrible situation to be in so I thought I'd offer another avenue. Use it wisely, only for 3-4 nights in a row max, because the effects wear off quickly.
I'm still fine, never started CPAP nor did I invest in a dental appliance, and I've had no recurrences of the sleep transition apnea/wake up gasping. I haven't done Wim Hof breathing practice in the last year. I believe that doing Wim Hof for that short period of a few weeks really trained my brain that higher CO2 levels at sleep transition didn't require a fight/flight reaction, so my body no longer reacts that way. I did make a few other changes around that time - bought a treadmill and still do about 30mins/day vigourous walking, which was a component of some of the other advice given for this problem. I lost about 15lbs then gained back because beer is just too tasty. Despite the treadmill daily I still believe the Wim Hof was the key.
Good luck deinhac, it's a awful situation to fear going to bed and I hope you find something that works.
Hi Becca, I did years of regular belly breathing for anxiety. It is an amazing solution for that problem, changed my life really. The person I credit is Eli Bay and his "Empowered Breathing" relaxation tape. My belief is that doing that deep breathing so frequently oxygenated my blood to high levels which became the norm for my body. Then at sleep transition time when breathing becomes autonomic and more typical, those O2 levels dropped, CO2 increased, and my body was reacting with a terrorful "WAKE UP AND GET MORE OXYGEN" response. Wim Hof breathing went the other way - exhale and hold, get used to higher C02 levels, and my body's terror reaction subsided. I know you mentioned elsewhere the Wim Hof doesn't seem to be working for you, which I'm sorry to hear....this is a horrible state to be in so I will say a prayer that you find a solution.
1,100 views of this thread. Rumours of the death of myapnea.org forums might have been premature!
Yes, exactly. Tinnitus? Wow...I also suffer from that but it wasn't impacted by the breathing. You can trim it down - 3 breaths instead of 10. I was doing 3 reps of normal inhale, big exhale, then one additional exhale to empty the lungs, then hold as long as possible. I used the timer on my iPhone to track my hold progress. When I got to about 45 secs the sleep onset transitional apnea stopped. I was so relieved, I thought I was in for an ongoing night time horror.
From google: There are: Visual Learners: those that need to see pictures and graphs to visualize. Auditory Learners: those who need to hear the information. Kinesthetic Learners: those who need to engage in an activity in order to grasp a concept.
You're not dense at all - we all learn differently!
Thank you...great news!
Also - the email notifications work fine - I'm receiving them.
I posted this thread here, similar to this one, and tried the technique mentioned: https://myapnea.org/forum/sleep-onset-transitional-central-sleep-apnea
The Wim Hof breathing has worked - I'm pretty sure it trained my mind & body to not be terrified of a higher CO2 level for those few seconds on the wake/sleep border, and the wake-up-gasping symptom went away. Initially I was doing the breathing exercise 3-4 times per day, but I haven't done them for a few weeks now, and my falling asleep has remained normal. All I can say is - give it a try! For me it was a godsend.
