Newbie - possible catathrenia sufferer

[Daz1969]

Hi,

Just found these forums and wondered if anyone has any experience with Catathrenia (sleep related groaning)?

According to my wife (and ex-wife, who was a GP...) I make some lovely groaning noises in my sleep. This happens as I exhale after a brief pause in breathing, so not traditional snoring. This is usually in the last 2-3 of hours of sleep.

I saw someone with identical symptoms on a BBC documentary about the Papworth Sleep Centre, they called it Catathrenia. As far as I can remember there weren't any obvious remedies, ear plugs for the wife .....

Having seen my, less than sympathetic GP (sleep in another room she suggests....), I managed to get an appointment at an ENT snoring and sleep apnea clinic in October.

Whilst I wait for that, I've found a few papers suggesting that CPAP can help, and just wondered if anyone here has any similar experiences / pearls of wisdom.

Thanks for reading to the end of this!!

Darron

[James @ Intus]

Hi Darron,

Thanks for joining.

Are you on any form of medication? I've heard this can add to the groaning.

Also, the brief pause in breathing you mention, is that when inhaling, exhaling or distinctly in between?

[Daz1969]

Hi James,

Thanks for the reply.

I'm not on any medication.
The brief pause in breathing seems to be prior to exhaling.

The most useful paper I've seen on this is here:

http://www.journalsleep.org/Articles/310117.pdf

All the sufferers seem to have a combination of deviated septum, high hard palate and a long narrow face.
I have all of these!! Had a rhinoseptoplasty a few years back which improved my breathing, but had no impact on the groaning.

This latest paper has given me some hope (CPAP & surgery sorted all patients)!

Darron