alcohol sleep apnea: Can I Drink Alcohol if I Have Sleep Apnea?

If you’re going to drink, there are ways to improve your sleep habits and prevent sleep disturbances throughout the night. Secondly, the population in this study is the hospitalized population of a high-level hospital, which is not well represented, and the extrapolation of conclusions needs to be cautious. We also did the logistic regression analysis of Tables 2 and 3 in different gender, and the results were similar . However, the ORs were not significant in both male and female, and this may due to the reason that few women were drinkers in China for the cultural impact.

Being overweight can also contribute to sleep apnea, as well as hereditary factors like the shape of your neck and throat. Smoking and alcohol consumption can also lead to sleep apnea. The relationship between alcohol and sleep apnea is most clearly established in people with obstructive sleep apnea.

Related Sleep Disorders Contributors

“Our study extends this by suggesting that alcohol consumption at any time of day, not just before bedtime, should be minimized in persons with sleep-disordered breathing,” he said. It can make it harder to get a good night’s sleep and can make your SA worse. In fact, heavy drinking is a common risk factor for OSA, and can even cause apnea events in those who don’t have SA.

This case–control study evaluated patients with confirmed OSA and a control group using polysomnography . Two doctors who have worked in this field for more than 5 years provided a blinded interpretation of the patients’ monitoring results. Logistic regression models were used to identify the odds ratio for alcohol consumption on OSA. I make sure to eat when drinking and watch how much I drink. It’s not worth it to have a hangover the next day as the poor sleep affects how I feel.

I’ve noticed that I sleep a lot better when I limit how many drinks I have. A few drinks don’t seem to be a problem for my sleeping pattern on nights I’m drinking. I can still go out and enjoy myself, I just limit the amount of alcohol https://sober-home.org/ I drink. I can no longer afford to have a party mindset as I need to take care of my sleep apnea. While you sleep, this airflow machine will use pressure to normalize your breath pattern and stop any pauses in your breathing.

How Does Alcohol Affect Sleep?

It goes without saying that if you’re concerned about how you sleep, you’ll want to watch how many drinks you have if you plan on drinking. It also reduces arousal response, which is how your body knows to wake up when you can’t breathe because of a blocked airway. Drinking diminishes this response, and it means that you won’t wake up as easily when your breathing stops because of OSA. Without that response, your body is less likely to interrupt an apneic event naturally. If you stop breathing, it could take longer to wake up, meaning you’ll be without oxygen for an extended period of time.

Often, it’s benign and simply means that a person’s throat muscles or nasal passages are very relaxed. Normally, the epiglottis remains in an upright or open position when you’re breathing, allowing air to move freely from your nasal passages eco sober house rating through your trachea and into your lungs. But when you swallow, it folds back to prevent food, drinks, or saliva from entering your trachea. In the US alone, over 140,000 people die from excessive alcohol use – 380 deaths per day.

Whether you need sleep apnea treatment or could benefit from changing your sleep hygiene, we’ll help you get the sleep you need every night. When a person has one or more of these symptoms, a doctor can review their specific situation and determine whether to recommend sleep apnea testing, which is required to diagnose the condition. Drinking alcohol can interrupt a person’s sleep-wake cycle and may contribute to insomnia in people who rely on alcohol’s sedative effects to initially fall asleep. Although alcohol can make a person feel sleepy at bedtime, it throws off the normal process of sleep. As alcohol wears off during the night, a person is more likely to have shallower, lower-quality sleep and to awaken more frequently. Although alcohol use near bedtime can promote drowsiness, it often results in fragmented, lower-quality sleep.

Alcohol increases the risk of sleep disordered breathing

Age does not play a role in affecting sleep apnea as anyone can have sleep apnea including infants and adults of any age. The better job you do at managing it, the more adept you’ll be at continuing to lead the lifestyle you want without compromising your body’s ability to rest and make you productive the next day. Pan Y., Wang W., Wang K.S. Associations of alcohol consumption and chronic diseases with sleep apnea among US adults. Seven studies relied on self-report , , , , , , and in the remaining study, sleep apnoea was ascertained using ICD codes .

Journals.sagepub.com needs to review the security of your connection before proceeding. In contrast, rapid eye movement sleep is light and often characterized by movement in the eyes. The body seems to require this type of sleep as well in order to be fully rested. This content has been medically reviewed by Dr. Monique May. Headaches can be a major hassle, affecting your ability to live a normal life.

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Methodological quality was independently assessed by ES and JL-B, with any disagreement resolved through discussion. Where the same population was used in multiple publications, we included the publication with the highest methodological quality. Due to lack of information, we did not assess the quality of studies published only in abstract forms. In addition, alcohol can relax the muscles of your throat, which can allow your upper airway to collapse.

Alcohol affects melatonin, the body’s primary sleep regulating hormone. Your body usually releases melatonin after dark to help you sleep. However, even moderate amounts of alcohol about an hour before bedtime can lower melatonin levels by about 20%. Alcohol use is unfortunately common in people with sleep conditions as some people find that alcohol use is the only way they can “relax” enough to get to sleep at night. However, even if you are “falling asleep” it doesn’t mean that your alcohol-induced slumber is actually the type of restful and restorative sleep that you need. If you are living with OSA, you have either felt by now or have heard that alcohol and sleep apnea do not mix well.

The REM cycle restores your brain while deep sleep restores your body. Since alcohol can put you directly into a deep sleep, it gives off the sensation of having had a restful sleep, but you can wake up mentally exhausted. This is why staying asleep for more than a few hours after drinking can be difficult. This can have a cumulative effect to the extent of having the same issues even after abstaining from alcohol. Try to stop drinking at least two hours before you go to bed.

Did you snore, experience excessive daytime sleepiness, or notice other symptoms of sleep apnea? Well, the likely cause of your sleep apnea was an obstruction to your upper airway when the muscles of your throat relaxed. A muscle relaxant can counteract your CPAP therapy by creating the obstruction all over again. The health risk posed by severe OSA was noted by study authors as those with the condition have up to a 3-fold increased risk for all-cause mortality compared to those without.

Articles On Sleep Apnea

Lower scores were primarily due to lack of adjustment for confounding factors, instead using selective populations or a self-report assessment of alcohol exposure. Getting enough quality sleep at night is important to your overall health. You may want to consider the health benefits of sleep when you’re considering whether to cut back or stop using alcohol.

In 2020, opioid-related deaths only surpassed alcohol deaths by seven percent. These numbers place alcohol as the third-leading preventable cause of death in the country. People with sleep apnea who drink are five times more likely to get into a fatigue-related accident. This is not choices sober living drunk driving – these accidents are from fatigue the following day. Now, combine that with any one of the comorbidities linked to sleep apnea, such as obesity, hypertension, and heart disease. Low T Center is a group medical practice providing services to established patients.

• Popovici I., French M.T. Binge drinking and sleep problems among young adults.
• However, by taking steps to reduce alcohol intake and avoid other triggers like sleeping on your back, you can help reduce the severity of your symptoms and improve the quality of your sleep.
• In addition to its potential impacts on breathing and sleep apnea, alcohol can interfere with sleep because of its effects on brain activity.
• After drinking alcohol, a person with OSA is prone to having more and longer-lasting breathing disruptions.
• So, alcohol alone won’t cause sleep apnea, but it will cause sleeplessness and will certainly impact your sleep apnea if you have it.
• Forest plot of the association between levels of alcohol consumption in people with and without OSA.

Obstructive Sleep Apnea is the most common sleep disorder, and drinking alcohol exacerbates it. According to the American Journal of Managed Care, alcohol consumption contributes to lower oxygen saturation, especially among those who snore and have OSA. That means that patients with an increased risk of OSA are worsening their ability to breathe with every drop. Knowing that drinking alcohol can affect your sleep, should you drink? If you have obstructive sleep apnea, it’s best to reduce alcohol consumption, since it can make your sleep apnea much worse. We recommend that you finish your drink at least a couple of hours before heading to bed, and always use your sleep apnea treatment at night.

Popovici I., French M.T. Binge drinking and sleep problems among young adults. Twenty of the included studies used a cross sectional design , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , nine were case controlled , , , , , , , , , and two were cohort studies , . Eleven were conducted in Asia , , , , , , , , , , ; ten in US , , , , , , , , , , four in Australia , , , ; five in Europe , , , , , and one in Africa .

Over time, this sleep disruption can create health problems. Since I cut back on how much alcohol I drink, my sleep has gotten a lot better. I don’t forget to put my mask on and overall, I feel much better. I know that drinking a bit more than I should isn’t helping my sleep apnea, so I’ve cut way back. Reducing your own alcohol drinking can make a big difference in how you manage your own sleep apnea. Can be tough to manage on its own, but you may find that things are a lot worse if you drink.