Comments on: Do people sneeze in their sleep without waking up?

By: Jaclyn

Jaclyn — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 15:29:32 +0000

I’m with William on this one. Your dad probably didn’t “wake himself up” with snoring – it was most likely sleep apnea.

With sleep apnea, people generally snore for a bit, then there’s a pause (meaning they’ve stopped breathing). This is usually followed by a loud snore or snort, during which the person wakes up briefly, then falls back asleep.

I suffer from sleep apnea, and use a breathing machine called a CPAP every night, which has a mask that goes over my nose. I hate it, but I do it because I’m scared of the health consequences if I leave this untreated. At least when I use the machine/mask, I wake up feeling refreshed.

I am 29 years old and 125 pounds, so sleep apnea is definitely not a disorder only for overweight, middle-aged men.

By: Amy

Amy — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 21:37:30 +0000

Your dad sounds like he has sleep apnea. Its not just snoring, its when the tongue falls back into the throat (making the snores louder bc the air has to force its way out) and then when they stop breathing their body kicks them awake (hence the “huh”). It’s not particularly dangerous, but over time it puts strain on the heart which can cause a heart attack. Not to mention you can’t get a good night’s sleep when you wake up every 5 mins.

My dad has a terrible case of it. 3 surgeries, a c-pap machine (a face mask you wear at night attached to a machine that forces air into your throat), and now a mouth guard. He hated the machine, but the mouth guard seems to work. It just pulls the lower jaw out enough to keep the tongue from falling back. Look into it.

By: Steve S

Steve S — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 17:33:04 +0000

I had a sleep study done. No apnea. I simply snore. :) Not everyone who snores has apnea.

By: Neodymium

Neodymium — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 03:40:10 +0000

Yeah, really loud snoring like that is usually sleep apnea, my mother has it. Should get it checked out, it can be very dangerous.

By: William

William — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 22:58:18 +0000

That’s not regular snoring you’re talking about that sounds like sleep apnea, it’s when a person actually stops breathing and their airway gets obstructed, that’s what causes the roaring, then the person gets woken up because they have actually stopped breathing, the “huh?”, the result is they never fully fall asleep, they wake themselves up just enough to start breathing again.

It can be serious, a friend of mine died in his sleep because he was very inebriated, and when he stopped breathing because of his apnea he didn’t wake up.

By: Casey

Casey — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 19:13:56 +0000

I am so glad you answered this question. Whenever I sleep in the presence of others, I wonder if my sneezes betray my feigned slumber.

By: Steve S

Steve S — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 18:18:33 +0000

Matt, your mother just let your dad think that his own snoring was waking him up. I bet she was probably nudging or poking him to make him stop. Happens to me every night but if my wife had never told me that I was being poked I’d never know.
Snore – Poke – Huh? – Roll – Sleep quietly – for a little while – until it starts all over again. ;)

By: Orange

Orange — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 18:14:07 +0000

Ah–I love Mythbusters!

By: caitlen315

caitlen315 — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 16:59:54 +0000

To a few if those above – Mythbusters did had a segment on keeping your eyes open while you sneeze. It depends on whether you’re asking if we can voluntarily keep our eyes open when we sneeze, or if it’s impossible to keep them open while sneezing, no matter what. The former would be a matter of willpower – maybe that could be the latest stunt for David Blaine. The latter, however, they proved that you can do – they were able to physically hold their eyes open while they sneezed. There is, of course, the requisite slow-motion video of it. It might be on youtube.

By: BassMan

BassMan — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 16:34:52 +0000

Years ago I had a problem with chronic sneezing. I’d do it all day in fits of a dozen or so at a time. The problem was that I also drove a truck for a living.
Still don’t know what it was.