Sleep-Related Breathing Disorders

Sleep-related breathing disorders include conditions that change how a person breathes during sleep. Breathing might slow down, become shallow, or stop repeatedly for short durations during the night. These breathing interruptions cause micro-arousals – brief, often unnoticed waking to lighter levels of sleep – that lead to sleep fragmentation. 

Breathing issues can also cause drops in oxygen levels, and increases in levels of carbon dioxide (hypercapnia). These disruptions can make it hard for the body to get the restorative, restful sleep it needs, even if a person does not fully wake up or remember it happening. 

This page explains what sleep-related breathing disorders are, what symptoms may look like, which conditions may be involved, and when to seek support. 

People with sleep-disordered breathing may experience a range of symptoms across both day and night. The experience can be highly individual and some people notice very few obvious nighttime symptoms. Sometimes a bed partner notices breathing symptoms during sleep before the person experiencing them does. 

Common nighttime symptoms include:

• Loud, frequent, or disruptive snoring
• Pauses in breathing noticed by another person
• Gasping, choking, or snorting during sleep
• Restless, fragmented, or unrefreshing sleep

Common daytime symptoms include:

• Morning headaches or dry mouth
• Daytime sleepiness, napping, or fatigue
• Trouble with concentration, memory, mood, or motivation
• Drowsy driving or safety concerns
• High blood pressure or other cardiometabolic concerns

Common symptoms in children and teens:

Children and teens often show many of the same symptoms, including snoring, restless sleep, mouth breathing, bedwetting, behavioral changes, learning concerns, morning headaches, or daytime sleepiness. It is important to seek care with a pediatrician if your child or teen is showing these symptoms. More information is available on WSCN’s Children and Teen Sleep Disordered Breathing page.

Sleep-disordered breathing can also affect family members or bed partners and impact relationships. There is clear evidence that sleep apnea is linked to erectile and sexual dysfunction in both men and women. 

In a household, loud snoring can also disrupt other householder’s nights and increase stress as everyone feels the effects of poor sleep and altered circadian rhythms. For children and teens, sleep-related breathing problems can affect behavior, learning, mood, growth, and family routines. This in turn has flow-on effects for their development, socialization and school participation.

Identifying a treating sleep-related breathing disorder improves both the daytime and the nighttime. Taking steps to receive care, is one of the best things you can do for your health, and those of your loved ones and householders. Understanding how days and nights connect provides an opportunity to own all 24 hours and optimize your wellbeing.

A person does not need to know the name of a condition before asking for help. If you are experiencing any of the symptoms listed above, or someone has told you that your breathing during sleep is concerning, it is important to discuss symptoms with a healthcare professional. 

Red flag : Seek urgent medical care for severe shortness of breath, chest pain, fainting, new neurologic symptoms, bluish lips or face, confusion, or rapidly worsening breathing symptoms.

A primary care physician is a good place to start for a sleep disorder evaluation. They can take a history, discuss your concerns, and recommend next steps for testing and diagnosis. It can be helpful to bring information to an initial visit: try using WSCN’s How to talk to your primary care clinician about sleep problems checklist.

Sleep-disordered breathing is often evaluated with a sleep study, also called a polysomnogram. Depending on the situation, testing may occur at home or in a sleep center. For more information on sleep studies, see Diagnosing Sleep Disorders.

A clinician may also consider whether symptoms could be related to other sleep disorders, medical conditions, medications, or environmental / lifestyle factors.

Treatment depends on the specific condition, severity, symptoms, health history, and the person’s goals. Options may include:

• Positive airway pressure therapy, such as CPAP, bi-PAP or auto-PAP
• Oral appliance therapy/mouthgard
• Weight loss support, medication, and lifestyle adaptations
• Treatment of nasal obstruction and/or allergies
• Medication review for side effects
• Surgery or airway procedures
• Pediatric assessment of airways, weight, allergies and other related factors